Not everything in Tricpolis was as great and amazing as some people thought. The wealthy areas, sure, but what about where all of the poorer people lived?
Zakaria Richardson and his family were among the 'poorer people'. Shunned from society because of their super-human abilities, they didn't have very much of anything. Zak could barely even make it to the store and back without people stopping, staring, and whispering. He hated it.
Zakaria's brother, Amil, was once beat to the brink of death. It was only because of a superhero that the young boy had lived. After that, Zakaria became obsessed with superheroes. It was all he would ever talk about, and he would often fantasize about himself being a superhero. Whenever the old, rusted Television that Zak's dad had scavenged from the rich people's trash started playing news coverage on the superheroes, Zak could be found watching the screen with pure interest he didn't show in anything else.
When word got out that the superheroes were going to make an in-person appearance, Zak couldn't believe his ears. Superheroes? In person?
Zak begged his parents to go to the event like he had never begged before. He even promised to sell his precious bike to buy tickets to the event himself. Despite not wanting to go at all, Amil had worked a couple of extra shifts at his job to be able to get enough money for Zak to go.
Eventually, thanks to Zak's Dad's cousin, they had gotten enough money for Zak, Amil, and his Dad to go to the event. Dad now owed money to their cousin, but Zak had made sure to promise to help get the money payed back.
The trip to get to the city square would be a long one if Zak and his family were normal. They didn't have a car, and would have had to walk. Due to the fact Amil could grow wings from his back, however, it took them less time then it would if they had a car.
When the trio finally got to the city square, no one else was there.
"Odd," Amil commented. "Where is everyone? Surely we're not the first to get here."
"You are not the first to get here," A women with a microphone said. "We've been waiting here for a while. Now, would you like to explain how that one-" The lady pointed at Amil "had wings?"
"No one had any wings," Zak's Dad said, his eyes glowing ever-so-slightly. Zak knew he was using his power: The power to make someone believe exactly what you were saying.
"No one had any wings," The news reporter women stated in a monotone voice, saying the exact thing Zak's father had just said.
"Good," Zak's Dad said, nodding.
"Look, other people are coming," Zak pointed out.
"Zak, go look at whatever you want. I need to have a talk with your brother," Zak's dad said, handing Zak the money to get his ticket of admission.
Zak went with no complaints towards the gates. He watched in awe as big, burly body guards blocked people from entering until they payed. Zak knew this was a safety precaution, but he didn't understand why the bodyguards were giving some of the people nasty looks. Surely no one would try to get in without paying admission... right?
While deep in his thoughts, Zak failed to notice the men walking behind him.
"Hey! Move it, Richardson!" The lead man snarled.
Zak took steps back quickly, recognizing the man. This was Murali McAlister, the leader of a band of criminals in Tricpolis' underground Villain movements. With him were surely Irek Albronda and Gerald Cummins, his bodyguard and right-hand man.
Zak felt a hand on his shoulder and panicked, glancing with fear-filled eyes at whoever was touching him. To Zakaria's surprise, it wasn't Irek or Gerald. It was a man in his early thirties, who was gazing at him kindly.
"Hey! Guy! Leave Richardson to us!" Murali snarled.
"And what would you do if I did?" The man asked. Zak tried not to, but he shook with fear when the man suggested just handing him over to Murali and his gang.
"We'd teach the super-powered freak a lesson!" Irek snarled, appearing next to Murali. Gerald was nowhere in sight, which was surprising since he was one of Murali's loyalists.
"Why don't you just leave us be and we all go on about our day?" The man asked.
"You creep, protecting a super-freak like him!" Murali snarled. "You two are lucky that I have other things to do right now then beat the life out of you!"
As Murali and his group walked away, Zak glanced up at his rescuer. "Th-thank you," Zak stammered.
"It was nothing," The man assured Zak. "Care to tell me why they were after you?"
"Well," Zak said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I think it's better if you didn't know."
"Are you sure?" The man asked. Zak looked closer and noticed his eyes were starting to glow like Father's did when he used his powers. Zak didn't know why, but his defences his father taught him to use against his powers in case he was captured by a criminal organization and forced to hunt them down or something went up.
The man's eyes flickered, and Zak gazed right into his eyes. "You know, my father can do that exact same thing." With that, Zak turned and left the man. Zak could still feel his eyes on him though. Weird. I thought only father could use mind-games. Who was that?
That wasn't the first time that Zak had met Mr. Rose, or Psychosis. Although Zak didn't know it at the time, he had just met one of his heroes. The second time Zak came in contact with Psychosis and another hero happened a couple of years later.
Zak had been coming back from a store, having gone since the Richardsons were low on supplies. They - along with everyone else - had been hiding in their houses, ever since rumors got out of a new, powerful supervillain moving around in the area they lived in came out.
The first sign of trouble, although Zak didn't realize it at the time, was that a group of people were hanging out outside of the store. Zak didn't think much of it, and thought that they were probably going in a big group since they thought that if they were in a big group, the supervillain would leave them alone.
When Zak felt a hand grab him, he knew he was in trouble. Zak looked, and saw Murali.
"Hello, Richardson," Murali said dangerously. Zak didn't like how his voice was laced with venom. "Long time no see. Where's that guy who protected you last time?"
"One, I have no idea who he is or what you want, and two, why are you even here? What happened with the supervillain on the loose?" Zak tried to turn away and keep walking, but Murali grabbed him backwards and tossed him onto the ground, making him drop the groceries that he was carrying.
"Well, well," Murali said, smirking. "Little Richardson's all alone with no one to protect him and is at our mercy."
"Don't make me use my superpower," Zak said, trying to sound threatening.
"You wouldn't dare," Murali snickered. "Besides, what you gonna do? Turn us into freaks like yourself?"
Zak snarled inwardly to himself. Unlike the rest of his family, Zak had no predominant power. Amil had wings, father could make anyone believe what he said, and mother could heal anyone with her cooking. That was how they had managed to get by with all of the beatings he and Amil had gotten when they were younger. You know, power, now would be a good time to come out and help me out. Like you're supposed to, Zak thought bitterly.
That was when the first punch came. Zak staggered back from where he was trying to stand up.
"That was the first punch, Richardson," Irek said, narrowing his eyes. "The worst is yet to come."
Zak groaned and tried to walk away again, only to be met with a fist to the face. Zak wiped the back of his hand across where Irek punched him. Well, at least after this I get to have some of mother's meatloaf, Zak thought wistfully.
There was a commotion, and Zak flinched expecting another blow. But when nothing happened, Zak opened his eyes slowly. There were two costumed dudes in front of him, while one was bending down so Zak's eyes met his.
"Are you alright?" The man asked.
Zak nodded quickly, standing up and wincing at the pain in his side. "Thanks," Zak said breathlessly.
"Have I seen you before?" The man crouching down asked.
"I don't believe so," Zak said, then watched as the man's eyes glowed. "No wait, I stand corrected. You were that guy who saved me, back at the 'Meet The Superhero' event."
"Where you blocked your mind from me," The man said before standing up. "How did you do it?"
"I told you," Zak shrugged. "My father can do something similar."
"Wait. If that's the case... Then who is your father?" The other man asked. Zak noticed that he was incredibly bulky, and seemed to be breaking the cement underneath him with every step.
"Mr. Ryouichi Richardson," Zak recited. "I'm Zakaria Richardson, by the way."
"Well, Zakaria, do you know anything about any supervillains in the area?" The bulky guy asked.
"Why do you ask?" Zak asked, tilting his head.
"You can trust us, Zakaria," The man said.
"Trust you, huh? What's with the still glowing eyes then?"
"You can see that my eyes are glowing?" The man asked. He seemed surprised, and then shared a look with the bulky man.
Zak sighed, catching both of their attentions. "Look, you saved me, so I guess I owe you. The only thing I - and most people - know about a 'supervillain' is from rumors that some sort of supervillain is hanging around Tricpolis' poorer areas." Zak took a breath, then continued. "The only other thing that I noticed when watching the reports and listening to the rumors was that this supervillain was only hitting places where the people there are known to be - how do I say this? - mean."
"Mean?" The bulky one raised an eyebrow.
"You know, like the guys you just saved me from. Again."
"Why would they go after you?" The man asked.
"Because my family is known to have superhuman abilities," Zak said as he shrugged. "Although mine are not very useful."
"And what are your powers?" The bulky man asked.
"I have no idea," Zak said truthfully. "I mean, the rest of family has all of these super-cool gifts, and I have basically nothing."
"Sometimes, Zakaria, it is best if you do not have superhuman abilities," The man said.
"Tell me about it," Zak groaned. "Me and my family just want to have normal lives and not be outcasts from society."
"What can the rest of your family do?" The bulky guy asked.
"Well, I think they should explain that for themselves. It wouldn't go down well with a certain someone if I just told their powers to some random guys." Zak smirked a little as he thought of how Amil would react if he found out Zak had told someone about his powers and not letting him do it.
"We are not 'random guys'," The bulky dude said, his lips turning into a small frown.
"The boy has a reason to be suspicious," The man said. "Very well. I am Psychosis, and this is-"
"Bulkhead." Bulkhead interrupted.
"So you're telling me you two are superheroes."
"Yes. That is exactly what we are saying, Zakaria."
"Please, just ask him if you can call him 'Zack'. It's easier," Bulkhead sighed.
Psychosis cast a look at Zak, and he shrugged. "As long as you spell it Z A K I'm alright with it."
"Alright, Zak, can you take us to meet your family? We want to ask them some questions."
"You don't seriously think that one of my family members is this supervillain your hunting?" Zak said, gawking.
"No. I - we - want to know if they know any other people with superpowers," Psychosis explained.
"Well, that's not going to be difficult," Zak said. "Because the answer is no one. I should know. I used to ask a lot."
The two shared another look, at Zak stiffened. What is with all of these 'looks'? It's like Amil all over again. Come to think of it, if these 'supervillain' attacks only happen when Amil is away, could Amil....? No. Amil would never.
"-ak? Zak? ZAK!" Zak heard someone shouting his name and shook himself vigorously.
"Yes?"
"Are you alright?" Psychosis asked.
"Yes."
"We have a question for you," Bulkhead said. "Do you know anyone by the name 'Mothman'?"
"No. I haven't heard that name. In the rumors, it was always 'the Supervillain'," Zak said.
"So... do you know anywhere a supervillain could use as a hideout?" Bulkhead tried.
"There are some abandoned factories. That might work as a supervillain base. No one has gone in one of those for years."
Zak had led Psychosis and Bulkhead to many different factories, each one having the same result: Nothing. Zak was beginning to lose confidence, and Psychosis and Bulkhead's 'looks' weren't helping. When the three had arrived at the final warehouse, Zak hadn't expected anything. How wrong he had been...
Just as Bulkhead had been about to break open the door, Psychosis stopped him, and closed his eyes.
"They're in there," Psychosis whispered.
"Wait. They?" Zak asked. He got a sudden rush of nostalgia, wishing he was back home, happily watching the T.V with Amil and pointing out each superhero and reciting their names and powers.
"Two of them. One older, one young."
"Well, that makes our job easier," Bulkhead commented. "What about the kid?"
"Zak, when we go in, I want you to hide. Stay out of the way." Psychosis' tone left no room for protest; not that Zak was planning to. He was just fine staying out of the action.
Bulkhead then boke the door, him and Psychosis running in. Zak stayed outside for a moment before going in after them; making sure to stick to the shadows.
Psychosis hadn't been joking when he said that there were two people in here. One looked like a humanoid moth while the other had a metal suit on with a visor over his face. They were both standing protectively in front of a crate, and it seemed like they were intent on not letting the superheroes get whatever was inside.
Zak quickly ducked behind barrel of something as the metal-man pulled out a gun and started shooting at the superheroes.
"Foolish heroes! We knew if we made enough trouble you would come!" The metal one laughed. It was deep and scratching, and Zak could of swore he heard quiet static as the metal-man talked.
"So you were expecting us, eh?" Bulkhead asked. "Well, were you expecting this?"
Bulkhead smashed his hands together in some sort of clap that sent some sort of wave out that stopped the bullets and caused the metal-man to drop the gun as it exploded.
Psychosis took advantage of the smoke from the explosion to create blades made out of pure psychic energy and engage in battle with humanoid moth. The metal-man threw the moth a sword, which he caught and swung. Psychosis managed to get his blade up to block the strike just in time.
As Psychosis was dealing with the moth - which Zak assumed was the 'Mothman' that Bulkhead had asked about earlier - Bulkhead was engaged with the metal-man.
"Fool! Do you think you can take me down? I am more powerful than you could imagine!" The metal-man crackled as he pulled out two more guns and jumped up onto a create to dodge Bulkhead's punch.
"Stop talking and just fight me!" Bulkhead snarled. "I don't need to hear how big your ego is!"
"My ego? Why Bulkhead, I'm offended. But this has nothing to do with me. I am merely distracting you. Because if you are watching me, you are not watching Mothman."
When Bulkhead heard what the metal-man said, he turned to try to catch the blow, but it was too late. Metal flashed as Mothman's sword came into contact with Bulkhead's chest and side. Bulkhead grunted and stepped backwards, although he seemed more startled than hurt.
"Well well. The famed Bulkhead who could 'never be defeated' brought down by one sword. Hurts, doesn't it?" The metal-man looked at Mothman and nodded. Mothman raised the sword and positioned it to stab Bulkhead in the heart.
As Zak tried to figure out a way to help Bulkhead, Mothman suddenly dropped the sword and cried out in pain, clutching his head.
Seconds later, Psychosis was by the three and used his own psychic sword to slash Mothman, sending the humanoid moth flying backwards. Zak's hand went up to his mouth as Mothman landed about three meters from where he was hiding.
Zak attempted to run to a different hiding place, but Mothman - who was up again in speed that shouldn't be possible - grabbed his hand and yanked him back.
"Well well well bzzrt. It's the little Richardson bzzrt!" Mothman chuckled. "I didn't think I would see you here bzzrt!"
"Let me go you moth-freak!" Zak hissed, trying to pull away.
Mothman chuckled, and just held Zak's wrist tighter. "I believe the heroes wouldn't do anything if a civilian was in trouble, hmm bzzrt?"
"You won't do anything to me!"
"Let's see about that, bzzrt," Mothman laughed before flapping his wings and lifting off. Zak bit his tongue as to not scream. He wouldn't give Mothman that kind of satisfaction.
"Psychosis! Bulkhead! Bzzrt! Look who I found bzzrt!" Mothman crackled. Psychosis looked up from where he and Bulkhead had been fighting metal-man. Truth be told, Zak was surprised that the metal-man was still standing. Zak hadn't expected him to be still up and about, much less still fighting.
Fear flashed on both heroes' faces and Psychosis took a moment to respond. "Zakaria, didn't I tell you to hide?"
"I did. It was thanks to you whacking moth-dude with the psychic sword that made him find me. Three meters less and he would have landed on top of me."
"So you bring civilians into this fight? Have you no regard what could happen to them?" Metal-man snarled.
"Since when do you care about civilians, Nighty bzzrt?" Mothman asked.
"This 'civilian' is different. For the rest, I do not care."
"What did anyone else do to you to make you want to hurt them all?" Psychosis asked.
"You tell me. Your the mind reader here." Metal-man looked at Psychosis. If he wasn't wearing the visor/mask, then he would have surely been smirking. "Or are my thoughts not available to you?"
"What did they do?" Psychosis repeated.
"They outcasted me for being different. Mocked me. Beat me almost to the point of death. They caused me and my family hurt. Now, I am merely returning the favour."
"You sound like someone we know," Bulkhead commented.
"That would be because there is more evil in this world than you would like to think," Metal-man - or Nighty, as Mothman called him - snarled. "That is why I have become Nighthawk. To use my evil to erase their evil."
"Your efforts are admirable, Nighthawk, but how you are going about this is wrong." Psychosis paused for a moment, as if waiting to see if his words would have an effect on the supervillain. Actually, Zak wasn't even sure Nighthawk counted as a supervillain; as so far he had only used guns to try to defeat the heroes.
"Yeah sure. Didn't expect that, but alright."
"Can we talk about this after we kick Mothman's butt?" Bulkhead asked, pounding his fist into his other hand.
"If you are to fight my partner, you fight me as well." Nighthawk's demeanor changed as soon as Bulkhead suggested beating up his partner. "I have already seen people that I care about beaten up. I do not need to add Mothman to that list."
"Aww, you do care bzzrt!" Mothman buzzed happily.
"Don't push your luck, Mothman," Nighthawk warned.
"Can I get down now?" Zak asked. His question was met with silence as Bulkhead charged Nighthawk.
Zak watched as Nighthawk dodged Bulkhead's blows and retaliated with his own. Psychosis also joined the fray, creating psychic daggers as he engaged with Nighthawk. Nighthawk spun and dodged Bulkhead again, causing the latter to almost crash into Psychosis. Psychosis moved out of the way just in time, and crashed into the side of a container. Nighthawk was on Psychosis in seconds; holding a gun to his head.
Zak didn't know what had come over him when he suddenly twisted violently; punching Mothman in the face. Mothman cried in pain and dropped Zak, his hands going to his face.
Zak grunted as he hit the ground before grabbing a rock and lobbing it at Nighthawk. It hit Nighthawk square in the back before it exploded. Zak was thrown backwards by the blast, and landed with an oomph against a pillar.
When Zak opened his eyes, he saw Mothman pulling Nighthawk out of a pile of debris while Psychosis and Bulkhead were nowhere to be seen. When he stood up, something fell next to him. Zak looked behind him... and gasped. The pillar he had hit had a giant crack where he had landed, and the whole pillar looked ready to collapse. How do I not feel anything when I just put a dang crack in the pillar?
Zak heard a buzzing noise, and looked over to where Nighthawk and Mothman were. Mothman had laid Nighthawk down on a particularly large piece of debris and had brought the crate that the two had been protecting next to him.
Zak stood up, and edged closer to the two villains, attempting to try to buy the heroes some time to get out of the rubble. If they do get out.... I could have just killed Bulkhead and Psychosis!
"Nighthawk? Nighthawk are you alright bzzrt?" Mothman asked.
"*cough cough* Yes. Thank you, Cummins."
It seemed weird, seeing these to interact nicely. After all, they had just been trying to kill the superheroes. Wait. What did Nighthawk just say? Cummins? As in Gerald Cummins, Murali's right-hand man?
While Zak was still coming to terms with what Nighthawk had just said and his realization, he hadn't realized that he had bumped into a container. The container fell over; the contents clanking and making many loud noises. Both Nighthawk and Mothman turned their heads quickly towards the sound.
"Go. Take the container. I will hold them back and finish them if necessary." Nighthawk's voice left no room for argument, and it sounded uncharacteristically like Amil whenever he - rarely - got upset.
Mothman looked as if he was going to argue, but after a moment, turned, grabbed the container, and flew away. Nighthawk watched him go before turning back at looking directly at the container that had fallen.
"Come out, Zakaria. I know you are there."
"How do you know my name?" Zak asked.
"In case you have forgotten, Psychosis said your name only a couple of minutes ago."
"Oh. Well, a lot happened in those few minutes," Zak said, trying to defend himself.
"You know, you never could make up a good excuse for your lack of ability to remember things." Nighthawk said. Zak thought he could hear scorn in Nighthawk's voice. "You've always been so into superheroes. Now you keep thinking that they will always save you. But guess what, Zakaria. No one will come save you in the end. That's what I learned."
"You are wrong on so many levels," Zak snarled.
"Are you sure? I have seen you get beaten up by many people almost as many times as I had been. No one came to save you then."
"They saved me when it mattered!" Zak spat. "And if you were there, why didn't you help? You've been all talk about how you're going to 'use your evil to erase their evil' or something."
"I did. Every night you came home like that I went out and I took my revenge upon them." Nighthawk's words made no sense to Zak. How would Nighthawk be there whenever Zak got home? Unless...
"Have you been stalking me?" It was the second-best explanation that Zak could give without acknowledging the other thing.
"Honestly, Zak, how thick are you?" Nighthawk asked.
"You are no family of mine," Zak hissed, grabbing another rock. Without thinking, he lobbed it at Nighthawk.
Brilliant, shining space-nexus-like wings appeared from Nighthawk's back. The stone flew through Nighthawk's right wing, and a second later reappeared out of Nighthawk's left, flying right back at Zak.
Zak jumped out of the way as another explosion shook the warehouse. Zak just laid there for a moment, panting on the floor.
"Well, Zak, what do you plan to do now?" Nighthawk asked. "Throw another rock at me?"
Black dots appeared at the edge of Zak's vision as his head began to swim. "I would... throw... anything... at you... right now."
"You mean you would throw anything..." There was a clicking noise as Nighthawk took off his visor/mask, revealing what Zak had begun to fear. "... at your dear brother?"
The last thing Zak saw before he blacked out was Amil's face looking down at him coldly.
* * *
Zak never did know how long he had been out. He remembered it like it was five minutes, but others told him he had been out for days. Zak still, to this day, wishes he had never woken up again.
He had just learned that his best friend, his own brother, was a supervillain. And he had tried to kill him.
* * *
"Come on kid, wake up," Zak heard a voice that was very familiar yet very strange at the same time.
"Designation: Mark, have you been able to get anything from his mind?" Another voice asked.
"All I got is that he had a big shock before he blacked out," A voice that Zak wanted to say he recognized said. "And his mind is starting to have more activity. I can sense that he is waking up, as what we have just said is running through his head."
"Come on, keep following those voices," The first voice said again.
Zak let out a small groan, and attempted to open his eyes. He immediately shut them again because of a bright light was right in front of his face.
"Amil....?" Zak whispered, trying to sit up.
"No. But please, Designation: Zakaria, do not try to sit up. You are injured." The first voice tried to warn Zak, but he didn't listen.
"My brother. Where is he?" Zak asked again.
"I was not aware that he had a brother," The second voice said. "Mark, why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I did not know," The voice Zak thought he had recognized answered. "This young man seems to have a skill for blocking his mind from me."
"You can block Mark's power? That's new," A fourth voice commented.
When Zak blinked a couple of times, the people around him came into focus. There was a robot in front of him, and it seemed to be the owner of the first voice. Behind the robot were three people: A woman, a man with a blue streak in his hair, and a man in his early thirties. Zak knew he had seen the man before, and tried to remember where.
"Easy, Designation: Zakaria. You were injured pretty badly," The robot said.
Zak chuckled bitterly. "Figures. After I hit that pillar, it was barely standing."
"What happened back there? All I know is that after that explosion, I was trapped under some debris. Bulkhead managed to get me out of the facility and was going back to find you when a second explosion sounded. After that, he came out with you a couple of minutes later." The man in his thirties sounded as if he was generally curious.
"Well, I accidentally made a rock blow up after it hit Nighthawk, and then after that Mothman brought Nighthawk out of the rubble and laid him down next to the crate. Then Nighthawk said a name that I recognized. I was in shock from that, so I bumped something. Nighthawk told Mothman to take the crate and go, and that he would deal with whoever was left. After that... he said something and revealed something that made me really, really mad. I lobbed another rock at him and he created these space-nexus-like wings on his back. The rock flew through one wing and came out the other. I jumped out of the way, but I still got blasted. That's all I remember."
"So that's what the second explosion was," A bulky man said as he came into the room.
"Designation: Bulkhead, please do not break more of Designation: Medix's tools," Medix said as he continued to work on something behind Zak.
"Uh... You got it, Medix," Bulkhead said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Thank you, Bulkhead," Zak said.
"For what?" Bulkhead asked. "You were the one to drive Mothman and Nighthawk off before they could finish us heroes off."
"I wouldn't put it past supervillains to do that," The female said darkly.
"Actually," Zak said, and everyone looked at him. Zak squirmed uncomfortably before continuing. "I don't think they were very keen on finishing you off. Cummins seemed a lot more interested in making sure that Am-Nighthawk was alright then going to kill you. And also, Nighthawk didn't kill you when he left, and he didn't go and finish me off. I mean, I know I was in some sort of coma or something put I didn't look that dead, right?"
The way the others looked at each other made Zak squirm again. ".... I looked like a dead fish, didn't I?"
"You can say that," The female said.
A blue and black blur came into the room and made everyone's hair go crazy. "Quick," The female grumbled.
"Hiya!" Quick said. "I came by to let you know Ms. Moriarty is coming."
"Designation: Moriarty?" Medix asked. "She is coming to see Designation: Zakaria."
"Who is this 'Moriarty'?" Zak asked.
"That's Miss Moriarty to you, Zakaria," a voice said. A second later, a woman entered the room. She had long, jet-black hair and pale skin. If Zak didn't know better, Zak would've called the woman a ghost.
"Yes, Ms. Moriarty," Zak replied, eyes glancing around, waiting for some sort of clue.
"Well? What can he do?" Ms. Moriarty demanded.
"His ability is to be able to throw objects which, on contact, explode," The man with a blue streak in his hair said. "Medix also said that he would most likely have the ability to never miss to go along with it."
"Hmm. Mark told me you were able to block his powers. How?" Ms. Moriarty asked.
"I'll tell you what I told him: My father can do something very similar."
"Who is your father?" Ms. Moriarty asked.
"Mr. Ryouichi Richardson," Zak replied. Zak noticed that the room went quiet when he said his father's name. "Did I... say something wrong?"
"No. It is just I used to know Mr. Richardson. He could make anyone do what he wanted if they listened to his voice, correct? And your mother, Lorinda, she could heal anyone with her cooking, correct?" Ms. Moriarty asked.
"Y-yes ma'am," Zak answered, confused to how this woman would know his parents.
"I would assume you are confused as to how I know your parents," Ms. Moriarty said with a sigh. "I worked with your father before he was outcasted from society. We were Military Airforce, your mother too."
"So that's how father knew all about the air currents and stuff," Zak mused.
"Anyways, I have a proposition for you. I want you to join S.H.A.P., or-"
"Sure," Zak interrupted. When everyone looked at him weird, he frowned. "What? It's not like mother and father won't know what's going on. And also, I have nothing to go back to. So why not just agree to do it?"
"Alright," Ms. Moriarty said, standing straighter. "Then I, Amanda Moriarty, officially welcome Zakaria Richardson to the Super Human Act of Protection."
Quick claps came from Quick, and after a moment, the others joined in.
"Careful, Designation: Bulkhead! Don't break-" Medix started.
"Don't worry, Medix," Bulkhead assured. "I won't break anything."