Orrin was furious. He was good at hiding it, but he was burning with anger that couldn't be quelled. With the back-to-back failures from both Agent Wellston and Asset 23, he was beginning to wonder if Spectre would ever achieve their goals. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. The one person he still trusted to get the job done, even though he'd only just completed his first mission walked in. John. Asset 47.
"John," Orrin said with a friendly tone that contrasted the thoughts still running through his head. "Welcome back. I'm still extremely impressed with the progress you've made. Keep up the pace and you'll be a high ranking member in no time."
"I appreciate that, Orrin," John said respectfully. "But, I came here just to talk, sir. I wanted to talk about Spectre's goal a little more. I initially joined Spectre just to protect my friends, but after completing my first mission, I'm intrigued by our goal." It wasn't entirely false. Despite his resentment toward her, finding out about his mother invigorated him. If there was a chance he could get her out of the hands of the authorities, he'd do it. Not for her or for himself.
For his father.
"I'm glad to hear that, John! Well, to discuss our goal, I suppose I should start from the beginning. Spectre was founded about ten years ago. It started because one man had a vision of a society in which no one had to suffer. Where everyone was equal regardless of power and level. It was inspired in part by myself and the other executives."
"In what way?"
"Well, the three of us were both raised as cripples. We gained our abilities much later than everyone else, and due to our massive potentials, we trained hard and shot up straight to high-tiers."
"Interesting. Because I've had the exact same experience. I was born without an ability and I discovered it later than most."
"That's good," Orrin said. "It means you can understand our goal better than anyone. The founder himself was not a late-bloomer, but he was our teacher back in high school. He saw our experiences and how corrupt we'd become with our newfound power and he wanted to build a society where that didn't have to happen anymore."
"That's a very inspiring story."
"Unfortunately, the founder passed away about three years ago. Since then, Miranda, Neil and I developed a three-fold leadership. We disagreed at first who should become the leader, so we left it up to a vote. We all managed to tie the vote, so all three of us took charge as a council."
"Thank you for telling me all this," John said. "I have a newfound understanding of Spectre and its goals, and I'm determined to prove myself to you and live by that goal. I'm eagerly awaiting my next assignment."
"You'll have it by tomorrow," Orrin said. "I'll brief you now though. Now that we've started development on conversion tech, we need people to test it on. I'd like you to find three high-tiers with useful abilities. You won't have to use the disablers yourself, but your team will."
"That's fine, as long as I'm not the one doing it."
"You won't have any reason to use conversion tech, since you're basically a walking ability converter, but your skills will still be useful in testing it out, especially because we can use your ability for research."
"I'll help out in any way I can, sir," John said. "Thank you for your time."
After that, John left, thinking about everything Orrin had told him. He still hated the man's guts, but it was comforting to know he'd gone through the same experience as him.
- - -
Kuyo, Remi, and Blyke gathered around on a rooftop in the low-tier district of Havenville. The same district where Kuyo had first met the Weeper. They weren't there for him this time, though. They were here to follow a lead on EMBER.
"This feels wrong without Isen," Blyke said. "It's all my fault. If only I was stronger, I could've avoided getting captured and Isen would still be here right now."
"Don't blame yourself, Nobody," Kuyo said calmly.
Nobody. That's what the Weeper had called him during his capture. Just a nobody. In a twist of irony, Blyke had chosen that as his vigilante name as a middle finger to the Weeper.
"It was my fault," Kuyo continued. "I'm the one who wasn't able to protect you from the Weeper and I caused Isen to leave."
"Guys, let's get back on topic!" Remi called from in front of them. She, Blyke noticed, was more determined to stay focused than she normal was. Normally, she's very airheaded, absentminded. But now, she was far more concentrated. It was almost scary.
"Right," Kuyo said. "Nobody, I need you to take a sniping position. The truck will be coming through here soon. When it does, I need you to shoot out its tires so X-Rei and I can engage in closer combat."
"Sounds like a plan," Blyke said.
"X-Rei, I want you to be careful. If these criminals are boosted, it may be more dangerous than we expected. After what Nobody and I experienced in Grasshill, it seems like stronger people are gaining access to amplifiers."
"I'm still upset that you two went out there on your own," Remi pouted.
"We didn't have time to call you," Blyke said. "You were too busy planning that new club you won't tell me anything about."
"Stay focused guys," Kuyo said. "I think I hear the truck. Nobody, get ready."
Sure enough, the truck drove through the street below. Blyke charged two small beams from his fingers and shot towards the wheels. The shots connected and the tires blew out, forcing the truck to a screeching halt.
"X-Rei, let's go!"
Kuyo and Remi leaped down from the rooftop and landed gracefully a few feet away from the truck. Kuyo summoned a blade and Remi generated lightning around her body.
Before they could even react, several chain constructs burst through the cargo door of the truck and wrapped around the two vigilantes. Another set of chains shot out and wrapped around Blyke as well, yanking him down to the ground, knocking him out.
"Nobody!" Remi shouted. She generated more lightning and tried sending it into the chains, but they wouldn't conduct. Instead, Kuyo used his blade to cut his chains as well as Remi's.
However, more chains shot out from the truck and wrapped around Kuyo's blade, yanking it out of his hand, causing it to disappear. Kuyo created two small blades and threw them at the chains, breaking them and shattering them.
Blyke finally regained consciousness a few minutes into the fight. He saw Remi and Kuyo struggling with the attacks from whoever was inside the truck and charged up a beam to knock the criminals off-course.
He shot the beam towards the truck. However, just before the beam connected and blasted the truck, a large orange disk-shaped wall blocked the beam, absorbing its impact.
He shot a knowing look towards Kuyo. "It can't be Lennon can it?"
"No, we already beat him," Kuyo soothed his worries. "This is a similar ability, but noticeably different."
Their conversation was interrupted by a beam bursting out of the truck and blasting Kuyo in the side. He fell to his knees and held the wound.
Remi rushed over to him and checked out his injuries. "Ponytail! Are you okay?" she asked. "Nobody! Give us some cover!"
"Got it!" Blyke rushed over and blasted incoming chains out of the air.
"I'm fine, Pinky," Kuyo insisted. "Just focus on taking out whoever's in that truck!"
As if on queue, the doors burst open and out stepped three men, a large muscular man with glowing red eyes and icy blue hair, a tall and slender man with bronze hair and purple eyes, and a short muscular man with darker blue hair and matching blue eyes.
"I thought vigilantes like you three were getting gunned down by EMBER," the large muscular man, who seemed to be the strongest one both physically and in power, said. "It's pretty risky going up against three amped criminals!" He stretched out his hand and more chain constructs appeared, wrapping around Remi and Blyke and tossing them aside. "Ezra, you take the lightning lass. Steve, you handle the beam kid. I'll take on Ponytail."
The other two men dashed over to their targets. The leader stayed where he was and kept bombarding Kuyo with chain constructs. Fortunately, Kuyo was a lot stronger than him and easily broke free of the chains. He conjured two small blades and tossed them at the leader, stabbing him in the shoulders. Using his manipulation of the blades, he sent the leader flying backwards into the truck's cargo area, knocking him out.
Meanwhile, Blyke kept firing off beam after beam towards Steve, but he kept generating shields and absorbing the shots. Finally, Blyke decided to go supernova and knocked Steve away, firing off a powerful beam that he tried to block. However, the beam was just too powerful and broke through the shield, hitting him and knocking him out.
Remi had taken care of Ezra very quickly and was already done with her fight by the time Kuyo and Blyke regrouped with her. "What took you guys so long?" she asked, giggling to herself.
"Come on," Kuyo said with contrasting seriousness. "Let's drop them off by the police station and get out here."
- - -
Seraphina was laying down on her bed. She was eyeing her phone with suspicion. She'd sent John several worried messages, and he still hadn't replied. It wasn't the first time, either. This was the third time since the whole fiasco with his kidnapping last week.
BLIP!
John: oh hey, sorry i was in a deasd zone
She was still a little suspicious, but typed her reply.
Me: It's fine. Do you wanna come over and hang out?
She waited for a response. Surprisingly, it came back very quickly.
John: yeah sure
John: omw rn be there soin
Seraphina sighed, laying her phone down on the bed next to her. She waited. And waited. And waited. About fifteen minutes had passed when she heard the knock on her door.
She got up and opened it. "Took you long enough," she growled at the tall black-haired boy in front of her. "Where've you been? You keep going through that 'dead zone'. It's the third time this week."
"Sorry, I had to go out and get some groceries for Blyke and I," he replied innocently. "I took a bit longer 'cause I had to go drop them off."
"I don't believe you," she grimaced. "You've been really suspicious this past week. Ever since you got kidnapped by those creeps, you've been very absentminded. Normally, I wouldn't think anything of it, but even when you're absentminded, you still always instantly reply to my messages. As far as I know, the signal in town is extremely fast. Now spit it out. What have you been up to?"
John's mind raced. As much as he hated it, he'd have to lie to her. He couldn't risk her finding out about Spectre, because then she'd want to investigate and that would defeat the purpose of joining Spectre to begin with. He decided to tell her part of the truth, in that case.
"I've been... really depressed lately," he said. "I've been thinking about a lot of things and sometimes I just need to be alone. Sera, there are a lot of things I haven't told you. Things that I'm afraid you'll hate me for."
Seraphina's composure relaxed. She couldn't blame him for having depression. It's not like he could help it. She noticed him fidget with his wrist, squeezing it slightly. She reached out and took his hand in hers, causing him to get a little flustered.
"John," she said, looking deep into his eyes and pouring out every ounce of emotion from her heart directly into his. "I could never hate you. Whatever you've done in the past, it can't be so bad that I'd hate you." She looked into his eyes deeper. "I could never." She repeated.
"You don't know that," he replied softly. "I've done things you'd be horrified to hear about. And because of it, I've hurt myself. I've tried to kill myself because of the things I've done." He rolled up his sleeve and showed her the self-harm scars on his left wrist.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She ran her fingers across his wrist, feeling the scars. A tear fell down her cheek. "John," she muttered. "You should've told me about this earlier. I don't hate you. I sympathize with you. I've had urges to do this too. With how abusive my parents are and after my sister left me to endure the pain alone, I thought about ending it too."
"Don't say that," he said. "Please, don't tell me you've done the same things. It's enough that I have these feelings, I don't want you to as well."
"John, I haven't done anything, I promise," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it slightly. "I won't ever do anything. I love you too much to put you through that—" she stopped. She covered her mouth, realizing what she'd just said. "I-I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to say that."
He stared at her. "Sera," he said, taking her hand from her face and holding it in his own. "It's okay. I didn't know you felt that way, but," he paused. "I do too."
She looked up at him. "You do?"
"Yes," he said, a tear rolling down his own cheek. "I do feel the same way. I have since we became friends. I've just never had the guts to tell you."
"That's okay," she said. "Neither did I. But I'm glad you know now."
"Me too," he replied, touching her cheek with the back of his hand. "Sera there's something else I haven't told you about."
"What is it?"
"The real reason I haven't been responding is because I have been going through dead zones," he confessed. "The people who kidnapped me last week gave me an offer to join them if I could keep you and my other friends here at Wellston safe. They disabled my ability and the only way to get it back was to join them. I have to report there for a couple hours every day after school and that's why I haven't been responding."
"That's... not what I was expecting to hear."
"There's one more thing," he said. "I've met your sister."
Her eyes widened at the mention of her sister. Another tear rolled off her cheek and she squeezed his hand tightly. "What?"
"She works for Spectre as well and I'm helping her with a plot to take down one of the leaders."
She broke down into tears, the memories of her sister leaving. He knelt down with her and held her close to him, running his fingers through her hair to comfort her.
"Why hasn't she contacted me?" she asked shakily. "Why hasn't she come to see me if she was so close? Why, John? Why?"
He held her tighter, realizing that they were more alike than he had thought. "I don't know," he said. "If you want to see her I can arrange a meeting with her. I'll do anything to make you feel better, Sera."
"No," she said. "I'm not ready to face her yet." She sniffled and wiped the tears from her face, clinging to him tighter. "I love you. I love you so much."
His heart pounded. "I love you too," he said. "I really, really do."
He just sat with her. Holding her and letting her let everything out. He listened silently to her problems and he comforted her when he needed to, reminding her that he loved her whenever she started crying again.
Their relationship had been officially redefined. It wasn't so simple anymore. There was a deep and complex love between them now. He would do anything for her. He would have before their feelings had been confessed, but he'd be so much readier to do it now that it was all out.
For the first time in years, he finally didn't feel like a monster. He found someone who made him realize that he wasn't. And he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.
- - -
Isen heard a knock at his door. He rolled his eyes to himself, knowing that it was probably Blyke and Remi again. Coming to beg for him back to rebuild their friendship. He didn't want to hear it. It had been almost a month since he started ghosting them. It was the happiest he'd been since they started their whole vigilante thing. He didn't want anything to do with those two anymore.
"Isen!" Blyke's muffled voice called from the other side of the door. "If you don't answer the door, I'm gonna shoot it down."
Isen rolled his eyes again and got up, walking over to the door and opening it. "What the hell do you two want?" he snapped.
"Isen," Remi said calmly. "We're not here to try to convince you to rejoin our team again. This is purely a school-related matter."
"Fine," he said. "Come in." He turned around and went back to sit on his bed.
"Isen, I've been working on a little project. I've run this idea by Mr. Keene and he already approved it. I had an idea during our vigilante stuff about a school club where anyone in the school can join and just hang out after school. I call it the Safe House." She handed him a piece of paper.
He read over the words, his face twisting in disgust. "What the hell is this supposed to be?"
"It's a flier!" she said proudly.
"This ain't no flier!" he exclaimed. "This is a freaking essay! Blyke, hand me my computer, I need to make a new one from scratch!"
"Hold on, Isen," Blyke said. "If you wanna redesign the flier, that would mean you're working with us. I thought you said you didn't want to have anything to do with us."
Isen realized what he'd just fallen for. "Damn it," he said, unable to keep the smile from forming. "You two bastards tricked me into rekindling our friendship. I hate you guys." He laughed to himself.
"Love you too, buddy!" Blyke replied, punching him softly on the shoulder before turning around to grab his laptop and handed it to him.
Isen immediately opened his computer and got to work on remaking the flier. "Alright, I can't stay mad at you too. Consider us friends again," he said. He paused for a minute and looked up from his screen. "But, I will by no means be going back out into the field with you two, and I don't want to hear anything about it either. You can keep doing it if you're really that suicidal, but I won't have anything to do with it."
"You've got yourself a deal," Remi said, grinning wide. "We won't talk about our time out with Kuyo anymore, if that's what it takes to get you to keep being friends with us."
"Yeah," Isen said. "Anyways, this whole Safe House idea is really interesting! I think it's something the school really needs."
"Thanks! I was thinking about trying to convince some others to come join with us to watch over the club to make sure no fights break out. Obviously, there's us three, but maybe we could get Arlo, John, Seraphina, Elaine and some others on board."
"Good luck with Arlo," Isen said sarcastically. "But John and Seraphina would definitely be on board! John's always voiced his stance on equality and the two of them are inseparable, so she'd be there too."
"We can all agree it's super obvious they're crushing on each other, right?" Blyke said abruptly. The whole room went silent. Remi and Isen just stared at him blankly. "What?"
"Where the hell did that come from, dude?" Isen chided.
"Well, it's obvious, right? They spend every waking hour with each other, and it's very clear that they're not happy when they're not together. It's super obvious to me."
"Now that I think about it," Remi said. "I sort of agree." She gasped, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Oh my gosh! I need to set them up on a date!"
Blyke and Isen looked at each other. "Girls," they said in unison, chuckling with each other.
The three of them were happy to be back together. Laughing and joking like they used to. It seemed that for everyone in Wellston, things were starting to look back up.
Will it stay that way, though?
. . .
Le bonus
Ezra
Ability: Slingshot
Level: 2.7 (4.1)
Power (4) (6)
Speed (2) (3)
Trick (2) (3)
Recovery (1) (2)
Defense (1) (2)
Steve
Ability: Ray Shield
Level: 3.2 (4.8)
Power (2) (3)
Speed (1) (2)
Trick (2) (3)
Recovery (1) (2)
Defense (5) (7)
Diego
Ability: Conjure: Chains
Level: 3.6 (5.4)
Power (3) (4)
Speed (2) (3)
Trick (5) (7)
Recovery (2) (3)
Defense (2) (3)