Although it wasn't my first time in a cop car, it was definitely the first time I had thrown up in one. My nerves got the better of me not long after they slammed the doors shut in my face. Not my proudest moment of course, but I was pretty well past caring at this point.

Both the sirens and the lights had been shut off, which was good for my sanity, but it didn't take me long to start wondering where we were going after that. The car had gotten onto the highway and taken the big bridge out of the city, over the bay, and up towards the surrounding rural area. It wasn't long until we were surrounded by trees and trailer parks.

"Hey, uh, officers? Where are we going?" I asked. The police station was certainly not this way.

The bigger cop answered. "We're on special orders from Maximal. We answer directly to him."

"That doesn't sound very legal," I said, offering a hesitant laugh. "Aren't you supposed to process me at the station? I mean, I don't know which laws I broke exactly, considering nobody served my draft papers yet, but I think beating up a dog and streaking probably counts."

The smaller cop was even less forthcoming. "These are the orders."

"Okay, I just..." I trailed off. There was nothing I could really do here. Though my horizons had certainly expanded today, I was still just me. Being able to take a punch was, all things considered, not that big of a change. Who was I kidding? If I had offensive powers, I wouldn't be using them here anyway. For all my socially critical rebel-talk, I was no villain in the making. I was a gas station clerk.

Besides, I was getting progressively distracted by my skin. What I had thought was a residual ache of pain from having been lit on fire earlier was escalating into a maddening itch. My fingernails raked and raked over it in the dark back seat of the cruiser, and I tried not to be too frantic.

All of a sudden I couldn't trust my body. I didn't have control and I didn't know exactly what was going on. It was without a doubt one of the most disturbing realizations I'd ever had. For all I knew, I was about to explode into a swarm of spiders and roaches. I wouldn't be the first! Those kinds of Powers existed and there was always at least one bastard unlucky enough to have them. Today would just be that kind of day...

To calm myself, I rubbed at my temples and breathed deep. Maybe I should consider trying to break out the windows and escape, I thought? They had done the hard work of getting me out of the city. In the woods, I could have a much easier time of it. Diving from the cruiser at fifty miles an hour couldn't hurt too much, I figured.

There was the matter of whether I was actually strong enough to break the windows, however. Not to mention the problem that my handcuffs posed. 

It was a fantasy anyway. Time had just run out.

The cruiser gradually came to a stop on a lonely gravel road. There wasn't a sign of civilization in sight. Pine trees filled the surrounding area and a little lake sat nearby. Overall, the property made for a nice sight in the cool, murky air. I might have appreciated it more under different circumstances.

As they pulled me from the car, I aired my concerns. "You guys seem really smart," I said. "But I'm getting the major vibe that you're bringing me out here to kill me. But I think to myself, there's no way because that would be a really protracted process at best. At worst, it might not even be possible for you!"

"Shut it," the smaller one ordered. He had been pushing me from behind but stopped at the edge of the lake. With a swift kick to the back of my leg, he had me on my knees.

The feeling of imminent mobster style execution was growing. "Look! If you try this, it won't go well! You'll regret it," I said. "All of us will regret it."

Both of the officers stopped what they were doing. That had been the best bluff I could muster, but it merely served to bring us to an awkward pause.

In the distance, the deep darkness of night was just beginning to soften with the first signs of dusk.

After thinking for a second, the bigger one asked, "But why wait? Why let us come all the way out here if you had another choice?"

"It might need harm to trigger offensively," his diminutive friend suggested. "What do you think? Could still be hedging his bets."

I suddenly realized this was a conversation the two of them were having not with me, but with each other. They were cautious, but my bluff had added nothing here. Their task remained the same, and I was beginning to get a hint of what it was.

"Risk assessment!" I shouted. "That's what you're doing, isn't it? First thing you do is get me out of a populated area, right? That's clever!" I was desperate. I just needed to get them talking. Anything to break the momentum of where this was going.

Before I could react, though, one of the officers cold-cocked me with his pistol. For a moment I lost sight, crashing down by the edge of the lake. Yet, the effects subsided fast enough for me to make my attempt at avoiding another strike, wriggling away in the dirt. My bound hands went up, helplessly.

Big man chastised his partner. "That's enough. Back up. He knows the procedure. Maybe he's been through it before?"

His partner agreed. "Seeming more and more likely. With those changes, too, he's probably a shifter."

"What?" I cut in, sitting up. "What changes?!"

The big boy quickly whipped out his flashlight and shined it over me. "Don't play dumb." He was now a good twenty feet away. "You've prepared for what comes next."

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My mind raced while I squinted into the light. Then, it hit me. "It's not just the danger of my Powers..." I said. Slowly, I turned to look at the treeline, and I saw them. "You're trying to manage collateral damage. That's why you took me out here. Away from the city, to the middle of nowhere. For a fight."

Three caped crusaders moved briskly towards me as the cops retreated. I recognized Maximal at the front, his costume still singed from the fire. He was the one which had started this whole unbelievable nightmare, right along with the villain. 

He was moving with a singular purpose. I could hear him barking his orders. "We do this fast. Hit and move back. Avoid his blood. We end this fast."

"For Christ's sake!" I bellowed. "You call yourself Heroes!?"

When the cops had gotten far enough away for my eyes to readjust, I could make out the other two with Maximal. Ironbolt, a blue and white suit, and Egregore, hers being purple and white. These were the three heavy hitters of the entire state, and the only ones fast enough to show on short notice.

Their leader spoke. "Walter, you're a dangerous liar. What we're doing here is for the common good."

As it dawned on me that nothing could change his mind, those words echoed through me. "The common good?" I asked. Like a dam breaking, as death became almost certain, my bitterness finally overcame my fear. "You're really going to tell me about your reluctant utilitarian decision to murder me? You gonna justify that to yourself, old man? Well, you can go right to hell. Do you hear me? The very ninth circle, you bastard! Because you're a betrayal to even the stupidest little shits that still have faith in the name of Heroes."

Stoic as always, Maximal laid out his facts. "It was a bad stroke of luck for you. A shifter like yourself can go decades unnoticed, but one day walks in Old Hickory, top ten wanted in the state. The worst of the draw, I say. Then, he forces you to show your hand. You have no choice but to kill him."

My blood ran cold. "W- what?" 

"You splayed his head open like there was a firecracker that went off in it. But I'm guessing that Power of yours needs time to charge because you couldn't finish the job with me. After that, I was certain we'd lost you. The city is just too big. But wouldn't you know it, luck abides with the righteous."

"What can I possibly say to a man like you? I'm not trying to lie to you, Maximal, but you don't care. I didn't kill that guy, you did. You tackled us both into the fire because you didn't care about one casualty, and now you're making sure nobody else knows. No witnesses! Not on your crusade. So I'll say it again..." I sat back and tried to relax. I wanted to die with dignity. Though no one would ever see it who cared, my resolve would show it. "There's nothing I can say to you or your lackeys. The truth can be silenced with violence, sure, but eventually, you'll get yours." They weren't the best last words, but they would have to do.

At Maximal's side, Egregore spoke her mind. "Well, that's me stumped. You don't need a reader to know this kid is in way over his head, boss."

"Ironbolt?" Maximal asked. 

He spoke quick and curt. "Stranger things have happened."

"So we have a problem, then." In his white dandies, Maximal moved by himself until he was close to me. There wasn't a hint of fear in his voice as he explained. "This was the only way we could be sure of your real intentions. A man's true colors are only known in the face of death, and you stood by your truth. That by no means clears your name, but it's a few points in the column of idiot over psychopathic liar."

None of this made sense. I tried to sort it all out, but it only got worse and worse as I counted the dots. Far in the distance, the sun had risen enough that day was really setting in. That new light delivered to me the final piece of the puzzle. In it, I could see why they had called me a Shifter, and I suddenly understood the cost of my Power.

With each scratch, my skin had been peeling away. It tore off to reveal a parasite crawling its way out from the deep bowels of flesh. My Power was the parasite, and my body was its prison. In the damages of the fire, it had finally overcome the strained defenses of my healing. 

Thick scales were bursting up through skin that had peeled and crumbled. A permanent mutation had arisen in my body in response to great stress. Standing at once and turning around to see myself in the lake's water, I didn't care if the Heroes were startled. I had to see it.

I was emaciated. I must have lost thirty pounds in a single night. My visage was charred and grotesque. The scales were a mixture of dark colors that formed an angry motley of reds and blacks. They extended up to my face, where my nose had rotted off and my hair fallen away.

No one would ever look at me the same way again. 

"Is this my power?" I asked, hands shaking with rage.

"Often," Maximal said, "we go into Powered situations blind. Over the years you have to develop a sense for the underlying logic of Powers, to quickly get a grasp on what you're up against. With you, I have a harder time. You're so new to your abilities. It's likely that we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg." Speaking back to his teammates, he added, "Which is why I am still in favor of neutralization, here. He's no good to us. Certainly not like this."

"He could learn to control it," Ironbolt said. "I have the equipment."

Egregore agreed. "Everyone deserves a chance, boss."

"You're both soft. You didn't see his offensive capabilities like I did. If this blows up in our face, we may not get another chance like this. To do it cleanly and safely."

"Do it," I mocked. With a turn, I faced him. "Say what you mean," I demanded.

Maximal smirked. "Do you remember when people used to talk about gun control? The hysteria that existed around the power granted to an individual to kill... what was the record in America, Ironbolt?"

"Las Vegas. Fifty-nine killed, more than five hundred injured. Motives unknown."

"I say neutralize, Walter, because you are the weapon. Those numbers are nothing in the face of what any one of us could do, completely unarmed, undetectable, and unstoppable. All of us are walking weapons, and for society's sake, there can be no right to that kind of power. Get that through your head, kid. Your very life is a privilege. It must be sanctioned!"

I almost wanted to fight. With everything he said, I was getting angry enough to try. My humanity was marred, now, because of him and his pathetic ego. A battle to the death wasn't so scary anymore. "You're scum," I said, and I took a dangerous step forward. 

Ironbolt was at his side in a flash. "I have the facilities," he insisted, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "If anything goes wrong, he can be atomized. We only have to get him to the holding area, and I will take it from there."

Maximal grit his teeth. "And are you willing to take responsibility for what happens if things go wrong around the citizenry? The potential casualties?"

"Yes." Ironbolt had made his bet.

If I did have any offensive Powers, I had no idea how to use them. Maybe I could figure it out.

But not today.

Slowly, my fists relaxed. My rational mind got the better of me. "I just want to live, man. I want us all to just treat each other like human beings."

Without a word, Maximal turned away. He whispered one more thing in Ironbolt's ear and with that, he took off. The sonic boom cracked a second later, leaving all of us in the dust. The cops had already left some time ago, which meant that it was only the three of us now, standing around after having just discussed my execution.

Egregore took off as well, giving only a nod. Though she couldn't break the sound barrier, she was gone in an instant nonetheless.

"Thanks," I said. "For sticking up for me, I mean."

"Follow me. There's work that needs to be done on you yet."