Chapter 28: Legends in the Shadows

The Academy’s sprawling complex was a maze of sterile hallways and imposing walls. To the outside world, it was a place of order and discipline, where young metahumans were brought to master their abilities and become useful members of society. But beneath the polished surface, whispers spread like wildfire.

The general student population had heard talk of the new arrivals—two metahumans the survivors of the Galewood explosion. The names Jake Foster and Levi Blackwell had begun circulating among the students like a whispered legend, though none of them had actually seen either boy.

In the sleek cafeteria, where metahumans of various abilities gathered to eat in carefully monitored groups, the air was thick with speculation. Dana Wright, sitting across from Rory Blake, leaned in close, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

“You’ve heard the rumors, right?” she whispered, her voice low enough to avoid the ears of the guards stationed along the walls.

Rory glanced around, his hands tightening around his tray. “About the two new guys?” he asked. “Yeah, everyone’s talking about them.”

“They’re saying one of them—Jake—was the one responsible for Galewood,” Dana said, lowering her voice even further. “That he can absorb energy… and when he lost control, the entire city went up in flames.”

Rory shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. “But it’s just a rumor, right? No one really knows for sure.”

Dana shrugged, her eyes narrowing. “Maybe. But why else would the Academy keep them locked away? They’re can’t be like the rest of us if they’re actually here.”

Meanwhile, Jake Foster sat alone in his stark, windowless room, his back pressed against the wall as he stared up at the ceiling. The silence was suffocating, broken only by the faint hum of the cameras that watched his every move.

Weeks had passed since his arrival at the Academy, and in all that time, he hadn’t seen a single face outside of the guards and the scientists who ran the place. No visitors. Just cold, sterile isolation.

Jake didn’t need anyone to tell him what the Academy thought of him. He was a liability, a weapon they hadn’t yet figured out how to control. And until they did, they were probably going to keep him locked away like an animal in a cage.

His mind drifted back to Galewood—to the explosion, the chaos, the fire. He had lost control, and in an instant, everything had been wiped away. He had felt it—the raw energy spiraling out of him, unstoppable, destructive.

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And now, here he was, in this place, where every moment was a reminder of that damn failure.

He hadn’t seen Levi in weeks. The last time they’d been together was just after the explosion, and even then, Levi had been barely conscious. Jake had pulled him through the wreckage, his body limp and unresponsive. But somehow, Levi had survived. He was almost afraid when he thought about how Levi would react if they ever do see each other.

Jake clenched his fists, the faint buzz of energy crackling in his palms. He wasn’t sure if Levi even wanted to survive. Something had changed in him after Galewood. He wasn’t sure if he was the same Levi who had been his best friend for years. And Jake wasn’t sure what that meant—for either of them.

Across the complex, in another high-security room, Levi Blackwell leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. The white walls of his cell were a far cry from the chaos of the outside world, but in some strange way, he found them comforting. They were a barrier—a wall between him and everything else.

It had been awhile since the explosion, and Levi still felt… nothing. The Academy had been running their usual tests, poking and prodding at him to see how his powers worked, trying to understand why he had survived when so many others hadn’t.

But Levi didn’t care about their questions. He was more curious about why he felt so empty. Ever since that day, when the emotions of hundreds of thousands of people had crashed into him all at once, something inside him had broken. Or maybe it had just… shifted.

He could still feel the emotions of others, sense their pain, their fear—but it was distant now, like hearing an echo in a cavernous space. It didn’t affect him the way it used to. It was as if someone had turned the dial down, muting the world around him.

And Levi found it ironic that, despite all the tests and all the questions, the Academy hadn’t figured out the one thing he had known for weeks: He just simply didn’t care anymore.

Dr. Evelyn Mercer sat behind her polished desk, reviewing the latest test results on both Jake and Levi. Her assistant, Mariane Kyros, stood nearby, her arms folded as she scanned the screens.

“Foster’s control is improving,” Mariane noted, her voice detached. “But his power levels are still dangerous. He’s holding back, but if he loses control again…”

Mercer nodded, her eyes narrowing. “I know. That’s why we’re keeping him isolated for now. If he so much as slips, we’re looking at another catastrophe.”

“And Blackwell?” Mariane asked, glancing at the screen displaying Levi’s data. “His abilities are… difficult to measure. He doesn’t react the way we expect him to. It’s as if he’s become…”

“Indifferent,” Mercer finished for her. “He must have absorbed too much during the explosion. The emotional overload seems to have dulled his responses. He’s still dangerous, but in a different way.”

Mariane frowned, tapping her fingers against her arm. “And yet, he survived. There’s something we’re missing.”

Mercer stood, pacing toward the large window that overlooked the training grounds. The students below moved in orderly lines, completely unaware of the danger that lurked in the high-security wing.

“We’ll figure it out,” Mercer said softly. “They’re the key to something bigger. We just need to push them… until they break.”

Rory Blake sat in the Academy’s common area, glancing nervously at the other students around him. The rumors about Jake and Levi had only grown over the past few weeks, and every time someone mentioned their names, the tension in the room seemed to rise.

“They say they’re still being kept in the high-security wing,” Dana whispered, leaning closer to Rory. “I even heard one of the guards talking about it. Apparently, they’ve been running tests on them..”

Rory nodded, his stomach twisting with unease. “Why isn’t that dangerous, what if they lose control?”

Dana shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m just telling you what I hear you know how rumors are…”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but Rory didn’t need her to.But the thought of someone with that kind of power walking around the Academy made him a bit scared in all honesty. And Levi—well, if the rumors were true, Levi was just as bad, if not worse. Empaths? That kind of power was terrifying. You’d never know if your feelings were really your own.

“They’re more than just dangerous,” Rory murmured. “They’re scary.”