Why would you lie to us? Why would you lie to the entire world? We trusted you.

Danny shuffled closer to their flag, listening to the sounds of Firestrike fighting Gary just outside. The room that held the flag was just a simple cube, constructed from the same deep blue training material that the rest of the course was. Danny had seen it blasted apart countless times, but a sprinkle of Gamma and it was back to normal. So cool.

The room had doors on each side, as well as an open ceiling. It meant that you could hide inside for an ambush, but also couldn’t watch every direction for someone coming in for a flag grab. Danny has been relegated to defense after several…incidents with his powers, when he tried to capture the other team’s flag on his own. Apparently destroying the building the flag was in, and the flag, and a taco kiosk behind the arena, was ‘frowned upon’.

More than frowned upon the second time.

It had been two and half months since Legacy had taken him to the tower for training. In that time he’d received eight increasingly disappointed messages from Vincent, been involved in 27 incidents where he’d damaged the tower–wait, 28, that fire was totally my fault, I wonder if they know that?– and worse, it felt like he hadn’t gotten any better at being a Power Shaper.

He had gotten way more dangerous though. His KD said he was Initiate 9, but his Mimic power had already reached Reactive 1. Apparently using it all day, every day was showing serious results. Unfortunately, while Danny had hoped it would result in greater control over his powers, it actually just let him Mimic an even greater degree of his target’s strength. Thus, exploding taco kiosk. Damn I miss those tacos.

Through it all Legacy had been endlessly supportive. He insisted he was just as bad when he first got his own powers, the only difference was that his ‘accidents’ just killed more Invaders. Zero taco casualties. Unfortunately the rest of the Tower was less understanding.

The Chief admin, Mrs. Gibson, who’d been so welcoming the day he’d arrived, now had a special expression she saved just for him. It was a look that simultaneously said ‘I value all super children’ and ‘you are ruining my life you absolute piss-ant’. Danny respected her range.

The people who worked at the tower either loved him or hated him. He had a good relationship with a lot of the support staff, and enjoyed chatting the days away with them now and then. The office workers, however, were not his fans. Something about a column of deadly energy piercing into the building. Some people were impossible to please.

Still, their feelings were nothing compared to the Young Infinity trainees, who were all growing sick of him. Even Gary and Erica barely bothered to hide their irritation anymore. Too many training accidents. Too much friendly fire. He may have walked into the wrong showers once. Just unavoidable accidents, all around.

It was to the point that he was making them all look bad, and he knew it. Some NGG General–an ‘NGGG’ as Danny had called the man…to his face…had come to evaluate them. The rest of the team had been showing off their various skill sets quite impressively. Erica was lifting impossible weights, Nell was lighting just about everything on fire, while Gary threw things in the air with his mind, and Charles blew them up with shockwaves.

It was fine until NGGG asked to see Danny’s powers. Apparently the first natural Power Shaper in a century was someone that Generals with no sense of humor would be made aware of. The first part was fine, as Danny had made a simple, stable shield in the training area. Then the NGGG has asked him to make a construct, the way Legacy did.

Legacy had amazing control. He practiced by making copies of real people and moving them around like puppets. Danny, had tried to make a ball. In his defense, he succeeded. Less defensible was when he tried to ‘toss’ the ball to the General. Frankly the guy was a bit of a complainer. Gary caught him with his mind powers before he’d fallen more than a hundred feet off the side of the Tower.

Either way, it had all left Danny feeling worse and worse about himself, which only made his control even less reliable. Now it had become standard for their five-person team to put him on whichever team was going to have three people…because he was a liability.

And so here he was, leaning against the K-Tech training wall, listening to the real supers fight just outside. He let out a long sigh, then coughed when his next breath was scalding hot. Oh joy, it looks like Nell won. A bout of flame burst through the ceiling, filling the small room and exploding out the four doors. The flag was untouched, of course, more K-Tech wonders.

Nell fell through the ceiling a moment later, and as usual Danny felt conflicted when he saw her. On the one hand she was an enormous asshole. On the other hand, her super suit was skin-tight red spandex. It was presumably fire-proof, but that would be way down on the list of ways he’d describe it.

“Oh look, it’s the reject,” she said. Stupid, sexy jerk. “Think you can try to stop me without killing me, your teammates, and half the tower while doing it?” Flames burst to life in her hands, and Danny fed more energy into the shield he’d reflexively wrapped around himself.

“Probably!” he shouted back defiantly.

This is it, he thought, one more opportunity to prove I’m not a total screw-up. Just do what Legacy taught you. Clear your mind. Focus only on your goal. Nell unleashed all the fire she had from only a few paces away. It was possible–even likely–that Danny’s shield would be enough to protect him. But she didn’t need to beat him, just distract him and leave with the flag. Danny couldn’t be passive, he needed to act.

He thought about what he wanted to achieve, willing the energy that surrounded him to reshape itself. He needed to redirect the continuous blast of flames out of the gap in the ceiling, giving him a window to engage with Nell directly. He had to push his thoughts away from his first idea, which was to form barriers right over her hands. Some very nice teachers at the Tower had informed him that volatile energy needed somewhere to go, and if he just captured it, it would explode. In this case, likely obliterating Nell’s arms. That would be bad.

So he focused on his makeshift chimney, funneling the scorching flames upward in a growing cylinder of power. Oh my god, it’s working. I’m doing it. I’m freaking doing it! He and Nell were both looking upward, equally surprised by the artful and effective neutralization of her destructive powers.

Nell’s expression showed her fury, and blonde hair spilled out over her face as she intensified her attack. Danny almost laughed, so relieved to finally see his power doing something other than making him a scared turtle or the butt of every joke. He looked up in satisfaction when the increased firepower did nothing to weaken his construct.

The corridor of flame was now more than thirty feet in the air above the training yard, and Danny watched the flames erupting outward where his construct ended. Okay, I did it. I did it! Now I just need to figure out what to do next. Then celebration. I’ve earned it this time. Wait, gotta focus! Focus, focus, focus–how should I celebrate? Well I am starving. Oh hey, my construct kind of looks like a giant corn dog. I should celebrate with a–oh no. Oh shit no.

His concentration had broken, and worse, in a way directly related to how he was shaping his power. The massive chimney, open on one end to vent the enormous build-up of power harmlessly above them, suddenly sealed over. The now corn dog-shaped cylinder of energy began to throb and warp as the power within it grew with nowhere to go.

Nell’s flames abruptly extinguished as she looked up at Danny’s creation. “What the hell did you just do?” she whispered.

No time, no time, no time! he thought as he leapt forward, flattening Nell to the ground while conjuring the most powerful shield over them he could. Even as he fed all the energy he had into it, he could still feel the intense heat as the explosion roared to life above them.

Danny’s eyes were squeezed shut, and though his shield blocked out most of the sound from outside, he could still hear Nell screaming directly into his ear from underneath him. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” Fair.

At some point he’d blacked out, no doubt having pushed his powers too far. When he opened his eyes, he was alone, and lying on his side. Pushing himself into a sitting position, he was relieved to see that only the top of the training structure had been…well, annihilated from existence by the explosion. Apparently he’d managed to push the accidental bomb high enough to not damage the tower itself.

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Looking around he saw that the flag was gone, however, and squinting he could see Nell and Charles celebrating their easy victory on the other side of the arena. Gary and Erica were off to one side, sending twin glares in Danny’s direction.

They’d lost, and it was his fault. As usual. Even when he did something right, somehow he let it all go wrong.

***

“It wasn’t that bad,” Legacy lied transparently, before taking another bite of ice cream. They were on a platform of energy hovering a hundred feet or so over the Tower, looking out across the rolling hills of the city. The sun was high in the sky, and floating between the Earth and the clouds left Danny feeling blessedly detached from reality, just like Legacy had intended.

“They told me they have to stop serving corn dogs at the Tower. Forever. Mrs. Gibson said that the sight is too traumatizing for most of the staff at this point.”

“That might be for the best,” Legacy replied, looking at him with concern. “You were eating so many of those things that I was genuinely worried you might die.”

Danny laughed, but cut off when he realized Legacy’s expression had remained serious. “Oh. I didn’t think it was that many.”

“We had an intervention planned,” Legacy replied. “But enough about that. I keep telling you that this will take time, but I think there’s another problem. My powers–our powers–aren’t subtle. That kind of mastery will come later, but I didn’t get where I am by taking a thousand tiny, careful actions. I got here by charging in ahead of the others, taking out anything in my way.”

Danny looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “You think I need to be more aggressive? I’m already too worried about hurting someone.”

“Not aggressive. Confident. Assertive. You always have a shield around you. You’re always holding back, then when you finally let go it’s everything you have all at once. I’m sorry kid, but you fight like you’re scared. You fight like you’re used to standing behind someone else.”

Images of Vincent flashed through Danny’s mind and he looked away. Legacy was right. Danny was used to hiding behind someone. Someone who always had the answers, always had a plan, and didn’t seem to know fear existed. When Danny had arrived at the Farm, he’d felt like he’d been torn out of his life and thrown away like garbage. The weird brainy kid who could stare down an army had been like a shield for Danny to hide behind.

Now he had a real shield, one just as powerful, and he hid behind that one too.

Legacy was staring at him oddly. “I think it’s my fault,” he finally said. “I’m hovering over you, not letting you become your own person. Maybe I should back off, give you room to become something other than ‘Legacy’s Ward’.”

“No way!” Danny replied immediately. “It’s really not you, I swear it’s–” Can’t say who it really is. Can’t be who I really am. “It’s Nightshade. I’m still dealing with that whole situation. It weighs on me…and I’m just, you know, still getting used to standing on my own.”

Legacy’s face cringed and he audibly slapped his own forehead. “Of course it’s Nightshade. I’m such a fool. A self-involved fool as Allison would be quick to point out. I’m sorry Daniel, I should have realized. I get so hyper fixated on our powers that I have a hard time remembering there’s a whole world of crap out there.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Danny said hastily. “I’m doing better, really. It’s just gonna take time.” Maybe now that he had a hint of the real problem, things really would improve. He’d relied on Vincent so long that–Oh shit, right. Vincent. Plan. Mission. I am a great spy. “Maybe we can talk about something else?”

Legacy smiled, seeming relieved. “Sure, I have all day. What’s on your mind?”

What indeed? He’d been in this situation before, but could never think of a normal way to steer a conversation toward secret space guns. To hell with it, I’ll start at the beginning if I have to. “How did you get your powers?” he asked. The propaganda told a certain story, but Danny was suspicious enough of the NGG not to trust it at this point.

“Whoa, that’s an old story. You really wanna hear about those days?”

“Are you kidding me? Do I really want to hear about the Great Hero and the invasion and the birth of the first Heroes and the triumph of mankind, all from someone who was actually there? Yes. Yes I do.”

Legacy laughed, leaning back on the disc of energy and kicking his legs as they dangled over the edge, seeming oddly childlike for a moment. “I guess I’m used to assuming that people are tired of an old man’s stories. You can’t understand what it’s like seeing multiple generations of people grow old and die in your lifetime. At first everyone knew everything I’d been through. They’d seen it. But after a while…”

He looked up at the clouds drifting overhead. “People would ask me questions all the time, and I never thought about it, just told my stories. Then one day it was a question from someone who’d been born after the war had ended. Seemed like only a few years later that it was people who’d heard about the Invasion from their grandparents. Then from history books. Then just highlight reels from that god-awful Pledge.”

Danny did a double-take. “You don’t like the Pledge?”

Legacy barked a laugh. “The NGG does whatever it takes to keep the world united. I…respect that, as much as I can. But they’re telling a very colorful story about a very dark time.”

Danny considered that. “Was the Great Hero not what they say he was?”

Legacy smiled. “James was so much more than they say, and maybe a little less at the same time.”

“I’ve heard you say that name before, that’s not really–”

“James Snyder. Dutch immigrant. Born during the Great War. Shitty at cards. Great Hero. You can see why they shortened the title.” He chuckled. “But yes, that was James. He’d be the first one to tell you he was just a man. More than hating the ‘Great Hero’ mantle, he actually used to say he was a Villain.”

“What?” Danny almost yelled. The Great Hero was more myth than man. This was like hearing that Santa was a murderer.

“Oh yes. Maybe even the Great Villain. You see, he did everything they said: he saved the world. But he did it by committing genocide against an entire species. And he made decisions every day that cost the lives of millions of innocent people.”

“What kind of decisions?” Danny asked quietly.

“Who to save. He was still one man, even at the height of his power, and he could only be in one place at a time. But the whole world was a battlefield in those days. If he saved France, then Poland would fall. If he went to Russia, then people in Africa were slaughtered. When he went to Canada to try to save his family, he was abandoning a billion people to the Invaders.”

“I never thought about it like that,” Danny whispered. “My whole life it’s been this big triumph. One man saving us all.”

“And that’s what it was. He did push back the invaders, but we lost most of the world while he did it. You asked how I got my powers, that was how. James knew he couldn’t do it on his own. At first he would entirely clear an area, needing every last scrap to grow strong enough to challenge the next Kingdom. But after a couple of years he couldn’t hide his actions anymore.”

“What do you mean hide? How did he wipe out entire countries worth of aliens without anyone noticing?”

Legacy shook his head. “I forget how little they actually teach on the farms. The Invaders weren’t really fighting humanity. That would be like you waging war on an anthill. What they actually did was claim Earth as their territory. They dropped in from that stupid rock of theirs, and the most powerful of them carved out their own little realms. Then they warred with each other.”

“I’ve never heard anything like that,” Danny said.

“It’s not as inspiring a narrative, I suppose, but it’s the truth. Invader Kingdoms were rising and falling every day. Presumably they thought the ones James took out were just more of the same. At least at first.

“Like I said, eventually they took notice, and he needed to move faster. So he found us, the ‘Originals’ they call us now, but we were just the first Adepts he managed to find before we exploded. Kids really.”

“Right,” Danny said sympathetically. “No harnesses back then.”

“Exactly. He had to hold us together personally while we figured out our powers. Made things even harder that I was the only one who was even slightly similar to him, the only one he could really teach. Mender was a pleasant surprise to everyone, of course. And asshole or not, Tecnico’s inventions changed everything. Sage–”

“Wait, Sage?” Danny asked, suspecting but not certain.

“Right,” Legacy replied sadly. “They’ve done a good job erasing every trace of that name, but Sage was the first Psychic. We fought alongside her for years. Decades, really.”

“And you trusted her?” Danny asked before he could stop himself. Even with Lucia being like a sister to him, the danger and mystery of Psychics had been pounded into him since he was a child. Thankfully Legacy didn’t seem offended.

“We did. She was right next to us, taking down Invaders. Once we were capable of controlling ourselves without his help, James would take out an Invader Alpha–one of their ‘Kings’ you could say–and we’d go in and mop up. He’d move on, and we’d clean up the rabble. Back then Sage was as much of a Hero as any of us.”

“Weren’t you scared of her, you know, messing with your minds?”

Legacy got a distant expression then, and it was a long moment before he answered. “She said she couldn’t, and we believed her. The bond you form in the trenches…I can’t even explain it. But…”

“But?” Danny prompted after the man didn’t continue.

“But we wouldn’t have known, would we?” he said, and Danny felt a chill run down his spine, despite the sun feeling closer than ever from their high vantage. He considered everything that Legacy had said. He was so close to a subject that might actually lead to the information he was sent here for, but Legacy obviously wasn’t in the right headspace to keep talking about the Psychics.

Trying to find something related–but less controversial–a question popped into his head. “Hey Legacy, what did the Invaders actually look like? Cameras didn’t work on them back then, so…?”

Suddenly Legacy’s entire countenance shifted, and he grinned. “Now that is an interesting question. And how’s this for an answer: want to go see one?”