"Switch to Perfect slugs!" a soldier shouted from the entrance. "Suck on this you fucking freaks!"

Dashuan watched in horror as the first volley tore through the group of Aberrants he'd been trying to protect with no effect from his powers. Bodies fell, powers flickering out like candles in an intense storm.

He tried to create another gravitational shield, but the slugs punched through with sickening ease, one grazing his arm and sending white-hot pain spiking through his body for the first time since the morning began.

"No!" he screamed, voice raw. "They're just people!"

The military advanced with cold efficiency, and to Dashuan's growing horror, he saw familiar figures moving among them. Arc, her body crackling with electricity, was systematically stunning Aberrants left and right along with Derek, his powered suit gleaming in the harsh light of muzzle flashes, was using his enhanced strength to subdue those who tried to fight back.

"Arc! Derek!" Dashuan called out, despair mangling at his throat. "What are you doing? These are our people!"

Arc turned to him, her eyes hard and unfamiliar. "No, Dashuan. They're dangerous unknowns. We can't let sentiment cloud our judgment...I'm sorry but--."

"This is what has to be done. For the greater good of mankind and for your people."Derek's voice came through his suit's speakers, cold and distorted.

Dashuan felt something inside him shatter to millions of pieces. How could they turn on their own kind like this? What did they see that was so dangerous that they all deserved death besides a small select group

He lashed out with his powers but quickly a slug caught him in the leg, and he stumbled to the ground, gravity warping wildly around him as he lost focus and sent shockwaves in all directions.

Through the haze of misery, he saw a young Aberrant girl-– the one with Red scales--reaching out to him; Their eyes met for a brief, haunting moment before a soldier's boot came down on her outstretched hand.

The girl's scream of pain mingled with Dashuan's own cry of rage and despair as they both wailed into the symphony of agony.

Dashuan summoned a massive gravitational pulse, sending soldiers and debris flying backward once again. He struggled towards the girl, determined to save at least one innocent life from this nightmare as blood lept from his body.

Though, before he could reach her, a familiar mechanical whine filled the air.

Derek landed loudly between them, his suit's systems humming as he stared into his eyes. "Don't make me do this, Dashuan," Derek's voice was heavy with resignation. "Stand down. It's over."

Dashuan met his gaze through the suit's faceplate. "You sick mother fucker, We were supposed to protect them!"

"We're protecting everyone," Derek replied. "Sometimes that means making hard choices...I thought you would understand, in all honesty."

"There's always another way!" Dashuan shouted back, gathering what remained of his strength to stand face-to-face with Derek. "You are a fuckin' coward!"

He launched himself at Derek, gravity twisting around them both. For a moment, it seemed like Dashuan might overpower him through sheer desperation as they flew through the air toward one of the only remaining pillars.

A bolt of electricity struck him from behind--

sending him crashing to the ground in agony.

Arc stood over him, her one remaining eye hovering over his body. "I'm sorry, Dashuan."

Dashuan, already weakened and overwhelmed by the carnage around him, was no match for the combined might of Arc and Derek. They struck with combined forces of ungodly voltage, exploiting the limits of his enhanced durability.

Through it all, Dashuan could hear the screams and pleas of the dying Aberrants.

Each cry cut through him like a knife, a reminder of his failure to protect them. He tried to reach out with his powers, to offer some small comfort or defense, but Arc and Derek were relentless with the onslaught.

"Why?" Dashuan gasped through sizzling lungs, spitting blood as Derek's electrified armored fist connected with his jaw. "We were friends... we were supposed to make things better..."

"We are making things better," Arc said, her voice cold as she sent another shock through his system.

Dashuan's vision swam, darkness creeping in at the edges. He could feel his consciousness slipping away, but he fought to stay awake, to bear witness to the horror unfolding around him. He owed the dying that much, at least.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

In his last moments of clarity, Dashuan saw the true scale of the annihilation. The tunnel was littered with bodies, Aberrant and soldier laid in tandem. The few surviving Aberrants were being rounded up, and bound with specially designed restraints that seemed to dampen their powers completely.

Throughout it all, Derek and Arc moved with a practiced efficiency that spoke of long preparation. This hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment decision. They had been ready for this, had planned for it behind his back!

As Dashuan felt himself slipping into unconsciousness, his last thought was a prayer for forgiveness-- from the Aberrants he had failed to save, and from whatever part of himself had once believed in a better world against his parents' wishes.

The world faded to black.

----------

Dashuan drifted in and out of consciousness, catching small segments of conversation and sensation. The rumble of an engine beneath him. The sterile smell of a medical facility.

Hushed voices arguing nearby.

"...can't just leave him here," Arc's voice, tinged with worry. "He's stable. Dashuan is--"

"He made his choice," Derek replied, his tone clipped and professional. "We have a responsibility to the country now, not to crazy ideas of heroism."

"But the compound...Ultress contacted me." Arc began, only to be cut off sharply by Derek.

"Is for those of us who understand the bigger picture. Dashuan's proven he can't be trusted with that kind of autonomy; I intercepted the better half of the transmission."

Dashuan struggled to open his eyes, to make sense of what he was hearing.

The compound? What were they talking about? Who really was Ultress?

He managed to crack his eyelids open.

Dashuan was in some kind of medical bay, strapped to a bed with restraints that appeared to be suppressing his powers. Arc and Derek stood nearby, their backs to him as they continued their heated discussion.

"He's been acting as a vigilante for weeks. He is lucky that I convinced my father to pay off the Chief of Police." Derek was saying. "While we've been working with the government and the originals, building trust, he's been undermining everything we've accomplished!"

Arc ran a hand down her arm, electricity crackling in her wake. "I know, but... Dashuan's heart was in the right place. He was trying to help people."

"Good intentions aren't enough," Derek said firmly. "Not when the fate of your kind and mine hangs in the balance. The general now agrees with me on this. Dashuan's too much of a liability--Isn't that the reason you left him to twiddle his thumbs like a dumbass?"

Arc had been working with the government?

He must have made some small sound because suddenly both Arc and Derek were looking directly at him. Arc's expression shifted to that of guilt, while Derek's face was unreadable.

"You're awake," Derek spoke, his voice carefully neutral. "Good. We need to talk."

Dashuan tried to speak, but his throat was dry and raw from screaming. Arc moved to help him drink some water from a nearby cup, her touch gentle despite everything that had happened which sent chills down Dashuans back.

Dashuan finally managed to croak out. "How could you do this?"

Derek stepped closer, his posture rigid and regal. "Because it was necessary. Dashuan, you have to understand--the world is changing faster than anyone can keep up with. New Aberrants are appearing every hour, and most of them don't have your soppy moral compass or self-control."

"So you slaughter them?" Dashuan nearly spat, fury giving strength to his voice. "Go to fucking hell, both of you."

"We're protecting humanity," Arc said softly. "All of humanity, including the stable Aberrants who can integrate into society once we figure out what's going on."

Dashuan looked at her in disbelief. "By deciding who lives and who dies? Who gave you that right?!"

"The government did, my intellect backs it, and one of the smartest minds housed within an aberrant body all agree where you cannot," Derek said bluntly. "While you've been playing hero, we've been working to secure a future for your kind. We have an official sanction now, Dashuan. A place where Aberrants can live and train in peace, under proper supervision."

"A fucking cage is most likely where you're talking about, enough bullshit! Who the fuck is Ultress" Dashuan said bitterly.

Derek's eyes hardened. "A sanctuary. A place where you can learn to control your powers without putting others at risk. Where we can show the world that not all Aberrants are threats. Much like Cassandra wanted."

"And those who don't fit your definition of 'stable'?" Dashuan demanded. "What happens to them?"

The silence that followed was answer enough.

Dashuan felt sick to his stomach.

"Listen," Arc said, her voice pleading. "It's not perfect, but it's the best option we have right now. Come with us to the compound, I'm willing to upset Ultress to keep you safe...this one time."

For a moment, Dashuan was tempted.

The thought of a safe haven, a place where Aberrants could live without fear, was almost sensual, then he remembered the mangled bodies in the tunnel, the frightened eyes of the children he'd failed to save.

"No," he expressed, his voice barely above a whisper. "I can't be part of this. Whatever you think you're doing, it's wrong. There has to be another way."

Derek's expression hardened. "I was afraid you'd say that." He turned to Arc. "Sedate him. We'll decide what to do with him once we're back at Area 68."

Arc hesitated, conflict clear on her face. "Derek, maybe we should--"

"That's an order," Derek snapped. "We can't risk him escaping and interfering with operations again. The general will have every last Aberrant head on a pike."

As Arc reluctantly grabbed a syringe, Dashuan felt a surge of hopelessness. With every ounce of strength he had left, Dashuan focused on the syringe. It flew from Arc's hand, clattering across the room. In the moment of confusion that followed, he managed to warp gravity around his restraints, weakening them just enough to break free with his returned vitality.

Alarms blared as Dashuan stumbled off the bed, his legs weak and unsteady so he decided to fly instead. Derek quickly moved to intercept him, but Dashuan thrashed out with a gravitational pulse that sent both Derek and Arc staggering back with skidding feet.

"Dashuan, stop!" Arc cried out. "You don't understand what you're doing!"

Dashuan wasn't listening.

He could hear booted feet approaching and knew he only had moments before he was overwhelmed again. With a final, frantic surge of power, he created a localized gravity well in the wall, blasting the metal until a hole appeared through the otherside.

The last thing he saw before he flung himself through the opening was the look of betrayal on Arc's face. Then he was falling, tumbling through open air as his battered body struggled to control his descent.

Dashuan hit the ground hard, pain exploding through every nerve ending.

He forced himself to his feet, adrenaline and desperation driving him forward without any thought. He had no idea where he was or where he was going, but he knew he couldn't stay here.

As he stumbled away from the facility, Dashuan's mind raced. Everything he thought he knew had been turned upside down. His friends had betrayed him, the government he'd tried to work with had sanctioned mass murder, and somewhere out there was a compound full of Aberrants choosing who was good enough to live and who were 'unstable'.

Yet as always, even in the depths of his despair, a small spark of hope remained.

There were still Aberrants and humans out there who needed protection, who deserved a chance at a real life; now that he knew the truth about what Derek, Arc, and the others were doing, he had a responsibility to stop them.

Dashuan didn't know how he was going to do it, or even if he could survive long enough to try, But as he disappeared into the night, battered and alone, he made a silent vow. He would find a way to save his people-- all of them, not just the ones deemed to live.

He would show the world that there was a better path than fear and control by those with more than you could ever hope to achieve. For the first time since he'd gained his powers, Dashuan felt like he truly understood his purpose.

He was no longer just a reluctant hero or a bridge between two worlds. He would be a symbol of hope for all Aberrants, and he would not rest until they were free.

Dashuan vanished into the shadows, leaving behind the shattered remnants of his new life as an officer of the law.

He was no longer afraid. Whatever came next, he would face it head-on.