People slowly milled around the rarely used community center that they'd been required to meet at for the first mandatory meeting for those with Lethal Threat ratings. Eli liberally tapped into his Spatial Control to limit his senses so that Lana's constant fidgeting wouldn't annoy him any more than it already was. Lana only had a Potentially Lethal (PL-3) rating, but her presence had been requested by that threatening federal agent Mr. Daniels.
Mom and Dad had taken Lyra to the nearby mall while they all waited for this to be over so they could pick them up. The entire car ride had been a shitshow of frustration and anxiety for everyone involved except for Lyra who had seemed like she was in her own little world. Their parents had fought both directly and passively about the whole thing and how pointless and shitty it was that this was happening.
Yet they’d come and been dropped off here.
How fucked up the whole thing was and how they were being treated like second-class citizens because of powers that had been thrust upon them by some uncaring deity or even something else.
Still, they were here.
Not to mention how obnoxious it was to be trapped in a car! Eli hated sitting in the backseat where he was squeezed against the car door. Hated having to watch the world crawl by him at a snail’s pace. Stuck there for two and a half hours. He could’ve been there and back a dozen times in that amount of time.
What was the point of being able to teleport anywhere any time and still having to go places he didn’t want to? His spatial senses and control itched at him uncomfortably every passing moment. Every point and line in space was a possibility of somewhere else he could be instead of trapped for a mandatory lecture by that asshole agent.
But no. Eli hadn’t let any of that time be wasted.
His fingers twitched inside of the void and he frowned at the strangeness of his disappeared left hand. It was alarming to glance down and expect to see the hand he knew he had, the hand that felt the icy numbness of nothing inside of the void. Yet there wasn’t even a distorted shimmer to show that something was off. His left hand just appeared to be gone. He charged up light on his wrist and passed it up into his hand with Photon Shot until his fingers and palm felt full to bursting with the radiant orange light. He tried to charge it further, to draw it deeper inside of himself so he could give it more power.
But it refused to accept it. The resistance felt slippery and absolute. If he wanted more light he’d have to charge it up throughout his body or try something else. The whole time he’d been in the car, he’d been practicing with his powers.
Both Spatial Control and Recovery were still stuck at level four after the rest of the week since the Threat Assessment and their joint family therapy appointments. But with liberal use of Spatial Control and his personal void to charge and fire up endless streams of light, he’d quickly hit his new limit of level eight for Photon Shot.
At the end of the week Lana had been given a Potentially Lethal rating, but apparently her test had been rather extreme so her presence was requested nonetheless. She had been proud of it ever since and hadn't seemed to mind the dreamlike simulation she'd been subjected to. Apparently one of her friends had a similar power. Several people both offline and online were furious that the government had authorized this nationwide, but apparently, it didn’t affect most people as strongly. They understood it was a dream as they were in it.
Only those with mental disorders and trauma had severe reactions to it. Eli grimaced as he squeezed the ball of light in his void-hidden hands and took little solace in the flexible hardness of the light. He willed the light to sharpen to a series of fine points on the tips of each of his fingers like claws. After that he’d had to go see Dr. Simmons again.
It almost felt like each day subjected him to new events he’d have to later discuss in therapy. God-fucking-dammit. None of this would’ve happened without powers. He’d be almost done with school and then he could leave for college.
"Will you stop sulking already?" Lana snapped as she turned to glare at him. "I don't actually blame you or anything weird like that, you've just been so annoying lately."
"I've been annoying?" Eli raised his eyebrow as he turned to look at the sharp green of her eyes. "You've been rude and petty all week. Every time I see you, you run away and make snide comments. Lyra said you're always exercising or doing whatever it is you do when you disappear."
"So what? It isn't like you're doing the same thing. Everyone is." Lana shrugged as liquid steel flowed from her skin until a shimmering form-fitting glove covered her hands. "Don't pretend that you don't enjoy improving your powers. Besides, I’m not only practicing with my powers like you are."
"Did Graylight evolve?" Eli blurted as he stared at the construct that had once seemed dull, nearly insubstantial, but now it seemed far denser and real. Distortions in space wafted from it as if it were far heavier than it appeared to be.
"It did. At level ten it became Silverlight." Lana twisted her hand and turned the silverlight into a blade, a statue of a bird, and then a snake before she snapped it back into gloves. "It's better on every level. Now I can control it far easier and change multiple things about it. Make it super flexible, if it’s a liquid or metal, all kinds of stuff. I'm pretty happy with it.
“Oh, cool.” He nodded as he thought about that. A part of him wished he’d gotten Graylight instead.
"But don't change the subject, Eli." She rested her silver-encrusted hands on the concrete of the step they were sitting on with a clink of metal. "I know you've been sneaking off to train in secret every night."
"What? How? I've been careful though." Eli blinked at her in shock as he cringed at the thought of what his parents would say if they knew. Both of them seemed a bit more... distant than they had before. Training with his dad in the park had scarred both of his parents somehow. As if he were too horrifying for both of them. Somehow the whole home invasion incident hadn't alarmed them nearly as much as him casually destroying the ground with a twitch of his powers. Or him disappearing for several minutes. Or what the nature of his true rating was. Only Dad had a higher rating and that was because of the sheer range and destructive potential both of his powers had. Storm Cloud could easily cause real changes to weather and Technomancer let Dad see everything technical.
"The attic creaks, dumbass." She rolled her eyes. "Superhuman Physiology makes it so I barely have to sleep and my senses are better than before. I've heard you almost every night."
"Wait, Superhuman Physiology? When did you max out your other power too?”
“Eli. Stop. We’re not talking about that. You’ve been sneaking out to train like a psychopath.”
“Why didn't you say anything if you knew this whole time?" He frowned at her.
"I was hoping it'd be a more interesting secret. Maybe that it was related to whoever you've been texting so much." She said pointedly as his phone screen flashed with a notification from Kady. He teleported it into his void-hidden hand where he fragmented his view so he could see it and chuckled at the comment she'd made about their Spanish teacher. "Which I still want to know about, but whatever. Then you've been using your powers as much as I have. I can tell. But… you’re doing it differently. I’ve always loved to exercise, so this is the same thing to me. You aren’t doing it for the right reasons. I can tell."
"How could you possibly tell?"
"I'm not dumb. You have a weight around you that's different than before. Your teleportation seemed so simple, but now it's like you're actually moving through space. You never get tired anymore. You've had mood swings that've been really weird. Whenever you get upset now, you instantly become calm? What the fuck. Plus, have you not noticed how vibrant colors are on you?" She pointed at the hem of his green jacket. "This used to be more of a dull olive or something, now it's even brighter. I bet you it has to do with your light power."
"So what?" He shrugged defensively, not really getting her point. "I'm trying to get my powers leveled up just like everyone else."
"No, not like everyone else." She shook her head. "A lot of people seem to be treating it like a cell phone or video game console. An accessory. But it's become a part of us."
"Very astute observation, Ms. Newton," said the familiar voice of Mr. Daniels. He walked out of the community center to stand statue-still next to them as his fiery eyes flickered as he watched them. "That's part of what elevates your rating to what it is."
"Whatever." Eli sighed as he dispersed his charged light and withdrew his hand from the void-space after teleporting his phone back into his pocket.
"Your powers have changed, Mr. Newton." Mr. Daniels said approvingly. "Make sure to fill out the updated paperwork during class today noting any changes."
"We have to give updates on our powers?" Eli asked incredulously as he teleported a few inches away so he could frown at the man. It was strange how much easier his power was with the precision Spatial Control gave him.
"Every week during the course of these classes. They're thinking about making an online form for it. The government doesn't care about leveling up, but evolutions or new powers. There's talk about charging small fees for it, but who knows if that will happen. People might just riot again.” He shrugged as he gestured at the door. "Please, feel free to head on in. The meeting room has signage. The rest of the class should be joining us shortly."
"Anyways, I want in. Once you can teleport others, take me with you or at least help me sneak out." Lana whispered as they walked across the outdated linoleum flooring to the posted room. "If you don't, I'll tell on you."
"What are you, five years old?" Eli scoffed as they entered the small room with three rows of tables full of chairs. They headed to the far side of the room and sat down in the third row. "I'm not going to take you. It's still dangerous out there. I have to teleport a certain way so I don't get seen by police for breaking curfew, or anyone else that's out and about!"
"I'm strong enough to bend steel with my bare hands before I even use Silverlight," Lana rolled her eyes while she pulled out her phone and started scrolling on the familiar Power Leveling Library app. While he watched a text notification for a ‘Healer Boy <3’ popped up at the top of her screen. "Regardless, take me or don't, but if I know you sneak out again without me I'll tattle if I have to. Both Superhuman Physiology and Silverlight have slowed down dramatically since I evolved them. I still haven’t gotten either of them to level one.”
Eli pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll figure it out, I haven't tried teleporting anyone else yet though. If I can't though, then I can't. You might have to wait until the next evolution. Also, who the fuck is ‘Healer Boy’"
“Tell me who Kady is.” She turned to scoff at him before rolling her eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. But what do you mean ‘at the next evolution’, Eli, you’re practically a power collector or trader at this point. You’ll probably keep trying to get a bunch of evo-0 powers so you can merge them into some abomination.”
“Wait, power trader?” He squinted at her as if he’d suddenly seen what had been a dull stone before sparkle.
“Are you kidding me? Get some more friends, it’s embarrassing having to catch you up all the time.”
Accept Offer Power in Trade Decline> “Saw it? Good.” The screen vanished once he nodded. “If you find something gem related let me know.” He blinked at her then the empty air where the trade message had been. He shook his head then said, “Okay. I didn’t know about that. Maybe I’ll do some trades, but I don’t know. I just don’t like my evolution choices so far. If they’re only slightly better, why take it and have to deal with leveling something to level ten?” “Evo-1 powers aren’t supposed to be that good.” She shook her head as she started typing something on her phone rapid-fire. “Oh really? Then why are all of ours good?” “Because they just were? And Lyra got a new power so she doesn’t count.” “She did? What is it?” His eyes shone with excitement as he felt Photon Shot start to gather light there, but he quickly stopped it. “Forcefield and then she merged it with Illusions. Which created Phantasmic Illusions and it lets her create real illusions for a bit before they fizzle out. Then it evolved into Synesthesiac Phantasia which is even better at it.” You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. “I have to see that.” He frowned while he wondered about how that worked if powers were… “Her videos! That’s how she’s gotten her illusions to appear on camera?” “Yeah, but she got around it by just creating a forcefield then draping an illusion over it at first. Then it's just gotten better. See what I’m saying? If you keep wasting your time on getting new powers endlessly then you’ll never go from almost good powers to actually good powers. You keep judging them as they would be at level zero, not level ten.” “Maybe, but maybe not.” He shrugged. “I might evolve Spatial Control and Recovery, but I don’t really care for Photon Shot too much. Maybe I’ll use that to keep getting new powers and just keep it in my back pocket.” “You literally use it all the time and it’s badass. Why wouldn’t you evolve Photon Shot?” “It’s just not really my style, I guess. It’s fun and all, but I have to be so incredibly careful with it. It’s tedious to control outside of what it wants to do in the first place. And I need to have light for it to work. If there’s no light and I’m trapped in a deep enough cell then I’m basically defeated. So why not get a better power?” And he really didn’t want his rating going up to being Lethal in actuality. "Get a new power then." She shook her head before tuning him out. He didn’t remember the last time he’d talked to her for as long as they just had. Maybe his parents had a point. He’d been avoiding her just as much as she’d been avoiding him. It wasn’t her fault that she’d gone through the same situation— *Eli* what are you doing here?" Kady asked after she strolled into the room until she stood in front of him. She seemed pretty nervous and uncomfortable at seeing him there. "What? Oh, hi Kady." He smiled then froze as he realized they were in a Lethal rating mandatory classroom to teach them all of the ins and outs of their newfounded power and adapted gun laws so they didn't get in trouble. "What are you doing here?" "I asked first." She frowned slightly as she fidgeted with her hair. "I'm Eli's sister, Lana. You must be Kady.” Lana interrupted as she set her phone down and glanced at Kady with the predatory stare of a shark on the hunt. “What's your power?" "I uh..." Kady turned to him and winced. "We never really talked about powers, but mine's actually pretty dangerous." "I doubt it's worse than ours." Lana said dryly. "I'm basically superhuman and I have a damn good construct power." "I can create clones of things as well as myself and control them," Kady squinted as she blushed. "It's pretty embarrassing, but I also got a power that allows me to boost myself up. They’re both evo-1.” "See, Eli, even she has both of her powers evolved. You have two that are behind." "Lana," Eli said warningly before Kady turned to narrow her eyes at him. "You have three powers?" "Yeah. But I don't really like the evolved one," he shrugged then winced at her harsh stare as she waited for him to share what his powers were. "I can teleport, recover, and basically fire off lasers. I don't like the last one as much." "Why not? Free flashlight and laser. You could befriend any cat you wanted," Kady smirked and then beamed at Lana's chuckle. "It's a bit more dangerous than that." He admitted while he remembered the charred wounds Trenton Knight had carved into their ceiling or the smoldering craters he himself left behind whenever he really practiced with it for real. It could pierce straight through the junk cars on his training field now with ease. Trenton had only leveled it up to level six, while Eli had finally gotten it to level eight. Who knew what he could do with it now? "Everyone sit down so we can get this over with," Mr. Daniels called out as he strode into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. "We have a lot to cover. I'll hand out some flyers and paperwork you'll need to fill out, we'll discuss some of the new laws, and finally we'll even play a game with some powers." Kady hurriedly sat down at the table in front of them since there was no way she’d be able to go all the way around to sit next to him. Eli wondered if he was disappointed or not by that. Eli tuned him out as pamphlets titled different things like 'Powers and You', 'Your Responsibility as a Lethal American' and all kinds of blaise things like that. He'd rather think about his idea for powerleveling powers for people or the fact that Kady could apparently create clones of anything and control them? Wasn't that a scary thought. No wonder she had a Lethal rating, who knew what she could do with it. Would biometric security even work against her? Mr. Daniels started talking about how they'd have to be honest with law enforcement about their use of powers if ever used for self-defense or if they were pulled over or something. Eli sighed as he sank into his seat and decided to think more about what he'd want his next power to be. It'd take some time to figure out the whole power leveling job thing, but he was close to the final level up for every power he had. It could be some pretty easy cash to sell different evo-0 powers he unlocked. Spatial Control was more or less as perfect as he could make it, unless he could pick up a new power he wanted to merge it with. He really needed a better sensory range, but that was about it. Recovery was nice and reliable. Every time he got tired or hurt, a quick flash of it and he was back to normal. Maybe he could use it to get a new power? Same with Photon Shot. If he could turn it into a construct power or create light himself and actually shape it into something other than pointed blades that would turn into beams or blasts hot enough to melt metal once he fired it… then he'd appreciate it. As it was, he almost didn't even trust it enough to use in self-defense. If someone jumped him, he'd be afraid of charbroiling them into a corpse instantly. Why do that when he could just fold space around them and knock them back? Did self-defense really even count if he could just recover from about anything. Not to mention he could teleport away as long as he sensed a point to escape to. He'd been thinking about getting a water power for awhile and he still thought it was cool but he wasn't sure. He needed something to either complement what he already had or to make up for something he was lacking. It'd be nice to get a power that offered more durability or strength, but if he evolved Recovery enough, would it even matter? He'd be able to heal anything that happened more or less. Unstoppable. No, he needed better senses and range. That'd help with Spatial Control and Photon Shot, his aim with it was terrible once it surpassed his spatial field. It helped that if he really missed, he could fold space a bit or distort it so he'd be closer. Some other powers could be interesting. "Mr. Newton," barked Mr. Daniels in a loud voice, jolting Eli out of his trance. He jumped as he startled and noticed everyone else was waiting at the door. He teleported over and grinned sheepishly at the flaming stare of the literal federal agent that could make his life hell. "Follow along.” They followed him as he led them towards a basketball court on the other side of the community center building. Eli took stock of the eight or so other people in their class. Most of them were either high school or college aged. He was only one of two guys with the other being a scrawny giant with long hair he had pulled back into a ponytail. One of them looked slightly familiar, but he couldn’t place them. For some reason they kept glaring at him and Lana. Maybe they were just upset that he’d been zoned out. "What did I miss?" Eli hissed in a whisper to Lana who shook her head. "I wasn't paying attention. I was chatting with my PLL friends. One of them has a power similar to me and suggested some ways I could push Superhuman Physiology enough to level without too much difficulty." "I'm so glad you both are taking this seriously," glared a severe woman with long braided hair. An ugly massive scar marred the right side of her face from her chin to her forehead. "It isn't like people are dying across the world because people are playing around with powers they don't understand." "We're fine. Thanks for minding your business." Lana narrowed her eyes as they stopped to glare at each other. "I had to cancel my plans for college, little girl. Everyone in my sorority died because of their powers." She glowered at them. "They aren't toys. Stop acting like they are." "Obviously." Lana used Silverlight to extend the soles of her shoes until she stood at the same height as the towering woman. "Two people broke into our home on the second night. You don't think we don't know they're dangerous? Get over yourself. You aren’t the only one traumatized by this." Eli ignored Kady's glance his way as he teleported in between the two women and expanded the space around them slightly so they weren't in his personal space. That and he didn't want them fighting, obviously. "Stop." "Don't tell me what to do until you've seen your drunk friends have a panic attack and explode everyone you knew." She took a step closer, but Eli rolled his eyes as he extended space again. He had them in a bubble that he could expand pretty indefinitely. It was like his void tunnel, except it wasn’t in the void. "Mr. and Ms. Newton, Ms. Wright." Mr. Daniels said as he loomed over them. "Stand down. We're going to play dodgeball with the other class here and you'll all behave. Final warning." "Fine," huffed the Wright lady as she marched away from them into the basketball court where the rest of the class already waited. "Sorry." Eli muttered as he shambled into the doorway into the expanded basketball court with a row of cones set up in the middle of the court. Rolling shelves full of foam balls waited for each team on either side of the court. "That was fun." Lana said as she flounced over to the rest of their class who watched them with apparent criticism considering the rant the other girl was already halfway through. "Are you both trouble magnets or something?" Kady asked as she watched them with crossed arms. "You bet I am," Lana beamed with a wink to the other girl who sighed and shook her head as she led them closer to one side of the court. She whispered to Eli, "I like her. She's fun." "Whatever. What was that about? Are you trying to get in trouble?" Eli shook his head as they loitered at the far end away from everyone else. "I'm tired of people measuring their proverbial dicks with powers. It's fucking aggravating." Lana complained loudly. "As if they have the sole right to pride or a shitty situation. Everyone has it bad right now." "Dick measuring?" Eli asked blankly. "Power levels and powers are starting to really matter. That's why I was so happy that we didn't talk about it at all." Kady said as she butted back into the conversation. "It's exhausting." "The people that are getting bullied now in my grade are either those with weird powers or 'useless' ones. One kid, Jordan, can create a sort of bug exoskeleton and other parts of bugs. It's gross, but cool, you know? Then Bobby can turn invisible which is... problematic. He can apparently glow too but he doesn’t use that part of his power all that often." Lana explained as Mr. Daniels and his assistant started scattering balls from the shelves over the room. "Liven up class! Our competition is here." Mr. Daniels shouted as the doors banged open on the other side. Eli's lip tightened into a flat line, his hands squeezed into fists. Tom Harver was on the other dodgeball team. "We want a clean game. Powers are allowed, but no passing over the line or attacking the other team." Eli teleported a couple of balls over to their group as he started funneling light into his hands as he lowered himself into a low crouch. Tom Harver's dark eyes met his own as ash and smoke coiled around his fists into a net that wrapped around the ball in his hand. Both teams lined up with balls held at the ready. Silverlight shimmered from the corner of his eye as Lana created another pair of silver whiplike appendages that snared two balls that he'd teleported over to their group. Kady bent down to touch one of the dodge balls, stood up and created six copies that hovered around her in floating rings. A whistle blasted out a shrill note that echoed in the air. "Your ass is mine, Eli!" Tom shouted as jets of ash and smoke blasted from the back of his hand to empower his throw. The ball flew unerringly towards Eli. He teleported to the left and tried to snag it out of the air and yelped at the scorching bite of the lingering ash that sizzled against his skin even after he dropped it and teleported again to avoid another ball. If only he had Telekinesis still. Recovery buzzed into his injured hand as he folded space right up to the row of cones and threw his ball with his left hand as hard as he could right as he slingshotted it with the walls of the void. Air screamed as the ball exploded free from its teleportation to slam into the boy like a battering ram scattering a cloud of burning ash as he rolled from the impact. A ball slapped into Eli's head from the right hard enough to make his ears ring and his eyes water as he reeled back from the hit. He flicked off the field on the sidelines to watch the rapid-fire artillery salvos of balls volleying back and forth. Kady quickly got taken out after he did. Only Lana and the girl that she'd gotten into a fight with remained on their team. Meanwhile three people were on the other team. Someone with superspeed, some kind of shockwave power, and solid shadows that writhed at their every command. Lana created and blasted out shield after shield of silverlight that wrapped around each ball launched her way. Her whiplike arms sliced through the air to send it careening back to the other side again and again. Ms. Wright flickered back and forth to swat aside ball after ball with the one held tight in her hand before she returned her own throws so powerful the balls boomed through the air before crashing into the wall as each of her targets dodged or knocked them out of the way. He cringed at the thought of her throwing something more substantial at someone. What could her power even be to do something like that? It probably wasn’t good if they were all here for having Lethal ratings. Lana darted forward to try and land a ball on the speedster who came out of blur-time as the shockwave one threw a ball that streaked through the air and knocked into her armor so hard the silverlight metal cracked. "Out!" Mr. Daniels shouted as she limped her way off the court where she leaned against the wall next to Eli. Sweat dripped and beaded down her face. She heaved with panting breaths as she sank to the floor. Her hands trembled with every breath she took. "You okay?" Eli asked as he sat down next to her. Recovery cycled through him in a constant flow as he tried to heal his burnt hand and to just keep himself fresh. It was hard keeping up with the game otherwise. His sister shook her head as she pounded a fist into the laminated wooden floor so hard the plastic cracked with a snap. "I'm fine." She narrowed her eyes as she watched Ms. Wright dance past the array of balls zooming towards her. Each of her throws were more powerful than a cannon. "I want to beat her, but I can't. I'm not strong enough." He patted her shoulder in a comforting gesture as he tried to ignore the hot damp cloth of her shirt. Recovery sparked from him into her. Her exhaustion stirred and melted away like clouds of silt under a riverbank. He felt his power flow through her until it ran out. A headache pounded at his skull as it dried up for the first time in ages. Fatigue sapped him mentally and physically as the stable consistent trickle of Recovery stopped. Recovery You may now select from one of the following options: Evolve Power Obtain New Power ??? ???> Right as he started looking through the menus of options everyone's phone simultaneously went off with a loud alarm. He checked it with a frown and then stood up with a gasp. WARNING: Springridge Mall has an active superpower crime in the process. Be advised to avoid the area. "That's where mom and dad are..." Eli said in horror as he glanced from the notification to his open system status. He hated the idea of losing out on a potentially cool new power, but he'd rather have an improved version of Recovery right now. "Everyone, stay calm! We're far enough away from the mall that it'll be okay." Mr. Daniels said as Eli stood up and teleported in a series of jumps until he was out of the building with his fists blazing an orange light from all of the light he was compressing into them. He glanced up and teleported as high up as he could into the sky before teleporting towards the mall with every intention of saving his family. Or else. [Equipped Power List: Slot One -- Spatial Control Ev. 0/Lv. 4 Slot Two -- Rapid Recovery Ev. 1/Lv. 0 Slot Three -- Photon Shot Ev. 1/Lv. 8 ]