Spots danced across Eli's vision as he leaned his whole body weight against the lichen coated brick wall of the old grocery store to the north end of town. Eli's lungs heaved air that seemed to burn its way up his throat with each exhale. A stitch cut against Eli's side from the heavy exertion. Light streamed into his body, but the instant it was absorbed his body devoured it for more energy. He considered equipping Rapid Recovery, especially since he hoped using it now could even grant him a level, but he couldn't stop looking over his power options while he waited for Lana to do whatever she was doing in the grocery store only the elderly shopped at.

Hydrokinesis Ev.0

Force Construct Ev.0

Geokinesis Ev.0

Enhanced Anatomy Ev.0

Dynamic Vitality Ev. 0

BACK>

He wasn't just tempted by the idea of Hydrokinesis, he was enamored by it. It would be so much fun, but... it felt like a waste of new power. Besides, he imagined it would be common enough that if he really wanted it he could buy it later. Similar story with Geokinesis, except he saw little to no use for it unless he wanted to maximize what he could do with teleported earth in a fight. It didn’t fit him, but he hoped he wouldn’t need to make power decisions based on need for a fight again.

That left Force Construct, Enhanced Anatomy, and Dynamic Vitality.

Force Construct felt like it was exactly what it was with the last power selection.

Objects created from raw force would be at his command. If that was all it was he would probably delay picking it until later like Hydrokinesis except for the fact that it would instantly help him with his lack of an arm short-term. Using Body of Light to create photonic constructs was possible, but his control of light was too fragile still. Each time it bent or twisted it cracked or shattered. Force Construct would be perfect for that and whatever else he wanted it for.

Could he really waste a new power like that though? It'd only be worth it if he found a way to merge it with light, voidshade, or something else. And Voidshade was already spoken for once it maxed out and he got whatever power it offered him. He’d merge it with Spatial Control the minute after.

It was really tempting... but the other two powers could go a long way to actually fixing the issue either right away or in the near future. Especially once he merged the powers he wanted and got them maxed out with Rapid Recovery for a merge.

Enhanced Anatomy felt like it'd be extremely difficult to level though. It'd enhance his entire body. Improve it. Maybe enough to regenerate his lost arm, but what if it didn't work like that? Besides, how would he continue to improve his body to level it up enough to max it out afterward? But… wouldn't it also improve his Body of Light while potentially removing one of his biggest weaknesses? Even with Body of Light he was far too weak.

However, Dynamic Vitality was interesting.

It'd improve his body at a flat rate across the board at first. His stamina and energy levels, his senses, strength, and health. All of that. But then, he'd be able to strengthen the other aspects by a bit at the cost of weakening another area or he could even weaken all of them to maximize one aspect entirely.

Eli felt like it'd be a step closer to him getting Assimilative Constitution his own way if it was never offered to him again too. Rapid Recovery felt compatible too as if they were a part of the same "set". It also interested him how much it would synergize with Body of Light also.

In the end though, he wanted to ask Lana about Enhanced Anatomy when she came out. She'd had a similar power since the Initialization so she'd probably be a good touchstone on how easy or not it would be to level and evolve. He needed something a bit on the quicker side, but that didn't mean he was going to ignore a good power-investment.

A vibration rattled against his leg. He stuck his hand in his pocket to check his phone before he remembered that it had been ruined the day before at the mall.

"Fuck," he whispered to himself then winced as an elderly couple scowled at him as if he'd spat on their parents' graves. Why was Lana taking so long at an out-of-the-way grocery store of all places? Was this just petty revenge for leaving her at the community center or something else?

…Was it something else?

Alarm shot through him as he straightened with a jolt of light and power as Rapid Recovery equipped in his empty slot. Tremors eased as energy filled him up to nearly bursting. His head swam from how heady and intoxicating it was as nearly every problem seemed to vanish from his body. Tricky emotions felt less bothersome. Peace and calm filled him.

Unless Lana was in trouble.

He turned to glare at the seemingly innocent building. What if there was a robbery or something and Lana was held hostage? Could Dave and his wife Sandra be after them? Here?

Eli's spatial senses started to push through the wall and inside just as the door opened with a squeal of tortured metal.

"Goddammit. I didn't mean to do that... Shit," Lana swore with a heavy air of defeat.

"I'm pretty sure that was a pull and not a push door," said a male voice sarcastically. Eli pivoted to study the teenager that seemed to be about the same age as Lana, so he was probably a freshman too. He wore a uniform with the words Farbrook Supermarket emblazoned across the upper right of his chest. Something about him seemed a bit familiar, but they did live in a relatively small suburb town. Everyone was familiar.

Eli withdrew his spatial field feeling rather silly. He had really let himself get worked up over nothing... Of course she was fine. She was Lana.

If anything like that were to happen it'd be everyone else in danger, not...not her. He frowned at the realization and wondered what would have happened if she had been at the mall instead. Would she have slaughtered everyone instead?

The lighting guy, he believed his name was Jack, would've either countered Lana perfectly with Silverlight if it was conductive, but if it wasn’t, then she'd have blasted through him with contempt. Dave would've been hard-pressed to fight her. He remembered how precise and in control Lana had been during the dodgeball match against people with powers just as dangerous as theirs. Or more. Yet she had dominated. She wouldn't have lost an arm.

Did he make a mistake by pulling back? He didn't want to kill anyone, but he had prioritized everyone else by not using Spatial Control more. He could have shot light with Photon Shot or by teleporting projectiles at them. Why had he teleported up to them instead of playing to his strengths and zipping around like a sniper? Or just Spatial Control to... to handle them entirely. Instead, he'd gotten in close. He might’ve gone to jail, but according to Mr. Daniels he had risked that already.

Too caught up in the moment.

He believed he was invincible and lost an arm for it.

She wouldn't have made the same mistake.

"—rth to Eli!" Lana said as she waved her hand in front of his face. He snapped back to the present with a start as he glanced at her and her friend. "Finally. Was that run really that hard for you?"

"What? No, it's fine. I used Recovery." He said with a side glance at her friend who had his phone out instead of paying attention to what was going on around him. "But I wanted to ask you about something... privately?"

"What is it?" She furrowed her brow as they stepped aside while her friend walked farther away down the sidewalk next to the parking lot.

"I maxed out Spatial Control earlier and got offered two powers that I wanted your opinion on. Enhanced Anatomy which seems like it'll improve my whole body once, but be hard to level, or Dynamic Vitality which will boost me in general but then I'll have free reign on what's improved afterward at a moment's notice."

"That's it? We don't need to talk about that privately." She scoffed then called out, "Hey, Theo! Has anyone in the group or on the forums gotten 'Enhanced Anatomy' or 'Dynamic Vitality?"

"Hey! Don't just shout out my power options for the world to hear!" Eli hissed, but she had already started walking past him towards Theo who was scrolling on his phone at a frantic speed.

"It's fine, Eli, but you really shouldn't have used Recovery yet. Whichever one you would have chosen would have been able to do more work when your body is broken down. That and it would've been better for you to wait for your new light power to do the work for you."

"Oh..."

"I don't see much about 'Dynamic Vitality', but Enhanced Anatomy is a pretty simple body boosting power. It's noted as an incredibly stable foundation for power crafting though. Pretty bland otherwise as a R3 Evo-0."

"R3?" Eli asked as he stared at Theo as if he'd spoken a foreign language.

"Rarity Three. Each evolution tier seems to have various tiers of quality inside of it. Think of cards or characters in a game. Not all cards or characters are equal, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"So, some powers are beyond basic like 'Strong' which makes whoever has it stronger, but that's about it. Great for perk mining though."

"Huh?" Eli asked as Lana rolled her eyes and started to lead them towards the woods outside of the parking lot.

"Come on, we can at least walk and talk."

"Please. I don't want to be asked to stay longer," Theo said while rushing to keep up with Lana's frightfully fast pace.

"What's perk mining?" Eli asked after he teleported past them and then started walking. He wouldn't rush when he didn't have to.

"Do you know what perks are?"

"Yeah?" Eli asked in alarm. He really hoped these power nuts weren't secretly killing people for perks...

"Hm. Okay. Well, you can take any evo-0 power and dismantle it for perks. You'll get a choice out of however many options then bam! You have a perk. Once you get two or more perks though you can combine them to create a whole new power entirely. Perks are also *far* cheaper than powers and there isn't as much of a cap to how many perks you can have in total like there are with powers!" Theo explained in an animated tone as he waved and gestured with his hands as they entered the woods.

"What's the power limit?"

"Fifteen for evo-0 then ten for evo-1. No one has been able to get enough evo-2 or above to really figure out the limits, but people assume it counts down by five each evo tier."

"Theo," Lana said warningly, "Dynamic Vitality or Enhanced Anatomy?"

"Well, it depends on the rest of your build." Theo turned to study Eli with a suddenly intense gaze as if he were looking at him with more than just his eyes. "You definitely need one. Your body is super fucking weak and weird, sorry to say it man, but it's true. Whatever power you have for it now isn't enough. You teleported, but it was near instantaneous instead of delayed, so it's probably merged or evolved, and you said something about Recovery?"

Eli nodded, dumbfounded. Normally he'd try to deny it, but this kid was scarily accurate.

"Alright, so, again I'm sorry, but your build is a fucking mess. My younger brother who's eleven has a better build than you and he only has two perks. I'm all for utility and everything man, but how impatient are you?"

"Apparently enough to get Teleportation at the Initialization..." Eli muttered as he glanced away catching Lana's smirk as she stared open-eyed at Theo. Nope. Not going there. "But yeah, it is. I want some more body focused powers that I could hopefully merge with Recovery at some point."

"Trying to grow an arm? Hate to say it, but that might be almost impossible if you were born without it."

"No. I lost it. Yesterday."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so." Theo stopped as he reached his hand out and snared Eli back with startling strength. It felt like he could have flipped a rushing bull over with one hand despite how scrawny he was. Right as Eli opened his mouth to ask what the hell he was doing, he started to feel something.

Hooks dug and ripped at the skin of his stump as if it were bubbling. It hurt like fire, worse even than when Dave had cut it off or when Jack had electrocuted him even as Recovery healed him. His stomach twisted into knots as he grit his teeth against the pain. A sharp scream tore from his throat before he realized that he wasn't screaming.

"Oh, damn. That wasn't good. Sorry, man. It's beyond me. There's something in the scar tissue blocking me from healing it."Theo shook his hand out before he turned to smile at Lana. "I leveled up Biomantic Control and Regenerative Heal!"

"Nice." Lana and him fist bumped while Eli tried to climb to his feet for a second before he teleported in place to stand up.

"Alright, your turn. What powers do you have, Theo?" Eli asked as he glanced at Theo and how close he and his sister were standing... nope, still wasn't his business. He was pretty pissed that he'd used his power without permission, especially when it had hurt so fucking badly. He needed to figure out how to teleport other people ASAP.

"Oh, I have Shield, Biomantic Control, Regenerative Heal, Augmentative Enhancement, Stockpile, and Construct. All are evo-0, but I'm trying to wait until I have the best power or two before evolving them."

"And you said I have too many powers?" Eli turned to raise his eyebrow at Lana who flushed. They started walking again.

"But he has a plan for them. Unlike you."

"Yeah! I'm going to tear apart or merge Augmentative Enhancement, Stockpile, and Construct for something I'm hoping will let me either create biological matter and if it doesn't I'll merge it with Shield. It's going to be so badass."

"Create biological matter?" Maybe it was Eli's business if Lana was into this kid, he was a bit too crazy about powers.

"Yeah man, imagine if I could just create an arm for you and plug it in. Boom. So much easier to heal. Or I could make some real bodily changes instead of tweaking things around a little. Bet I could create a giant body or something like the mechs my older brother makes." Theo nodded sagely as if any of that sounded remotely like a good idea while Lana beamed.

Was it too late to call Dad and ask if he wanted to go to the beach still? Freshmen were horrifying.

"Tell him about your shield idea!" Lana cried as she swung her hand a bit too excitedly and knocked it clean through part of a tree trunk. Bark and tree matter exploded in a spray as if her hand had been a battering ram. Theo brushed his fingers across the tree and in moments it was restored with only a bare patch of missing bark left.

"Or I could take some of those same powers and maybe something else to mix with Shield! I want to create something impenetrable. Something that this one won't be able to shatter with her pinky finger. Then I can have armor almost as cool as hers!"

Eli couldn't tell if he was more afraid, concerned, or endeared by Theo. He was very, very strange, but kind of sweet? He wasn't using these powers for anything else but because he thought they were cool and he wanted the best one he could get. He started to open his mouth to ask about something else when another thought occurred to him.

"Wait, did you want to become a doctor or something? I'm assuming healing was your Initialization power."

"It was, but no. I had cancer for the longest time and—" Theo continued speaking, but with that and what he said about his older brother, Eli realized how and where he recognized Theo. Right as they walked up to a clearing next to a park with a couple of picnic benches filled with teenagers from their school. One, in particular, stood out where he sat next to a tarp spread out on the ground with a bunch of shiny stuff beneath the shade of a tree.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

Roman Anders. One of his old best friends who he hadn't spoken to since the beginning of the school year. Was it too late to run?

Theo kept talking as he walked into the clearing towards his brother who was fiddling with a bunch of mechanical parts laid out on a tarp with two toolboxes beside him. A bunch of other teenagers from their school were messing around with their powers or playing games on the half overgrown basketball court nearby. Roman looked up with wide eyes as they approached and then smiled broadly once he saw Theo.

"Hey bro. Glad you could make it. Did you finally bring that girl you've... been talking about...?" Roman trailed off once he noticed Eli and Lana. Warmth drained off his face instantly like the first cold breath of autumn. He stood up with a glare as if daring Eli to come closer or run away.

Darkness started to close in as Eli prepared to teleport back and away when Lana's hand clamped around his wrist and tugged him forward as she led him over to Roman and Theo. Rapid Recovery started to pulse through him, soothing—

He unequipped Rapid Recovery instantly. This wasn't the time for that. Although he wished one of the new offered powers could grant him some bravery too. He needed more than physical strength.

"Eli. It's been a while." Roman's tone was as glacial and cutting as the arctic wind. Too bad he couldn't teleport there instead of being here. Eli took a deep breath, no, he'd promised Dr. Simmons he'd try to be better. Do better. How could he do that if he kept running from everything?

"Hey Roman..." Eli said awkwardly while Lana picked up Theo and slung him over her shoulder to his giggling protests as she hauled him away. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been great! Nothing like getting beaten up and harassed by the Tom Squad every day. You know how it is, oh wait, no. You don’t. You abandoned us. After two years of hanging out nearly every day, you ghosted and ignored us."

"They're still bullying you guys?" Eli blinked as he latched onto what he said while he studied Roman's hard-angled face. "I thought they'd stop if I didn't talk to you guys anymore."

"'You guys' who do you mean by that? Are you talking about Scott who had to move away because it destroyed him? That 'you guys' or do you mean someone else?"

"Scott moved away? Where?"

"Far east coast somewhere. He stopped talking to me too." Roman shrugged, but his gaze was as unyielding as steel. "So. Why are you here? Are you going to join in and make my life hell too or is this about the Power Club?"

"Power Club? I don't know why I'm here, to be honest, Lana dragged me here. But..." He sighed to take a steadying breath. "I'm glad she did. I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Pass," Roman grunted as he plopped back down to start fiddling with the gears of some kind of chassis.

"Look, Roman, I've been a huge asshole."

"The biggest."

"Right. And I know it's not really an excuse, but I... I really hoped they would leave you alone since Tom was targeting me, you know? I thought... well I don't know what I thought exactly, but I hoped they'd leave you and Scott alone if they didn't think we were talking anymore."

"Apparently you're a dumbass too," Roman scoffed. "They weren't bullying you. They were bullying us, damn it Eli, how egotistical are you? Besides, even if they were only bullying you, why would you think we'd be okay with you disappearing so they could gang up on you alone?"

Silence stretched between them as Eli shifted awkwardly from foot to foot while Roman worked on... whatever that was.

"What the hell are you even working on?" Eli asked as he leaned over to try and get a look casting a shadow over the bits and pieces of mechanical parts and tools.

"A mech or power armor."

"Really? You can make one?" Eli asked in surprise as he tried to get closer covering all of it with shadow. "I know you've always loved them in books and video games and that's why you wanted to go into Engineering, but still..."

"Of course, I can make one." Roman huffed then shook his head as he slumped in defeat. "Well. Technically I can create one, but I haven't figured out how to build a real one."

"Cryptic much?" Eli chuckled as he felt some of the ice between them melt a bit.

Roman turned to stare at him before waving his hand beside the tarp. "Sit down so the sun doesn't cover everything in a shadow and I'll tell you."

"Yeah, yeah." Eli rolled his eyes then watched as the slate-grey shadow darkened to a gloom black before it slid away to coil around Eli's feet instead.

"... Please tell me that was you."

"Yeah, I have a shadow power," Eli said vaguely as prodded at the sensation of the power in his mind. He hadn't even noticed, but it had felt like it was a part of him. Like a... like a limb. Eli shifted around as he willed the shadows to coalesce around his stump and grow into—

Pain spiked from his shoulder as he felt something inside of him move to bud up against his stump where it collided with something else right at the edge where it had scarred. Whistling static echoed in his ears as he yanked his focus away from Voidshade Control and waited for Body of Light to stop the pain and heal whatever the fuck that was. It had almost felt like shadow that wasn't his. Clearly, his power worked on the darkness inside of his body. So did some still remain from when Dave had hacked his arm off?

"Sorry, what was that?" Eli asked once he realized he’d zoned out and that Roman was staring at him with horror.

"Holy shit. What the fuck happened to your arm? Are you okay? Theo!" Roman asked rapid-fire before shouting for his brother who was on the other side of the field sparring with a silver-armored Lana.

"It's fine, Roman," Eli sighed as he plopped down on the grass. "It's been rough."

"Rough? You lost your fucking arm!"

"Oh that. Yeah, I already tried healing it Ram," Theo said as he reached them. He wasn't even out of breath from his sprint. Lana glanced at Theo with a tilted head as if asking if she should come over too. He shook his head. "It's like totally messed up. He even has a Recovery power and it didn't do anything."

"Do you have any other powers that might help? Eli?" Roman asked all panicky as he reached out to grab Eli's uninjured shoulder as if he were bracing him from the reality of what had happened. It broke Eli's heart a little actually. How much of this year did he let Tom ruin?

"Uh... well, I have Rapid Recovery and a light-body hybrid power," he lied through his teeth since he didn't know how rare stat powers were yet, "and I have a separate shadow power and teleportation."

"He also has new powers available. Two body ones: Dynamic Constitution and Enhanced Anatomy, right?"

"Almost. It's Dynamic Vitality," Eli read off his status screen to double check. Would either of those help with the shadow residue stuck in his arm or would Rapid Recovery still not be enough by itself to heal it? While he kind of liked the kid, he didn't know if he trusted Theo to do something the doctors weren't able to do.

"Pick one right now. Hopefully, you'll get offered the other next time." Roman snapped his fingers causing the half-built chassis to dismantle itself into raw parts before he pulled out various odds and ends of parts and metal from his toolboxes until his tarp looked more like an organized junkyard than anything else.

"What are you doing?" Eli frowned while he watched Roman move his hands rapidly as he began to build something.

"Hopefully something that's unneeded. Pick a power."

"Okay, okay." Eli read through his list again as he glanced at Enhanced Anatomy and Dynamic Vitality. The one would apparently be a huge improvement to his body in general while the other could let him customize how well his body performed at any given moment while still improving him in general.

It was hard to decide though.

Enhanced Anatomy would continue to make his body better while Dynamic Vitality would do more to help him use his body and its resources better. Plus there was the chance that it would synergize and eventually merge very well with Rapid Recovery. It'd also be easier to level up, which depending on how long Voidshade took to max out, could mean that he'd be able to sneak in another power or two for himself or for trading.

That sealed the deal for him.

Dynamic Vitality would do less for his body short and long term, but he'd have far more options that he could develop it into and more customization with how he used it. Plus, if he got some other power options he could turn it into something like Assimaltive Constitution down the line after it was merged with Rapid Recovery.

Would you like to equip it? Y/N>

He equipped it in the empty slot left by Rapid Recovery being equipped and shivered as he felt the power take root. Power, literal power, felt like it had been plugged into the base of his spine and injected into him. Strength flooded into his muscles, his bones felt denser and more resilient, and his senses and ability to process them sharpened. It felt like everything about him got dialed up a couple of notches.

A shiver later and it was done.

Dynamic Vitality had found its new baseline. A prod at the power felt like it was a series of wells. Stamina, Perception, and Strength. Each well had the same amount of power, but he could drain each well into each other if he wanted. A tug on Stamina emptied it completely until it dropped to his pre-Dynamic Vitality level then he focused on Strength and shuddered as his muscles and bones felt like they had inflated two-fold. Pure physical might and durability.

He emptied Strength to siphon it all into Perception and smiled as the veil of mundane life was ripped away entirely. Light and colors already felt more vivid with Body of Light, but now the whole world seemed like it jumped in quality. It was like the leap from a toddler's art to a fully fledged professional at the height of their career. Every chirping buzz of insects and spoken word around him felt as full of melody and life as a symphony in a room with perfect acoustics. He wrinkled his nose at the stench of sweat and decay that hung on the wind, but the earth had a rich, loamy scent. Itches prickled at him where his clothes pinched wrong, but the breeze felt so refreshing.

Eli released his hold on Dynamic Vitality and relaxed as the three wells reached an equilibrium again. Strength, Perception, and Stamina were all in balance.

"Feel like your arm can grow back?" Theo asked when Eli came back to himself. He shook his head after a quick push with Voidshade revealed that the shadowy residue felt the same as before. Worse even. It had darkened a shade. Eli siphoned Stamina and Perception both into Strength and grunted at the stark difference as it deepened three-fold. Another nudge from Voidshade proved that he was right.

The residue had darkened considerably from a cloying black when he'd gotten Dynamic Vitality. Now with Strength filled to the max it was noxious, a devouring dark that ate up all light that came near to burn it out. It felt toxic as if it were leeching from him. He allowed Dynamic Vitality to return back to normal again.

"Did you see that?" Eli asked Theo who nodded with a cringing look.

"Yeah... that was pretty bad."

"Eli, we gotta go. Mom just called. She's pretty upset that Dad let us leave."

"Okay, well, thank you both," Eli said to both of them as he stood up before he tentatively asked, "See you tomorrow?"

Roman paused his building of what looked like the very early stages of a prototype for a mechanical prosthetic arm. He glanced down at it and then up at Eli with a creased brow and a small frown before he nodded and got back to work.

Lana nodded at Theo before she started walking off into the woods. Eli waved at both of them before he teleported next to Lana.

“Both of you should come by after school! Lana will show you the way!” Theo called after them to which they waved at him before disappearing into the woods completely.

"Well?"

"Thank you for this. For that," Eli sighed. "I needed it."

"Good. Glad to hear it." She bit her lip before she stopped to look back at the clearing from the veil of foliage. "I wish we could stay longer... is there any chance we could and you could teleport us home?"

Eli frowned as he thought about it. Space bent and buckled around him as he created a teleportation point a couple of feet away from them. He widened it to include both of them and started to drag them through when it collapsed and Lana hissed in pain. He startled and glanced over to her wounded hand. Deep scratches as thin as hair bled in a fractal pattern up to her wrist. They started to scab while he watched.

"Guess not." She held it up to inspect it then shrugged.

"Sorry about that, I—"

"It's fine, Eli. Let's get moving." She started sprinting at a full tilt hard enough that the ground shook as if an elephant had jumped. Her feet carved jagged trenches through the dirt until she got up to speed. He stared down at the twin holes in the ground with a shock of fear at how strong she was. Eli turned to watch her disappear in the distance to the sound of branches shattering as he wondered how durable she must be... and how dangerous his Spatial Control must be if a failed teleport was enough to scratch her durable skin.

A few teleports later caught him up to her before he sprinted to keep up with her heavily utilizing Dynamic Vitality and Body of Light which glared even brighter than before. He even closed the gap between them a little in terms of speed and stamina. He was making progress, no matter how slow it was.

Before too long their race back home brought them to their neighborhood. Mailboxes, fences, and cars whipped past them in a honking blur as they rounded the street towards home. Where Mom stood on the porch tapping her foot, her face as thunderous as a storm front which only grew darker as they came barreling in.

"Lana. Go to your room. We need to talk, Eli." Grass and weeds started to grow in a snarled tangle as they began to reach towards her in her anger.

"But—" Lana started to protest then quit as Mom shifted her glare onto her. She walked past Mom with a surly, "Fine."

"Rick! He's back." Mom called as Lana hurried inside with clenched fists. Dad slipped out after her with face flushed red with anger and disappointment with a far too familiar sack held in his hands that he dumped out all over the porch.

"Want to tell us what this is about?" Dad asked as he pointed down at the pile of dirty clothes stained with grass and blood. Alongside it was an analog watch and a pair of shoes with clods of dried mud and little sprouts of green that speckled the dirt.

"H-how did you find that?" Eli asked then cowered when their glares intensified. That was apparently the wrong question to ask.

"Well. I was looking through photo albums when I remembered there were far more in storage—"

'Oh no, don't say it,' Eli winced in fear of—

"—up in the attic. When I sensed some plants up there. At first, I was afraid it was mold or something, but no, it was this. So. What are you up to Elias Herbert Newton? Playing hero or vigilante? After you told us that you were only at the mall to help us? Anything you'd like to tell us?"

"Um... there's a perfectly good explanation for this that I am about to tell you." Eli's brain was a whirlwind of activity as he searched, hunted, and prayed for any answer that he could think of to help him out here. He hadn't expected this!

"I'd like to hear it sooner rather than later."

Eli opened his mouth then closed it again. How did he explain how he was, no had been sneaking out. It'd been a few days, maybe that would help him a little? Then he looked into his mom's hardened green eyes and then his father's icy blue-gray eyes. Nope! Wasn't happening. There was no minimizing the damage.

"Okay... I've been sneaking out off and on to practice with my powers. That's it! It's not a big deal, really!"

He shouldn't have said that.

"Oh, it's not? I didn't realize. Do you think it's a big deal, Rick?" Mom asked in a voice thick with far too much forced calm.

"Yes. I do. You mean to tell us that you've been sneaking off into who knows where to fuck around with dangerous powers in the middle of a federally mandated curfew? Where have you been going? How exactly have you been practicing with your powers?"

"Um, a field halfway to New Faram?"

"New Faram?" Mom screeched as she shook her head and walked over to sit down on one of the porch chairs. "Please deal with this, Rick. I can't."

"No, no, halfway to it! Out in the country in some abandoned field! I don't think anyone owns it!"

"Eli... there isn't such a thing as 'abandoned land'," Dad groaned as he massaged his forehead with both of his hands. Wow. He'd really done it this time. "What did you do there?"

"Just practiced with my powers to level them up and merge them! That's it! I swear." Eli met Dad's wide-open stare for a few seconds before he sighed and nodded.

"Okay, fine. I believe you, but... what the hell were you thinking?"

"That my powers can be a bit destructive and I'd rather go where there's nothing to destroy?"

"Except a farmer's land or state-owned property." Dad started pacing as he combed his fingers through his hair until it poofed up. "Alright. Well. You did what you did and—"

"No. He's grounded."

"What does he even have, Addy?" Dad asked as he turned to Mom. "He lost his phone, he doesn't really have his own computer, he doesn't really drive or go anywhere and he's almost an adult. What’s the point?"

"He has his powers." She stood up as if inspiration had struck her like a lightning bolt. "And people can trade them, right?"

"Yeah, but he'd have to start over at level zero unless they're maxed out and he'd be almost powerless."

"No, he wouldn't be. He has that stat power you told me about and probably half a dozen new ones by now. Tell us what you have."

"Are you really going to make me give you my powers?" Eli blinked as he looked at both of his parents and then realized they were. He sighed as he pulled up his status and read outloud the info.

Rapid Recovery Ev. 1/Lv. 3>

[Stats:

Body: Light (Photon Shot)

Mind: None

Will: None

]

[Equipped Power List:

Slot One -- Spatial Control Ev. 0/ Lv. 5 (Maxed)

Slot Two -- Voidshade Control Ev.0/Lv. 1

Slot Three -- Dynamic Vitality Ev. 0/Lv. 0

]

[Unequipped Powers:

Rapid Recovery Ev. 1/Lv. 3

}

"See, he'll be fine. Give me Spatial Control and Voidshade Control," Mom said with a nod. "You can keep everything else until either your birthday or if Dr. Simmons says otherwise."

In return for Spatial Control and Voidshade Control>

Accept

Offer Power in Trade

Decline>

"But... I just got Voidshade Control and it's been hard to level and, and I think it's connected to why the doctors can't heal my arm..." Eli babbled as he met her unrelenting gaze until he said the part about his arm. Her glare softened as she turned to look at Dad.

"I think that's fine if he keeps it, don't you? We're most concerned about him actually teleporting about as he pleases, right?"

"Fine." Mom sighed as the trading prompt vanished then reappeared with the change.

In return for Spatial Control>

Accept

Offer Power in Trade

Decline>

“You’re really going to take it away?” Eli glanced up at his mother’s eyes which were unflinching. Dad looked away. Fucking coward. Always that ‘united parenting’ bullshit. He thought about teleporting away, never coming back. With his powers, he could be a ghost and survive easily, anywhere. It’d be easy.

“Just for a little while Eli.”

“You know I could still sneak out, right? I’ve done it long before powers…” Her glare hardened into the ‘You better listen right now or else’ look. Fear jolted up his spine. Space started to warp behind him as he prepared to teleport away. They wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Then he thought about his friends who he had just started to reconnect with. Lyra who had withdrawn into herself ever since the mall. She was acting like… well like him. He didn’t like seeing the pain in her eyes whenever she would look at him. He nodded at his mom.

Eli would give it up, for now, but the minute he was an adult and had it back he’d run if things didn’t get better. It was only a week until his birthday.

With a sinking heart, he accepted. Spatial Control disappeared as it was ripped out of his soul when it disappeared from his System status. At the same time there was a crashing gust of air and all of his belongings popped out of his bubbles from the void and spilled across the lawn. Maybe it was a good thing he had never gotten around to packing his car into a bubble.