What was that?

I found myself lying on the road, surrounded by the debris that made up the monster whose power I absorbed.

It’s like I lived through an entire day in the back of someone else’s mind. I felt every emotion she felt, every sensation, and even the feeling of death.

It was the woman who I saw die, it had to be. I watched myself through her eyes do nothing as she was killed.

No, I could feel how she felt at that moment. She didn’t feel anger or resentment towards me, she instead wanted to save my life, to prevent any further casualties.

The group she was a part of in the memories was called ‘The Equalists’. They’re freedom-fighting revolutionaries who are trying to stop superheroes like Riot from being able to commit heinous crimes and get away with it, or at least according to Jasmine’s perspective they are.

I was still trying to figure out who I was and didn’t have anywhere to go because I could not remember anything from before waking up in the lab.

From what I had seen about superheroes so far, they all seemed like scum, and I needed somewhere to stay, so trying to join the Equalists could be a good move. On top of that, my power fits their mission, I can remove the powers from a person and make them ‘Equal’ to a powerless person. I’d be a great asset to them. I would also be paying my debt to Jasmine by continuing her mission.

I also know the location of their headquarters from Jasmine’s memories, so it won’t be too hard to find them.

Now the hard part comes, how do I get there? It’s on the outskirts of town, so it’s not easy to go without a car.

Suddenly, I realized something. I had absorbed Jasmine’s powers and saw in her memories that she could fly using it, which meant I could too.

I hoped her muscle memory transferred to me along with her regular memories when I absorbed her power. It would make things much easier.

I held out my hands, trying to mimic the motions she had done when she commanded the wind.

To my surprise, it worked. The wind began to encircle me, lifting me into the air. It was very shaky, and I had to focus my complete and utter attention on it, but I was flying.

I realized that it’s nighttime right now, so who knows if there will be anyone at the Equalist headquarters?

Maybe they decided to stay later because of the possibility of Riot joining their side, so it’s still worth a shot to try and get there.

After an embarrassing amount of effort and trial and error, I managed to fly to the Equalist headquarters.

Jasmine’s memories did not sugarcoat the place at all, it was exactly as she saw it. The warehouse was rotting and decayed, metal beams and rusted construction equipment were scattered around the outside.

There was a light shining through a vent, which meant there was someone inside.

I took a deep breath and landed on the ground. Well, landed is putting it nicely. I fell face-first into the ground from like 5 feet in the air. It’s not easy using a power just based on someone else’s memories, okay?

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I made my way over to the front doors of the warehouse and opened them. They took a lot of budging to open due to how rusted the hinges were, but I managed to make it inside.

The headquarters wasn’t as hot as it was in Jasmine’s memories, but that could just be because it’s night and the sun is down.

At the very end of the warehouse was a desk, a table lamp lit up, and a man writing furiously. I couldn’t completely make it out, but I knew it had to be Kyo from Jasmine’s memories, the leader of the Equalists. If there’s anyone I should talk to about joining, it’s him.

His aura was threatening, and I began to sweat profusely. What if he kills me for trying to join? All I knew about Kyo was from Jasmine’s memories of today, so I wasn’t sure how he’d react to me. Especially considering I’d be telling him about Jasmine’s death.

I walked down the warehouse towards his desk, which matched how Jasmine viewed it. It did feel like a throne in a way.

Kyo raised his head from his work and looked me straight in the eyes, saying, “Who are you? If you’re a hero coming here to taunt me about Jasmine’s death, I’m not interested.”

“N-No, I’m not I swear! I just…” I spat out as if it were burning my tongue, “I was just a bystander and I saw Jasmine die tonight. She was killed by Riot. She protected me even in her last moments, and so I want to join the Equalists. I want to be a true hero like her.”

“Mhm, sure. How do you know her name if she just ‘protected’ you? How do you know the location of the headquarters? How do you know we’re the Equalists? Give me an answer to those questions and I’ll consider letting you join.” Kyo said, his attention beginning to be drawn back to his papers as he started to stack them into piles.

What struck me as odd was that he didn’t have any guards around him. He was unphased by the possibility that I was a hero. I was trying to think of how to phrase the answer to his questions in a way that didn’t make me sound insane.

After much deliberation, I managed to say this, “I’m a superhuman, and my power is called ‘Power Thief’. It gives me the ability to steal someone’s power. After Riot killed Jasmine, for some reason that I don’t understand, she turned into a monster of wind and rubble with an orb of energy centering her. I was almost killed by this monster, but I managed to absorb its power. I’m not 100% sure how my power works since this was my first time using it, but when I stole her power I got her memories of what she did before she died. Her memories included this place and you.”

Kyo’s eyes widened ever so slightly, emotions were never clear on this man’s face.

“Your story seems to check out. That ‘monster’ you encountered was a Remnant. When superhumans die, their power manifests as a Remnant for exactly 1 hour, and then they disappear. Jasmine did visit the headquarters today so that checks out too…” Kyo said, his voice trailing off as he spoke.

He started to fidget with a pen on his desk, twirling it around in his hand.

“Your power would be extremely useful to our cause. For this reason, I will allow you to join but you must complete a condition first. Tomorrow, I’ll send you on a mission with some other members, and you must defeat and steal the power of a hero. This would prove your loyalty and if you have a power-stealing ability.” He spoke, suddenly becoming serious. Although he wouldn’t show it, the death of Jasmine seemed to be affecting him in some way I couldn’t understand.

I thought about asking if I could sleep here, but I realized that would only make me more suspicious. Kyo is already suspicious of me, so asking to sleep here sounds like I’d be trying to gather evidence.

I’ll just have to go back to the lab and sleep there.

I thanked Kyo and left the warehouse. The night sky was beautiful, the stars twinkled up above, and a feeling of safety came over me.

I managed to fly again back to the alley where it all began, making sure not to be too obvious about it. I was trying to avoid catching the attention of heroes.

Still not having the hang of this power, I was dropped onto my back, straight into a puddle of water. I peeled myself off the ground and got up, my left hand gripping my back in pain.

I walked over to the rusting door to the lab, opened it, and made my way down the stone brick stairs and finally into the lab itself.

The lab looked the same as earlier, which was to be expected, except that the mystery liquid that had spilled out of the vat I was in had dried. The floor around the vat was now covered in glass shards and a sticky substance. I tried to avoid walking there and went towards the opposite side of the lab.

I searched everywhere and found a display cushion in one of the cabinets. I lay on the freezing concrete floor and rested my head on the cushion.

I had a long day ahead, one that I couldn’t ever prepare for.