I couldn’t sleep last night.

I lay on the cold concrete floor, falling in and out of consciousness all night.

Thoughts kept passing through my mind. Thoughts of the mission I had the next day, of the murder I witnessed, and of how Kyo viewed me.

I didn’t know how to fight, so I dreaded this mission all last night. Considering what Riot did to Jasmine, I could easily been killed. I was not nearly as good at wind manipulation as Jasmine, it would be even more dangerous. All I have up my sleeve is power thief, and even then I don’t understand what conditions I need to activate it.

I’ll have other people there with me on the mission, I won’t be alone.

Either way, I was stressed about it. I kept going up the stairs and checking for daylight because there weren’t windows in the lab, yet it never was. After what had to be my fiftyth check after tossing and turning all night it was finally morning.

I walked over to the vat and checked its many screens, I knew that one of them had a clock. After some searching I found it. It stated that it was currently 7:42 am.

A wave of shock flowed through my entire body, causing my muscles to tense up. I had to go right then or I’d be late for the mission.

I ran to the exit door, pulled it open with all my strength, went up the lab stairs, and made it to the alley.

Quickly, I activated my flight using my wind manipulation. I had some practice using it last night, but I was still no good at it. The wind circling me to help me fly also made me cold, which sucked because I had to lay on cold concrete all night. I’d have to suffer through it until I got to the headquarters.

As I approached the warehouse, it seemed much more lively. People were coming in and out, carrying supplies and machinery. Through Jasmine’s memories, I had seen people here before but even then the place looked bleak, but now a hopeful energy encompassed the place in a way I hadn’t seen before.

The people outside the building looked up at me, their eyes widening. I realized from my encounter with Kyo yesterday that my experiment get-up does look like a sort of hero costume, which made me easily mistaken for a hero.

Some started to activate their powers, others pulling out guns, all were pointed in my direction. I was slowly descending onto the ground, trying to control my fall. I was nearly panicking at this moment, realizing that flying into the Equalist headquarters was not normal.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Before I was shot dead or killed by some of the superhumans, a man opened the warehouse doors and came outside, holding his hands out to signal to stop. His skin was metallic, armored plates sectioning off parts of his body, and mechanical parts making him up. The man’s jaw was connected by bolts, limbs sectioned to improve movement, and a quiet but noticeable sound was made whenever he moved.

The man looked like a machine rather than a human.

“Everyone calm down, this isn’t a hero, it’s our recruit. He’ll be joinin’ me and some others for a mission today, pay him no mind.” The man’s voice boomed, sounding like that of a speaker. He had a Southern accent that made him sound like a kind grandpa.

The man walked up to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, guiding me into the warehouse.

“Hey bud, I’m gonna be your team’s captain today. We’ve got some other newbies that are joinin’ ya, so don’t be too self-conscious. I’m Mac, nice to meet you!” The man said in a comforting tone. He could tell that I was stressed and that I was uneasy due to the guns being pointed at me.

I entered the building and saw two other people I didn’t recognize. Both were teenagers like me, but they were very different from each other. One was a dark-skinned boy with messy, curly, bright white hair and deep eye bags. His demeanor seemed unfriendly and closed off. The boy wore a black sweater with a white button-up underneath, the collar visible, and black, baggy jeans. The other was an olive-skinned girl with wavy, dark brown hair and friendly eyes. She seemed to be kind and energetic. She wore a sage green top with a green flannel shirt and grey jeans.

“These are ya’ team members for the mission,” Mac pointed with his mechanical arm, “The emo one is Moriti and the smiley one is Aria.”

I raised my hand and waved, unsure how to interact with the others.

“Kyo never told me your name, just ya’ power, so what’s ya’ name?” Mac questioned, trying not to sound too threatening or put too much pressure.

I swallowed my fear and spoke, “My name’s Sol, nice to meet you all.”

I watched their faces closely as they judged me, their reactions very different.

Moriti spoke up quickly, annoyed, “Just don’t steal my power and we’ll be fine.”

“Nice to meet you too!” Aria exclaimed, her friendly attitude starkly contrasting Moriti’s negative one.

Mac motioned me to stand with the two so I stood beside Aria, since Moriti gave me the death stare.

“To test all of ya’ll abilities, especially Sol’s power thief ability, we’ll be dealin’ with a low-level hero named ‘Weaponsmith’,” Mac explained, “I’ll be there to make sure ya’ll don’t get hurt too bad.”

Mac motioned us outside, implying we were ready to leave.

A pit formed in my stomach, imagining everything that could go wrong.

I couldn’t see the future, so I’d just have to wait.

If only I could see what lay ahead of me.