----

Taylor and her twin brother Dean were on day one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six of imprisonment in the Ares. That was okay because the boy with red eyes would save them today. They were locked in this cell because they were wildcards. She knew that much because both her and Dean were very smart children, who had five years of solitude to ponder their thoughts in darkness. Taylor didn’t know the extent of her powers, she was perfectly normal, aside from her pitch-black eyes, and her brother’s blinding white eyes. She could sometimes see glimpses of the future and could read the minds of everyone she met, though she often chose not to. That’s how she knew Mr. Harding was an evil man, he always dreams of himself planted on a throne, looking over the world from his ship. He used a strange term to describe Dean and Taylor though, “alpha species” is what he called them. Strange, she had met the alpha once, and the only thing she remembered about it was that he was very nice, and gently lifted Her and Dean away from a group of screaming people, and took them to what he said was “the real universe.” She also remembered something chasing them, and The Alpha saying they would be fine as long as they passed the wall. Then he apologized for tampering with their memories and promised they would meet again. She spent a few years with Mr. Jennings on Earth until she was brought here.

“They’ve woken up” Dean whispered from the corner he was laying in. Taylor knew none of them would know what to do with their powers once they arrived here, so she would have to guide them. “I hope they bring snacks,” Dean said.

“It’s been almost five years since I tasted anything.”

----

The second Emma opened her eyes, everything in the hospital room rattled. Everything from the pitcher of water by her bed, to all of the cabinets, furniture, and machinery.

“Woah there girl, let’s not get crazy,” said Daina, her smile fading for a brief moment as she threw a nervous glance around the room. “Look at those eyes on you! Care to tell me what happened?” Emma couldn’t understand her though, her head felt as if somebody was constantly stomping on it. All she could do was stare up at Daina looking down at her, that same amused smile on her face. “Listen, I’m just here to help, I’m not here to fight you or force you anywhere. Unless of course, I have to.” Her smile only grew wider as she said the last part. Emma could feel her confidence, she didn’t know how, but she felt what Daina was feeling, Daina wanted Emma to resist, so she could make an example out of her to Dawn and Quin. She knew all of this by just focusing on Daina for a few brief moments. She decided not to trust the so-called Queen of The Knights, but she also knew there was no way she could win in a fight, so she was going to go along with her plan for now.

“Why are you here, then?” Emma tried to make her voice flat, remaining monotone.

Daina stared at Emma for a bit longer before answering, her expression turning from amusement to annoyance. Clearly she was used to people just doing whatever she wants them to do without question. “Because you and your friends seemed to have gotten powers out of nowhere, let’s just make this easy please. I’ve already escorted your friends to the ship, I would appreciate it if you just came with me unless of course, you resist.” Her hazel eyes began to glow.

“Come with you where?” Emma said, leaning up slightly. Daina slammed her hands on the sides of the hospital bed, sending it crashing to the ground and toppling machinery over. Before Emma could react, Daina grabbed her, and in the blink of an eye, they were on the roof of the massive hospital building. Daina threw her down beside Dawn and Quin. In front of them was The Ares, the legendary ship of the Knights. Neal, who apparently had been flying over them the whole time, landed gently beside Daina.

“Go find that other human boy, and bring him here too.” Daina sneered. Neal nodded his head and took off into the sky again.

The doors of the ship opened, and John Harding walked slowly towards them, one eye glowed bright blue, the other a dark crimson.

He looked absolutely infuriated.

~~

John thought of just killing them all where they were, laying on their knees before him. It would be simple, but he was curious. Especially about the one called Emma. She had been born to two supers, yet came out as human. He wanted to know what they were feeling.

“Do any of you have any idea how important today was going to be to me? Of course, you don’t,” said John with authority. He meant it, today was supposed to birth a future for everyone, he spent years understanding that core. Once he had discovered its origin, and who it really came from…. He knew he had to find a way to protect the Earth. “I bet you all believe you have a sense of purpose now, what with your new powers and strength.” After he said this, Neal landed in front of them again, this time with the human boy. John decided to make an example of the human. He had to be terrified.

He focused on the boy for a second, and then put his foot forward as if he was taking a step, but instead of taking one, he covered the distance between him and the human boy in less than a second and peered into his eyes. “What is your name, boy?” John spit the last word out with venom. To his surprise, the boy looked up at him with an equally intense stare, meeting John’s glowing eyes directly.

“Grayson Stihl,” said Grayson calmly. John was taken aback temporarily by his intensity.

This human thought he could be a match for someone like him?

“You’re only a human, yet you introduce yourself to me like we’re equals. I am a pioneer of the future, show some respect, and you may save your own life,” said John with malice. Grayson tilted his head upward, which made it so he was looking down on John.

“You speak of humans as if we are something entirely separate from you. We live and die, just like you do, both human and super achievement will pioneer the future, not you. Perhaps you’re not a fraud Mr. Harding, but you’re certainly not meant for anything great.” Grayson said this all as if he had been carrying a casual conversation with this man who could disintegrate him.

John smiled and relaxed his shoulders. Arrogant teenagers, how typical. Still, he was foolish to think that all humans deeply respected him for his public image. He decided to reveal his true side to the boy, the side of him that could convince anybody that destiny rests easily in his hands.

“I am the alpha,” John said as he extended his arms to each side. “You can speak of destiny and humanity as if you understand both, but you know nothing about either. The core that you all observed was a defense against something that is beyond your understanding.” This made Grayson’s face twitch for just the tiniest of moments.

“The Alpha, huh? Are all the stories about your achievements true then? If they are, then you shouldn’t need a defense.” John stared at this child in pure amusement now. In front of him sat three newly blessed supers on their knees, unwilling to mumble a word in his presence, and yet this human, arrogant boy had stood up to him, and outwitted him.

John took a few paces away, deep in thought.

“Allow me to enlighten you, Grayson? Was it?” said John.

“There are four main colors associated with the powers supers get. There are actual names for the powers, but being the simple-minded people we are, we like to cut it down to the colors blue, indigo, red, and hazel.”

He looked up at Grayson as if he was just realizing he was still standing there.

“However, I am in possession of two wildcards that reside within the cells of my ship. If I’m correct on a certain assumption that I have regarding them, then everything we know about supers is dead wrong.”

John Harding’s eyes began to glow blue, and this time he glared at Grayson.

“In conclusion, four teenagers who have seemed to get their powers out of nowhere are nothing compared to what I already have, and I can’t have you all mouthing off to the public about me. It’s funny, really. If you had just kept your mouth shut, you and your friends might have had a slight chance of leaving alive. You don’t anymore. But you have earned my respect, Grayson. I’ll remember your name. Maybe I’ll attend your funeral. You can rest peacefully, knowing you are about to be exterminated by the greatest super to have ever lived.”

Grayson didn’t falter for a second. As John Harding let the energy from his eyes loose towards him, he had but a moment to say his last words.

“You’re wrong.”

-------

Emma didn’t know how she did it, but there she was, directly between Grayson and John, two beams of plasma burning her back. She let out a cry of pain, and Grayson lunged out of the way.

“Greatest super to have ever lived, huh?” Quin sneered. “Guess the rest of them haven’t been all that special,” At that, he lunged forward, making a small dent on the ground from which he took off, he got within punching distance of John, and as he pulled his fist back, red lightning began to circle itself around him, it was very faint, but for a second, it looked as if he was about to explode from the power within him. As he flung his fist forward to drive it into John, Daina sped forward in between them, arms crossed, the same, cocky smile on her face fully expecting to absorb the blow without a scratch. She didn’t. The second his arm connected with her, a shockwave of dust and wind sent them all flying backward, and Daina had a faint look of shock on her face before she was sent flying into the sky above. Emma looked over at John, but before she could act, he lunged forward and flew into her, he wrapped his arms around her the way a football player would tackle someone and slammed her through the roof they had been standing on, sending her tumbling through story upon story of the building. He peered down through the human-sized hole he had made before being struck by a small lightning bolt from the sky, enough to put him on his knees. He turned towards Dawn, who was holding a very busted and broken looking Neal by the collar of his suit jacket. She had beaten him before he could even react. She was holding her hand out towards John, who was looking at her in temporary awe of how fast she seemed to have grasped her powers. At that moment, Emma thundered back up through the hole that she had been slammed through and lunged straight for John at inhuman speeds. Before she could attack him, she caught something in the corner of her eye that made her stop in her tracks.

“Surrender.” was the only word Ionic had to say to get them all to snap their attention to him. He held a very annoyed Grayson over the edge of a building. Emma didn’t even see him appear, everything had happened so fast.

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Grayson furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Where did you even come from?” Ionic swept his gaze over everyone present. Emma stood over a weakened John Harding, Quin was crouching in the middle of the roof, the red lightning sweeping over him, and was huffing as if he was trying not to unleash his anger. Dawn still held a defeated Neal in her arms, her other arm trying to control the storm she had created.

While being held over the edge of the building, Grayson once again spoke calmly. “So this is what it’s like to be a damsel in distress.”

Ionic glared at Grayson with blue eyes that glowed just above the cloth that was covering the rest of his face. “ I will fry you.”

“No!” Emma yelped. “We’ll do what you want, just put him down, plea--’ She didn’t finish her sentence before John’s fist went into her gut at full power, but before she was sent flying into the air, he grabbed her and yanked what looked like a set of handcuffs with bright blue rings outlining them, and forced them on her wrist. Instantly, she felt as if millions of iron daggers were cutting into her hands at once, and could feel herself blacking out. She stumbled for a few steps, then fell, succumbing to the abyss. It all happened so fast, she caught a brief image of Ionic throwing Grayson over the edge of the building, of Dawn bounding after him, jumping off the edge. Her knees buckled in, and she suddenly felt very tired….

In the moments she was asleep, familiar flashing images of a front door being broken in, a strange white glow emanating from a figure out of the dust, and of her parents lying lifeless on the floor is crowded her mind. She could only observe as they died again, just as she had many times before, every time she closed her eyes. It was as if she was looking through a crystal ball, putting herself in the past, as if she could have done anything differently as if she could have stopped it….

“I’m sorry this had to happen to you.” Emma was startled by the voice of a little girl that

had appeared on her right. The girl looked up at her, and Emma was temporarily taken aback by her eyes, which were pitch black, and clashed with her golden blonde hair and curious face. “Sorry I startled you, I don’t usually invade dreams.” said The Girl. “But it’s time for you to wake up.” With that, the girl raised her hand and snapped her fingers. In an instant, Emma bolted awake, and the first thing she felt was the searing pain of the handcuffs that John Harding had forced on her.

“They got us,” said Dawn from across the cell they had appeared to be locked in. The only light that was in the room was shining from the tiny slit in the top of the wall, where three iron bars stood firm.

“Well, you did put up a wicked nice battle for only having your powers for a few minutes.” Said the voice of the same Girl from Emma’s dream. “Dean, can you give us some light?” said the Girl. Emma heard the noise of a body shifting from another corner of the room, and a small, childish grunt. She saw two eyes begin to glow a pale white, and a fire materialized in the center of the room, that appeared to be powered by nothing. She saw the faces of Quin, Dawn, Grayson, the Boy named Dean, and the girl from Emma’s dreams light up.

“My name is Taylor,” said the girl. “This is my twin brother, Dean.”

Dawn perked her head up. “It’s nice to meet you, and thanks for the light, but why are we here? Wouldn’t it have been easier for them to kill us?”

Quin snorted, he shifted his body so he was sitting up, they were all wearing the same blue handcuffs that Emma was. “He said he wanted to keep us for further study. Like we’re rats, that guy loves to pretend, doesn’t he? He loves to pretend he’s the world’s savior and this brilliant mind, but we almost beat him.”

Dawn glared, giving Quin a death stare. “We’re locked in a dungeon, with these terrible things on.” She held up her shackled wrists. “Almost beat and losing are the same things, I felt like that storm was draining the energy from my body the more I was using it, I would have collapsed sooner or later, and you just sat there curled up in a ball for most of the fight, after Emma got knocked out, all Ionic had to do was throw Grayson off the building to distract all of us, and voila, here we are.”

Dean’s giggling shifted all their thoughts away from the argument. “You’re all arguing over a fight, but you’re completely ignoring the cool stuff you did without any practice,” said Dean. Taylor nodded. “We can break out of here,”

“How long have you two been here?” Grayson hadn’t spoken a word yet, and unlike the others, he was simply chained with his back against the wall.

“Five years,” said Taylor. “Why can’t I read your mind?” Her brow was furrowed, and her eyes began to take that black color again. She leaned forward, as if she was in deep concentration, staring deep into Grayson. Emma was dumbfounded, the two twins looked no older than twelve or thirteen, but had been here five years?

Grayson ignored her, a look of confusion flashed across his face, but left quickly, as if something bothered him, but he dismissed it. He looked down, staring quietly at the floor.

Quin glared at him. “If you hadn’t provoked him, maybe this wouldn’t have happened!”

Emma looked up at Quin, in complete disbelief. “How can you say that Quin, he would have killed us either way!” said Emma. Dawn violently jolted towards Emma, and her eyes flashed bright hazel for a moment. “Would we have been killed, though?”

“Yes!” chirped Emma. “He was fully prepared to kill us the second we were brought to him!”

“No!” yelled Quin. “You’re missing the part where he told us if the dreamboat over there had kept his mouth shut, we would have lived!” His eyes glowed red, and he jolted his wrists apart, and the handcuffs snapped in half. In his anger, he ripped off the chains across his body, and the red lightning started to coarse around him again. Quin looked down at his palms, not believing what he had just done. Emma could see his mind and could feel how conflicted he was.

“I’m sorry, those cuffs digging in my wrists were just frustrating,” said Quin. Dean smiled again. “Don’t be sorry, unless you don’t rip the chains off from the rest of us, then you can be sorry when you try to escape on your own, and you get thrown back in here.”

Quin started shaking violently, and he began to curl up in a ball again as he did during the fight. Taylor stood up as much as her chains and cuffs would allow her and furrowed her brows in Quin’s direction. “You can control what you feel, Acrimony, or what you guys know as the crimson power, amplifies extreme bursts of emotion and turns it into extra strength. We can help you control it if you get us out of here, just focus, let whatever you’re feeling coarse through you.”

Quin slowly stood up, the red lightning intensifying as he did, and he slowly took one step towards Dean, who was closest to him, and grabbed Dean’s cuffs. Quin clenched his jaw, and Emma wondered where all of this anger in him came from. It seemed to drain her of energy every time she attempted to read minds, she assumed it would take her a while to fully learn her power. It seemed like she could feel the emotions that everyone else was feeling, emanating from Dawn and Quin was anger towards Grayson, and a sense of hope and tension was coming from the twins. She found it strange that nothing was coming from Grayson though, it’s not that nothing was there, but it’s like he sealed himself off. The overseer said he had talked to Grayson before, Emma supposed she would ask Grayson what he said when she got the chance.

Quin started huffing, like he couldn’t keep his anger in and ripped the cuffs off of Dean, and Dean’s eyes instantly began to glow white, but not like they were when he started the small fire, they were bright enough this time to light up the entire room. Emma went completely blind for a moment as her vision turned bright, and she heard footsteps outside of the cell.

“We have a problem!” she heard Neal scream through the door. “One of the twins is free!” Neal seemed calm normally, but Emma could feel a sense of fear and panic coming from him.

Emma felt the pain in her wrists cease, which meant the cuffs had come off. She heard Taylor’s voice from across the room. “I’m sorry Quin, but we only have seconds to leave before they all come, so I’m going to have to overload the anger you’re feeling.” As the white light blinding her vision faded away, she heard Quin scream in anger, and she saw a shape lunge itself across the room, and smash into the wall, crushing the metal outwards, and she heard Neal grunt painfully.

“Grab Grayson! You all are going to have to learn how to fly on the well, fly.” Dean said.

Taylor frowned at him. “Take this seriously! We won’t get this chance again.” she held her hand out towards Grayson, and he abruptly began to float. The room shook violently again, and Emma knew Quin must be fighting somewhere within the ship.

“Alright, let’s go.’ said Dawn. “Not without Quin.” snarled Grayson. As if on cue, a supercharged Quin smashed through the roof of the cell, and a blue beam of energy crashed into him. Ionic leaped into the room charging down at Quin with his fist raised, but before he could strike, Dean froze him in midair. Neal and Daina appeared in the smashed-in wall and lunged for Dean. Emma and Dawn were ready to leap in and help, but she heard Taylor’s voice in her head. “No, he wants us to go. He can handle it.” Taylor levitated Quin and floated him toward the group. Daina tried to reach out and grab Dean, but he dodged at a speed faster than the eye could see. He began to glow white and raised his arms in the air. Out of the aura that he glowed, a monster began to form, it was like a giant white shadow, protruding from Dean’s back. Ionic jumped towards him, but Neal held him back and whispered something in his ear, and Ionic drew back, and his sharp eyes began to fill with light blue energy. The avatar that Dean had created flung Daina down, and she appeared to be knocked out. Dean swung his arm, which made the avatar do the same thing, and it collided with Neal, smashing him right back through the hole in the wall.

“We have to leave, now!” yelled Dawn above the commotion. Taylor and Emma had been in silent marvel at Dean’s power, but Taylor broke her trance. She closed her eyes and made a shoving motion towards the floor at the back of the cell. Instantly, it crumbled and fell in, leading to the bottom floor of the ship they had apparently been in throughout this whole ordeal. As they leaped down, a ball of blue energy encased the floor they had just been on. Emma looked up and saw Dean gazing down on them from the floor they were just on. Emma held her hands out for a split second, then realized how dumb of an idea it was, Dean was super, after all, he didn’t need anyone to catch him.

“Come on!”Emma yelled. Dean stared at them a while longer, before looking over at

Taylor, and nodding. “What a failure.” said the voice of John Harding from above. Emma heard light footsteps walking across the metal above them. The room surrounding Dean began to glow. Taylor thrust her hands forward and smashed a hole in the ship with her mind. “Good, we’re still docked, or else we all would have been sucked out, you will all have to fly. Once we’re in the air I can turn you invisible.”

“What about him?” said Emma as she pointed a finger at the hole where Dean was.

Taylor cast a nervous glance upward. “My brother knew he wasn’t going to escape with us, he’s buying us time, we need to go. I can’t hold them for much longer.” she gestured towards Grayson and Quin, still floating in the air. “In fact, you might have to carry Grayson, Dawn. I think Quin is good enough now.”Another loud crash sounded above them, and John Harding burst through the ceiling, holding Dean by the collar of his shirt.

“To take down two knights is an accomplishment, kid. But you couldn’t have honestly thought you could last more than a few seconds going toe to toe with The Alpha.” Dean slowly looked up at Taylor and nodded his head once. His mouth was moving, and Emma realized he was whispering “Farewell, be strong.” Taylor nodded, spoke to everybody telepathically. “You need to imagine yourself as a feather, weightless. Don’t hesitate, just jump, and boost yourself.”

Taylor took a deep breath, looked back into Dean’s glowing white eyes, and said ‘Do it.”

Immediately, Dean’s entire body began to glow white, and Taylor floated Grayson over to

Dawn, where she slung him over her shoulder, then pushed Emma and Quin through the hole in the ship. As Emma fell, she tried to imagine herself as weightless, floating above everything. Closing her eyes as tight as she could, time seemed to slow down, and she felt the wind stop hitting her rapidly as she fell. In fact, she didn’t seem to be falling anymore. She slowly opened her eyes, and she was floating in midair.

“Good, from here, it’s as if you’re swimming. Give yourself a boost in the air like you’re pushing off a wall to swim, and jet through the water. From there, just follow me!” yelled Taylor. Emma marveled at how mature this little girl seemed to be. The hospital was in an abandoned sector of the city, and the area should have been completely dark considering the fact that it was night time. But it wasn’t. The Ares was covered in a glowing white orb, and just as Emma gazed up at it, the ship exploded. She knew they didn’t have time to dwell, and she imagined a wall behind her, and coiled up in midair, and launched herself off of it. She wasn’t ready for how fast she went the second she launched, and the wind whipped across her face, but she got control and flew higher in the clouds to where she could see Taylor, Quin, Dawn, and Grayson.

“I’m gonna make us all invisible now, but I can only do it for about twenty minutes for a group of this size, so do any of you know a safe place that’s at least a little remote?” Taylor looked beyond tired, she was only a little girl, yet Emma could see the maturity in her worn eyes, and Emma understood she was pushing herself to her absolute limit to get them to safety.

“When my Uncle died, he left his beach house to us. It’s about two hours from here, but if we’re high enough in the sky and invisible for the first twenty minutes of our way there, we should shake anybody trying to follow us, right?” asked Dawn. “Okay, we’ll do that, you’re going to have to lead the way.” said Taylor. Quin snickered under his breath, looking at the group. “Look at us, if we learn how to actually use all of this new power, we could kill this fraud and his followers.”

Grayson glared at him over Dawn’s shoulder. “You’re missing the point to all of this. John was right about one thing.”

“He is not the villain in all of this.”