The Red Comets had all assembled outside of work for the first time. Richard sat next to Elisa on one long side, Damian at the other with other new recruit. It was a girl with blonde hair trimmed like a boy’s, the same age as the others. She looked athletic, in a way that was different than Elisa’s, as if she trained out and went through the trouble to work out rather than Elisa’s perfectly chiseled, super-metabolism-assisted body that showed through her costume.

Clinton sat at the end with a complex expression on his face. He bit his lips and slammed his head into the table.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, but there was nothing I could do. I was just a prisoner in my body as something controlled me. Used my knowledge, my body and most importantly the trust Tina had in me to kill her. Not only that, I made you two do something horrible. Please, forgive me, Damian, Elisa. I won’t repeat the same mistakes again.” Clinton said.

“Don’t worry, buddy. I think we can work everything out if we cooperate.” Richard said, looking at Damian. “How about you tell us what exactly happened to you.”

“Yes. It’s still fresh on my mind.” Clinton said and closed his eyes. “I was there to hand over the Red Band member Tina questioned. The commissioner was acting strange, I should have noticed. He brought me to a white haired boy and he asked me some questions. When I answered no to one of his questions, I suddenly blacked out and came to when I was kidnapping the hostages I took... I was conscious when I killed Tina, but I couldn’t stop.”

“I think that’s just about enough. What about you, Damian? You were arrested, right?” Richard asked, put both arms on the table and grabbing his palms with both hands. Then he put them before his nose.

“Yes. Clinton managed to call me at the right time.” Said Damian with a scowl.

“Thank god. Then you’d have probably killed Comet if he gave the order. What are your theories, Clinton?” Richard then asked.

“The commissioner was investigating a strange case. People were flocking to Highpeak during the night. Elisa said she saw some people like them. They were being most likely controlled just like me. They assembled at 1 o’clock, and the fact that I was freed at that time can’t be a mere coincidence.” Clinton said and walked over to the computer. After some clicks, a video footage started playing. It showed several people assembling near Highpeak, as he said, and then another one showed them gathering near the central police department then. “As you can see, they started flocking to the police department during the night because that boy was there. That would mean he was at Highpeak before. As far as I know, the only way is to beat him before he speaks. I might be able to do that. So can Elisa. The only problem is that the police, at least the ones at the central department, are under his control. They have quite a number of Acronyms and several military-grades lying around.”

“I can take the Acronyms.” Damian said. “And there’s also something else I have to tell you all. Clinton, Elisa, I’m sorry. I had to reveal your identities. He asked.”

“I’m fine with that.” Clinton said. “That’s the least I can do for Tina. The best is murdering that brat!”

“You did what?!” Elisa shouted.

“I couldn’t lie. No, I did try to lie, but I felt like I was throwing up and the truth came out.” Damian said, still scowling.. “And if I refused to answer, I’d have become like Clinton.”

“YOU ENDANGERED MY PARENTS AGAIN!!!” She shouted and slammed her hand on the table. It gave in under her strength.

“It wasn’t me before.” Damian answered. “It was Clinton. And since I didn’t want to do that, I answered. Was that the wrong choice?!”

“I DON’T CARE! I THOUGHT WE’D BE FIGHTING CRIME! WE AREN’T! WE’RE FIGHTING PEOPLE!” Elisa shouted.

Strangely enough, it was Richard who spoke.

“Calm down, Comet. You’re right, we’re fighting other people, but also, we are fighting evil. Think about it! We’re the only people in the city that can stop this. We have to put an end to that person. I can see him at the palace demanding the queen to answer one of his twisted questions, with a horde of gifted and normals hypnotized just like Clinton was a few hours ago.” He said. “I don’t want that, and neither should you. You don’t want someone like that ruling the world with an iron fist, do you?!”

“But I never thought this crime-fighting would endanger the people dear to me.” Elisa said, and started to cry. Damian could do nothing to comfort her, and Richard took on that role.

“You don’t understand, do you? If we don’t do anything, if we don’t resist, then your parents will become an empty shell just like them. If you won’t fight, you’ll also become like them. We must do something. I can’t speak for you all, but I sure as hell don’t want my dear uncle’s city to be ruled by a brat, let alone the empire.” Richard said, and stood up. “I’ll take up the mantle of captain. Clinton, Damian, you two are partners. Elisa, you go with Olivia. If any of your two teams get hypnotized, the other can stop them. It mightn’t be true for Elisa and Olivia, so I’ll take down Damian in case he gets hypnotized. And remember, anyone who is under his command loses all emotion, the ability to show expressions and doesn’t shorten their words from we are to we’re, or you are to you’re, so pay attention to the small details.”

“What about your parents?” Clinton asked with wary eyes.

“I’ll bring them to the base. They should be safe here.” Elisa said after a while of thinking. “Sorry, Damian. It’s just that I never-”

“Don’t mind that. I should be the one apologizing.” He replied.

“With that the problem is resolved.” Richard said cheerfully. “Well then, now comes the introductions. I’m called Richard. My gift is completely stealing the power from any attack, be it projectile or punches, or anything for that matter. It stops working if I’m hurt before I activate it, so don’t count on me when things go south and we get ambushed. As for my hero name, how about Zero? That sounds fine.

Next up was Olivia. She was most definitely Clinton’s failsafe, meaning she could take him down if push came to shove.

“I’m Olivia, an inmate.” She mumbled.

“No, no, she isn’t. Her powers just went out of control, you see. She ran over someone.” Richard said with a forced smile. “Uncle got information about her and decided to recruit her.”

“Y-yes. My gift is to move fast. I can see things in slow-motion if I try. But-” Olivia paused again.

“It can suddenly end and she might slam into someone, really hard. Her body can endure the impact, but not the other person. She can fight Clinton, is what uncle believed and she accomplished. She might also be needed in fighting off the white-haired boy.” Richard said.

It was strange how fast he got their trust and even became the captain. A pang of jealousy formed within Damian’s chest. Of course he wouldn’t act on it. They were in a rather dangerous situation.

“Introductions are nice and all, but it’s a race to minimize our hostages. Comet, you should get going now. They have the police on their side. Your parents mightn’t know about the danger of interacting with them.” Damian said, and Elisa nodded her head.

“I have to get my friends in here, what about you guys?” Damian said, and looked around at the others.

“My mom’s at work in Luxembourg and my grandfather is in Rhodes.” Clinton said.

“Don’t care one bit about that shit. Either way, he’s a branch manager in Dresden, the next city over.” Said Richard.

“I don’t know my parents.” Olivia said.

After several long moments, Damian noticed. All of them were talking about their parents and none even mentioned about their friends. He didn’t know if he sounded strange to them, nor did he know to care about his parents. After all, he never felt love from any of them and they just provided him with certain things, nothing more, nothing less and both of them hated him to a degree. Then again, none of them had friends if you excluded money-crazed idiots that Richard had next to him, at least none that Damian was aware of.

Gifted mostly never made many friends because they were feared by the normal populace except a few. That was true for Damian, who only managed to find the right guys when he was all alone. They were special to him, as far as to fight a girl that his morals was so high against. They were as close as people got to him, thus he couldn’t leave them out there. The white-haired boy knew his identity, so he could track Damian’s friends down if he wanted to. Damian didn’t want to risk that.

He took out his phone and tapped on Barry’s number. He always had his phone near him, if not his pocket. He ought to pick up in a minute. After three rings, he did pick up.

“Hello.” Barry said from the other side of the phone.

“Hey, dude. I need you to come to H Plaza, right now.” Damian said garrulously.

“What do you mean, D. You are the one who should come home.” Barry said calmly. Damian’s heart skipped a beat.

“Barry, please, just no. Knock that act off. It’s not funny.” Damian said. His voice was calm as it was when he left, it wouldn’t be strange if he was still keeping the act.

“I am completely fine, D. Come home. We need to talk.” Barry said.

“Bloody hell!” Damian shouted and cancelled the call. Next up was of Adam. He ought to be having fun out somewhere, hopefully away from Barry. Simon was injured and couldn’t run yet. He couldn’t have escaped Barry if he had been hypnotized.

“Please, pick up.” He prayed.

No answer… He waited until the mobile provider’s no-pick-up signal clicked, and the call ended. He couldn’t believe it. Adam could be in danger. Simon didn’t have a phone.

“No, no, no, no, no. That can’t be.” At least Adam had to be safe. He was just dating a girl and put his phone on silent mode. That had to be it. There was no way he’d even meet the boy or get arrested for that matter. He wasn’t too flashy to men. No, he was just released so he might have decided to spend the night in an internet café. That was the only plausible answer, yes. The fear was simply irrational like with the Tinker-tech.

“Shit, goddamn it!” Damian shouted and gripped tightly at the phone. It didn’t budge, let alone break, but it was enough to sate his anger. His nose and eyebrows wrinkled, the nails of his hand digging into his palms.

“What’s wrong?” Richard asked from behind.

“My friends… they aren’t safe.” Damian said.

“I see. Don’t worry. As long as we beat the enemy king, the rest of the board will give up.” Richard said, and tapped on his shoulder. “And, yeah, I’m sorry for hurting your friends. It’s totally not because uncle told me to apologize. These are my sincere feelings. Take them to the heart.”

As always, Richard’s words were a mix of sarcasm and half-truths. It eased the pain somewhat. Now the only thing Damian could do was pray that the boy couldn’t connect the dots and take them hostage. The least he could do for them was beat up that murderer.

“I’ll murder that brat.

≈

Charlie stood before what was assumed, or rather known as the Red Band’s hideout. The police were rather tight mouthed about these stuff. If only he could question his minions, it’d be far easier. He could ask questions and get their answers whenever he wanted except before he took control. It was inconvenient, but Charlie could live with it. He wasn’t like one of those spoiled, gifted idiots. He was born a normal kid just like any other and bullied just like any other non-gifted, though a little too much, pushing his boundaries everyday. One day the universe snapped around him and here he was, looking at his former torturers running into the base of the Red Band naked, with knives in their hands. They’d do anything for him, including throwing away their lives. It was funny, really. They’d have to do whatever he wanted even if they hadn’t become his minions with a smart use of the language.

The sound of shouts sounded from within, and Charlie snapped his fingers. More than two dozen military Acronyms rushed into the building. They held crossbows with bolts as large as the arm of a grown man, in other words, far greater than a bow. That wasn’t their only weapon, though. The first ten had large swords in their hand that could easily slash any human, tough or not, in two.

Behind Charlie, twenty police cars stood, with forty officers inside them. They were half of the officers that were at the Central Department. There were 21 departments in the city and overall, that’d mean there were around a thousand and five hundred of them. Not that bad for a city with a population of thirty thousand, but still lacking if he wanted to rule the province, not to mention only three gifted were in the Red City Police.

In the car behind him, on the driver’s seat, was the commissioner. He was the boss of all the cops and he didn’t have to brainwash everyone at all, just the leading bunch. If only he did so with the Smith Co.’s and the Edison Company’s directors, he’d be literally grasping the city in his hands. Steady steps would all join together into a journey. Charlie would take baby steps and reach the top one day, before he turned 18. That was his newest goal in life – taking over the empire. It would take a while, but he had time.

“Give me your loudspeaker.” Said Charlie and the commissioner stumbled out from the car and knelt down next to him, lifting the loudspeaker up on both hands. “You finally learned it. Great. Now I can act like a king.” He then shouted back at the other officers. “That’s enough, stop the Acronyms!”

The sound of shouts receded and he could only imagine what they were doing: trembling in fear, afraid of the police for the first time in their life. The lord’s orders didn’t reach them anymore, and as such, trash like these had to be cleansed or they had to swear fealty. That was the rule of the empire.

“Everyone of you scoundrels, come out unless you want the Acronyms to kill you all!” Said Charlie with a smile. “This is not the police. I repeat, this is not the police.” He then added.

After some minutes and some tugs from the Acronyms, the thirty something people inside came walking out. Last came their boss – Sean. He was a gifted and a wanted criminal with a killing spree. It was a wonder why a manhunt hadn’t been called on him if they didn’t know how much funds the Band of Brothers had. Sean could make anything inorganic he touches become invincible, meaning he could make people’s clothes invincible so they couldn’t move or just make his weapon unbreakable. In other words, he’d be the best gifted under Charlie’s command. Two of the gifted at police worked for accounting which made the completely useless. The other one was a little better. It was a woman who could touch anyone she made paralyzed, mostly worked small time jobs with her great power. Charlie would fix that.

The Acronyms all walked out as well. They were piloted by the ones back at the base as to not interfere if a fight broke out. Sean walked forward toward warily. The statement and the people were contradictory and that might have sparked an adverse reaction in him. Charlie understood that. While not being the brightest in the class, he was a tad bit older in the brain. The other children always seemed so childish to him and those stronger children picked on him. Such brutes.

“So are you the leader?” Charlie asked, taking a seat back at the car and nudging him to come forward.

Sean nodded his head with a glare. It was a fit man in his thirties without a shirt, tattoos and scars filling his body alike. With that, Charlie could conclude he had went through his fair share of battles.

“Could you kneel down on the ground there? Our eyes don’t meet.” Charlie said, pointing at a puddle. And of course, the sour expression on Sean’s face disappeared and he became one of his minions. “Now then, go and kill five of your men. Prove your loyalty.”

Sean grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at one of his men’s head. He collapsed on the ground. Then he dashed toward them and grabbed one by the hem and slammed his head into the ground. Judo, maybe. The visibly shaken men of course trembled, only the visage of the Acronyms halting their retreat. Charlie snapped his fingers, and Sean stopped.

“That’s just about enough. So, which of you wants to kneel before me? I’ll just remind that not doing so will result in your death.” Charlie said, and the remaining twenty eight people knelt before him, just as subjects were supposed to do for a king.

But it wasn’t over. He’d make them into his minions. Only that way, he could be sure in their loyalty.