The force of the next explosion knocked me out of my rage. I was still angry, but I could think more clearly. A quick survey of my surroundings showed that my heat vision hadn't done much damage to its target. The environment though, was a mess. All the grass and trees that weren't properly destroyed from the first explosion had turned to ash. My opponent's clothes, though blackened and burnt, were still partially intact. The terrorists behind him still had their weapons aimed at us. They looked well and uninjured, except for the ones nearest to the blast who were on the floor. Not dead, just unconscious, by their breathing. "Aaron, did you see what he did? Why's he still standing," I said, shifting my eyes back to my opponent. He was watching me with calculating eyes. "The footage I have is a bit blurry, but if I'm not mistaken then he ignited an explosion when your lasers were about halfway to him. It was very well timed. He must either have a lot of talent to be this precise or it's a part of the power. I think a change of tactic would be wise" Aaron replied, his tone grim. My opponent snapped his fingers, causing a flame to ignite over his palm. The fire grew larger until it was the size of football. He threw it at me at a speed that was definitely superhuman. This time though, I was ready for him, raising a palm out to stop it. The warmth radiating from the fire told me that it was reasonably hotter than regular flames. "Sam, I have my drone in the sky and the Shekau is about to evacuate. You need to stop him now." Aaron said, his voice growing urgent at the end. "Alright then." I was already tired of the explosions. I took a deep breath, visualizing my next moves in my head. Time to end this. I was on him before he had time to react. He barely had time to widen his eyes in shock before I let out a flurry of punches on him. He tried blocking at first, but that just made the punches increase in intensity. A few seconds later he was unconscious with a bloody face. I looked up from his body, surveying the ret of the terrorists. The fight had ended so fast that it left them in shock for a moment as we stared at each other. Alas, that moment ended far too soon. What happened next was something that would always be a significant moment in my life because for the first time in my existence, I was shot at. The silence that held in that short moment was broken abruptly by a volley of bullets so loud it was painful. Powerful bullets formed a sea of black coming to me at subsonic speeds. I tensed, ready to fly away when they got to me before realizing how pointless it was. While I couldn't confirm for sure that I was bulletproof, the suit I was wearing definitely was. That being said, it was never wise to test fate, and the voice of reason in my head eventually won me over. Tanking the bullets might have been cool, but it was an unnecessary risk. I took off gently, hovering in the air until the bullets were all behind me. The rush of sound that hit me when I landed on the ground was as surprising as it was welcoming. I had gone supersonic without even realizing it. I filed that information away for later, concentrating on the men in front of me. I took another breath to calm myself, then rushed at them, moving so fast that the last one was down before he could realize what happened to the first. I honestly had a harder time trying not to kill them than actually taking them down. A quick reminder of how fragile humans were. "Aaron, the men are down. The warped is all yours. You can start your tests now," I said, already in the air "Time to end this."

The camp was on fire. Aaron had mentioned that they'd likely burn down their base if they believed they had to abandon it, to avoid leaving anything that could be traced back to them. It was an odd thing. The most feared terrorist organization on the entire continent forced to flee and abandon their headquarters by three teenagers. It was fairly easy to find the Shekau. The head terrorist was surrounded by men in military style clothes who were frantically moving about presumably getting ready for the evacuation. The Shekau himself was dressed in military uniform and bulletproof vests and covered from head to foot. He was also in the process of boarding a helicopter. It was black and unassuming with no obvious weapons on it. At the edge of all the activity was a group of women huddled together on the ground. They were dressed in black hijabs that covered them completely, preventing me from properly seeing their faces. Two men with machine guns were guarding them, their expressions implying they'd rather be elsewhere. "I have my eyes on the girls. The Shekua is almost in the helicopter. Have you finished, Aaron" I asked? "Not yet, Still have some things to do. Sophie has alerted the authorities, I believe." he replied. "Is the military coming, Sophie?" I asked. I wondered how she was doing. "They’re sending people. Airforce. Two fighters with two helicopters. I don't know about the army." she replied. At least she sounded okay. "Alright, I'm moving in guys." "There are civilians in there Sam, do not make mistakes. And be fast. Knock the terrorists out, get the girls and be out of there. One minute, tops." Aaron said sternly. Yeah, no pressure. I surveyed the area again from my vintage point in the sky, planning my next moves. A deep breath later, all the men outside the Shekau's inner circle were unconscious. The men around him all turned to me when they realized what was happening. The one in front shouted something to the Shekau who was already in the helicopter and then all of them pointed their weapons at me. I smiled. A fraction of a second later was enough to knock them out. The helicopter, blades already whirring, started to rise slowly. I ran to it, hoping to bring it down before it could take off fully. It came as a shock to me when I found myself on the ground, a few hundred metres away from the chopper. After a brief moment of confusion, I realized it was probably a warped teen, though what exactly he did was a mystery to me. It made sense that the Shekau would have one with him. I focused on the helicopter rotors, my vision turning red as a beam of concentrated energy cut through the blades. The helicopter, unable to continue flying, quickly lost what little altitude it had already gained. I flew to the door, ripping it off. The warped teen was in the front seat. He was dressed in a kaftan, with an odd expression on his face. He looked like he was happy and excited, but mixed with that was a hint of fear. He looked at the Shekau, who gave a slight nod. I barely had time to process what that meant before I felt myself flying, the accompanying boom sounding far away as the world turned black.

I hate explosions. That was the first thought I had the moment I regained consciousness. I opened my eyes to see Sophie staring at me, her brows creased in worry and her arms around me. "Hey," she said, "How do you feel?" "Hmmm. I'm not sure. I feel a little weak, and I think the food in my stomach wants out." I answered. That was very weird. “Oh, okay. Do you feel pain?” “No,” I said after checking myself a bit. “I don’t feel pain at all. More like something drained the energy in me. It feels so strange, almost like I’m si- OH SHIT!!“What is it,” Sophie asked, her face tight with worry “I thin- I think I might be sick.” That wasn’t supposed to be possible. “But that’s not possible. You can’t get sick,” she countered. “Well that seems like the only reasonable explanation for this, doesn’t it? Weakness and nausea are signs of sickness.” I reasoned “It still doesn’t make sense. Maybe you’re just tired. It could be that you were overexcited about the mission and your body is reacting now it’s over.” she said, still trying to rationalize the situation. “This isn’t how I feel if I’m tired Sophie. And it’s not an adrenaline rush or something. Those things don’t affect me.” “Well, neither does sickness,” she shot back “You know what? Let’s stop arguing about this. Aaron just said he’s coming in a few minutes. Let’s wait for him.” Oh yeah Aaron. I’d forgotten he was there. “Wait, where did he go?” I asked. “He went to deal with the authorities and the hostages. But he said he’s on his way back.” she replied. Wait a second. “Did he just tell you he was on his way back. Like through the communicators.” I asked, seeds of dread blooming in my heart. “Yeah, why?” she asked, brows raised in curiosity. “I didn’t hear him” I replied, my voice almost a whisper. “What do you mean- Oh. Oh no,” she said, her expression mirroring my emotions. “That can’t be possible.” “Well, there’s one way to find out” I said, pushing through the weakness to get on my feet. “Are you sure you should be doing that?” She asked, her expression worried again. “Well I have to find out somehow, don’t I?” I said, barely catching myself from a stumble. After a few seconds of trying to steady myself, I focused on my hearing, trying to feel the sounds of the forest around me. The sun was starting to set, which meant the forest was even lonelier than when we arrived. As my body finally settled itself, the sounds of more and more animals became more apparent to me. I tried to stretch my hearing farther, tried to listen to the sound of Sophie’s heartbeat or of Aaron approaching but I heard nothing. The feeling of dread in my heart heightened as I started noticing other deficiencies. My vision was so dim it seemed almost blurry. It was a wonder how people could survive with eyesight this bad. It was strange that I hadn’t noticed the difference earlier, it seemed too obvious to miss now that I had taken note. The entire world suddenly seemed much more dangerous. It struck me, then, how much potential danger I could be in. Here I was, in one of the most dangerous places I’d ever been in, unarmed, and most importantly powerless. The entire notion, even as I thought of it, was very strange to me, unimaginable even. “Powerless,” I whispered. “Hmm,” Sophie asked, startled. “What did you say, Sam?” “I’m powerless.” I repeated, my voice rising by an octave.

“Relax, Samuel. You’ll be fine by tomorrow. It’s temporary” Aaron said, trying to calm me down. He’d been trying to calm me down since the beginning of the flight. He’d done some tests when we got to the helicopter, deeming it too urgent to wait for the laboratory. According to the limited data he could get from the equipment at hand, I apparently had an insanely high amount of warped energy in my body. How it got there was a mystery for the laboratory but he had assured me, after extensive testing, that it was temporary and would be gone by tomorrow. It was good news and I knew I should have been relieved but for some reason I couldn’t stop freaking out and imagining horrible scenarios. I think it was because of the revelation that something could really hurt me. We weren’t quite sure what happened to me that caused it but that wasn’t the point. The point was that there was something that could somehow hurt me, and it was now out there in absurd amounts. Mom was right about the kryptonite. I had a weakness that was apparently even worse than kryptonite. “Leave him to vent, Aaron. The poor boy is traumatized.” Sophie said, wrapping her arms around me. “It’s definitely worth feeling trauma over. I’m powerless. Almost defenceless!” I replied, leaning into her warm embrace. It was a comforting warmth. “Well you’re not defenceless. That suit is as damage proof as Sophie’s.” commented Aaron. “Wait, really?” I asked, genuinely surprised. “Of course, you didn’t think I’d give you a regular suit, did you? It’s body armour. How did you think it survived the explosions intact?” Aaron said, his tone incredulous. “Well, I knew it was bulletproof but this didn’t cross my mind. That makes sense, I guess. Well, why didn’t you tell me?” I countered accusingly. “I did but you were too high with ‘mission fever’ to remember.” “Oh, that also makes sense. Thanks for that. I feel less defenceless now.” I said, genuinely relieved. “Well, you insulted my intelligence and foresight. I challenge you to a game of ultimate chess to soothe my ego,” he declared dramatically. “Alright, your nerdiness,” I said, rolling my eyes. Typical. “Oh my God. I’m so proud of you Sam. You’ve overcome your trauma” Sophie said, making sniffing sounds and wiping non-existent tears. “Really Sophie?” I said. ‘Well it was touching. I feel like a proud mother.” she replied. Oh shit, mum. “Wait guys. You know my mum must never find out about this, right? She’ll ground me for life if she does.” I said. “Of course, we know that. What kind of friends will we be otherwise,” she rolled her eyes? “You really need to stop testing our loyalty” “Well she’s right Sam. You may have a weakness now but you’ll never be powerless. Not when we have your back.” Aaron added. “Ughh! How do you manage to be so cheesy Aaron? I swear you’re like a cliché movie character sometimes.” Sophie said, rolling her eyes again. I laughed, grateful for my friends. And feeling just a little less powerless.

The Jefferson Estate

He felt numb. The multitude of sensations he’d come to love absent for the first time in his life. It was refreshing not being able to hear everything for once but that refreshment was eclipsed by the frustration. For the first time in his life, he felt vulnerable. He wasn’t ten steps above everybody, he couldn’t hear the world around him and worst of all, he didn’t have a clue what was happening, not to mention what he should do. It was without a doubt the strangest thing he had ever experienced. He had no idea how this was possible. He had tested every possible variable and was sure there was no possible way to achieve this. And yet here he was, lying on the floor powerless. He wondered who succeeded in outsmarting him. Probably the military. They’d had their eyes on him for a while, something he didn’t help by breaking into their facilities. Twice. And so he lay there, waiting for his attackers. He didn’t bother trying to escape, he was nothing without his intelligence, that he knew for a fact. After an eternity of lying in wait, the sensations came back. They came with such force that he had to fight not to scream. Then the knowledge came, first a trickle, then more forcefully, pouring into him in waves. He knew now. The warp, the weakness, the voices told him all. There was a problem though. It wasn’t supposed to happen now, they were supposed to gradually build up tolerance. The knowledge came again with such force he had to clutch his head between his hands, it was all he could do to not scream. It was clear now, the boy, Samuel caused this. He had hoped Aaron would watch over him. It seemed like he had to get more involved with the other Guardians. The fate of worlds depended on them after all and he couldn’t have them jeopardizing that. He sighed. Another thing to do. The list just kept getting longer. Hopefully the Chinese took him seriously today, their support would make things much easier. He heard the butler start to move in the direction of the house. He was about to have an unpleasant conversation with his parents. Oh well, he thought, getting up from the ground to clean himself. If he was about to do this, he might as well do it like a Jefferson: prim and proper.