I'll Be Superhuman (One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter 27-Niall- Mr. X

At first, Niall thought they were bombs. That's the first thing that would go through anyone's mind when they saw explosions. But no, these were grenades. And not the kind that were meant to completely blow things up.

As he lay on the ground with the rest of the boys, Niall was able to remember a lesson they once had on explosives. The kinds of grenades that were being thrown into the top floor of the sky scraper were called stun grenades. They had a bright flash and a loud sound only meant to disorient anyone near it. And he had to admit, they were extremely effective.

Suddenly, the explosions stopped. Everyone lay frozen for a few moments just to make sure there wasn't a lull in the assault. Niall slowly removed his hands from his ringing ears and blinked a couple times to get the spots the flashes of lights left out of his vision. Before he could even stand up, the elevator doors on the side of the room let out it's usual cheery ding and the doors slid smoothly open.

From where Niall lay, all he could see were six sets of feet. Five were in military style combat boots, the other pair were in normal boots. The normal pair stepped out of the elevator first and the others fell in line behind them. Their feet kicked shattered glass out of the way and crunched over random shards. The people from the banquet slowly peeked over their tables and around chairs to get a better look at who had come striding in.

Niall's eyes traveled up the legs of the first person who had walked out. Black pants, black shirt covered by a black cloak, and – as if the cloak wasn't weird enough- the man was wearing a bright sliver mask over his face. It was smooth and flawless with slits that framed his eyes. The mouth was cut with bars across the lips as if it were to keep him from biting anyone around him. The hood of the cloak was pulled over his head and spread out to frame his face, giving him a dramatic image.

He was flanked by five men, all in some kind of military get up, all carrying machine guns, and they all looked identical with sandy blonde hair and stone cold faces. Their uniforms were a dull navy blue without a wrinkle in sight. They wore hats that matched the same color as the rest of their outfit.

And there was something about there eyes. When the soldiers stopped in front of the stage where Simon, Paul, and the rest of One Direction were laying, Niall saw something in their steel blue eyes that he couldn't quite place. They almost... Flashed. Not with emotion like all eyes do, but they flashed with a glint. Brighter than any eye could handle. It was like someone had lit a spark behind their eyes. It was there and it was gone in a second. Niall could barely even tell if he had really seen anythi-

“Simon Cowell,” The masked man mused. His hands were clasped behind his cloaked back and he just oozed authority.

“Who are you?” Simon demanded in a dark voice. He stood slowly so he wouldn't alert the armed soldiers that had spread out throughout the room. Glass fell off Simon's clothes and hair as he got to his feet.

The man let out a single chuckle that held no humor. “An old friend,” He said, cocking his head slightly to the side. “A new enemy,” He lowered his gaze as if he were looking at Simon darkly. It was a little hard to tell the man's expression from the mask hiding his face. “But that's a little melodramatic,” He continued. “You may call me Mr. X.” Niall realized the man had a British accent.

“What do you want?” Simon almost snarled.

Mr. X let out another humorless chuckle. He turned his masked face to the boys who were still mostly laying on the ground. “Quite the team you have here, Simon,” He said sarcastically. The eyes behind the mask flickered over each and every one of the boys. When they landed on Niall, he felt as if someone had poured ice water down his back and cringed away from the icy blue stare of the man. He looked back at Simon. “You spent all this time preparing the ultimate superhero's and they couldn't even save these people from a couple stun grenades!”