A New Beginning

Chapter 3

Unprepared for any visitors anytime soon, Danny jumped and flinched violently when the door opened with a world-shattering bang, or at least it seemed world-shattering to his sensitive hearing. Turning quickly to the source of the noise, ready to fight any of the opponents that the GIW normally sent in during tests like these, he was surprised to find that there were no obvious aggressors, but rather people wearing strange and (in some cases) obnoxiously bright costumes. He was half tempted to ask if they were on their way to comic-con or something of the like, but he held his tongue, instead taking to scan each of the newcomers from head to toe.

The shortest one, and presumably the youngest who appeared to be about sixteen if the boy had to guess, had black hair - messy and unruly much like his own was in his human form - and he was wearing a red armour-like shirt with a stylized 'R' on the left side of his chest and a black cape with a yellow inner lining. He also wore a domino mask that obscured his eyes which instinctively made Danny wary. He didn't trust those who hid their faces as it implied that they had a reason to conceal their identity, and in Danny's experience that reason was very rarely innocent or benign. Concealing any part of your face hid the micro-expressions that most people couldn't control, and therefore it hid the most reliable way to tell of someone's intentions. Danny didn't like people who hid their intentions, purposefully or not.

The boy standing next to him was wearing a suit so bright it hurt Danny's eyes with a vivid yellow on his torso and a hot-rod red on his legs. He was taller than the first boy by a few inches with a mess of curly carrot-orange hair, and Danny felt a pang in his chest about how much it reminded him of his foster sister. He wore goggles over his eyes, but unlike the other boy, the lenses were clear enough that Danny could at least see the turquoise eyes that were focused intently on him which comforted that uneasy part of the boy that hated the secrecy implied by some of the others. It wasn't perfect, but this teen and the blonde girl dressed in green made him slightly more comfortable than 'R'. In the center of the yellow boy's chest was a red lightning bolt confined in a solid white circle. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, but Danny couldn't correctly decipher which one mostly because he hasn't really seen enough older teenagers up close to be able guess at what they may or may not look like. Danny could hear the boy's heart beating fast, a lot faster than a normal human and almost ten times faster than his own. He could also feel the electric currents rolling off the boy in waves, and Danny couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the older teen if Danny used his powers to absorb that electricity buzzing rapidly through his form. 'Guess if this goes south, we'll find out,' the young boy thought to himself, certain and remorseless at the thought that he could very well have to kill these people if they proved to be a threat to him.

Standing behind the two boys there was a dark skinned and muscular teen that was around the same height as the red-head, only an inch or a half taller at most but this could very well be an illusion by where Danny was standing. He had buzzed, platinum blond hair and was wearing a red tank top with black accents, his face was completely uncovered so Danny could see his aqua green eyes that were almost as bright as his own radioactive green ones. The lack of any sort of concealment endeared the teen to Danny more than the three hiding themselves, but the boy was far from trusting any of these people regardless if they seem to be hiding something or not.

After all, the GIW never wore masks.

Danny's eyes were forced away from his face and he caught sight of the sword-like weapons secured to his back, and when he shifted his gaze slightly to the right, he idly observed that the eighteen year old teen had gills on his neck, which meant not everyone standing in front of him was as human as they first appeared (though he already has suspected given the green girl with fire-truck red hair that was floating an inch off the floor slightly farther away with the other blonde female). Danny didn't bother wondering what the teen was, he really had no room to judge others on their unique anatomy. He was half dead, after all.