Jade's eyes shot open, noting that she was in an apartment she didn't recognize. She looked down at her ankles, seeing them tied together. Attempting to move her hands, she felt resistance, and looked up to see them tied to a radiator. She pulled her hands, grunting as she did but nothing happened. An immense amount of heat was coming from the radiator, which disabled Jade's power. She tried using it, but only felt the heat. Her face was covered in sweat from it and she gritted her teeth. Looking around again she saw the dark figure that had taken her come into view, the cloud of black slowly leaving.
"Professor Romero?" Jade asked as his face was revealed.
* * *
Drew and Rhodes exited the facility, salvaging anything with value from the building. Drew held his side still, pointing towards the Jeep. Rhodes nodded her head, taking the keys from him and walking to the car. Drew turned around, looking at the building one last time before limping towards the Jeep, getting into the passenger seat. Rhodes turned the car around as Drew pulled out a small remote, pressing the single button that was on it. The car began to drive away as the building exploded, destroying it once and for all. A large smoke plume filled the sky as the two headed for the town.
* * *
Cooper looked over at Mollie and Javi who were sitting down on two seats. Cooper stood next to them, holding onto a railing as the bus they were on departed from the town and towards the city, heading onto the highway. Mollie looked out the window, immediately spotting the smoke plume and tapped Javi on the shoulder. The boy looked over and saw the same thing, his mouth hanging open with shock.
"Whoa." Cooper mumbled, staring at it as well. The woods around the facility had begun to catch on fire as fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars flocked to the area.
* * *
Danny turned a corner, his ankle swelling up to the point where any pressure put on it hurt immensely. He put his hand on the building next to him, taking a deep breath. He looked up to see a black van pulling up in front of him.
"Shit." Danny whispered. He turned around, seeing the three men that were left from his house standing behind him. They had their guns aimed on Danny who didn't know what to do.
"Kneel boy." a voice said. Danny turned around, seeing an older man with a large scar over his left eye coming out of the van. Danny slowly got down onto one knee, but was quickly tazed by the men behind him, knocking him unconscious.
* * *
"Jade, I need you to listen to me." Professor Romero said, sticking his hand out in a non-threatening way.
"You... you did those things... you killed those men..." Jade whispered to herself, looking down at the ground not wanting to look her teacher in the eye. Romero quickly grew annoyed, punching the wall next to him.
"Listen to me!" he shouted. Jade's eyes shot up, filled with fear as she stared at him.
"There's somebody who needs to speak to you. They will enlighten you about everything that has been going on. He can help you understand who you really are." Romero said. His eyes quickly began to turn fully black, allowing the Higher Being to take over.
"What the hell?" Jade whispered to herself.
"Jade is your name so I've learned. You, you are one of the original five who were affected." the Higher Being spoke now. Jade noticed the difference in Professor Romer's voice, her body beginning to shake from the overwhelming fear of the situation.
"Who are you?" Jade asked.
"I, I am the Higher Being. I gifted you the extraordinary abilities you possess. That ice that flows through your veins is my doing. What I witnessed out there was... phenomenal. You have yet to reach your full potential and you're already so powerful."
"Full potential? Wh...what are you talking about?"
"You didn't think you could just freeze water did you? My dear girl, you can be a God to the people of this planet. Just like Romero had the chance." the Higher Being informed. "I know what you're thinking, 'chance?'. Well, his mind didn't bend to my vision, so I had to make it my own. He was given the choice to serve under me or be a vessel. While his mouth said one thing, like I said, his mind said another. But you. I can sense something in you. Wanting to control. To dominate. To be in charge. You want that. I can give that to you."
"You're talking nonsense." Jade said, shaking her head.
"I can feel it Jade. You're a powerful being, you just need the right training and practice to master it fully." the Higher Being said.
"I won't help you. I'm not dumb." Jade said, starting to keep her cool.
"That truly is a shame. I guess you'll just be another puppet of mine." the Higher Being said. Professor Romero's eyes returned to normal and he gasped, dropping down to a knee. He shook his head, closing his eyes as he regained control of his body.
* * *
Danny woke up, his hands chained above his head. He attempted to break free, but felt a sharp pain at his neck. He tried moving his head around, but felt something keeping it in place. He couldn't fully see what it was, but he assumed it was some sort of collar. His feet were also chained to the ground, keeping him from moving at all.
"The collar is made from the same prison that kept you from using your powers before. We took it and crafted it into something wearable. Consumes less space." the older man spoke, appearing in front of Danny. The teenager had just realized that the area around him seemed to be covered by shadows, not letting him see anything.
"Where am I?" Danny choked out, since the collar squeezed his neck as he spoke.
"Save your energy. I need information before you get anything." the man spoke. He cleared his throat, putting his hands behind his back as one of the soldiers appeared from out of the shadows, wielding a taser.
"Screw you." Danny said, spitting at the man's feet.
"Drop the tough guy act Danny Storm. 18 years old. Former captain of the wrestling team. Applied to Penn State University. Good school. Let's hope you make it through this to go there. If you're accepted of course." the man spoke, slowly walking around Danny. "That is of course, if they accept superpowered freaks. Which is what you are, isn't it Danny?"
Danny clenched his fists, struggling against the chains again. His neck was lightly zapped by the collar and the soldier next to him proceeded to shove the taser into his side, sending jolts of electricity through his body.
"I am Director Arthur Graham. I worked with the Lieutenant who was tasked with supervising and studying your abilities. Her time as your supervisor is now over, and it's time to find out why you can perform such actions." Graham spoke, almost as if he rehearsed the mini-speech.
"I need to know where the others are. Javier Vasquez. Cooper Hayward. Mollie Gryphon. Jade Summers. Where are they Danny?"
"I don't know." Danny weakly said. Director Graham looked at the soldier and nodded. Another stab with the taser caused Danny to start wiggling around violently.
"Stop! Please!" Danny screamed, his throat being scratched by the collar. It zapped him again, causing his eyes to begin to flutter as the man with the taser didn't stop.
"Let him pass out. We'll just get back to questioning when he wakes up." Director Graham said, stepping back into the shadows as Danny's vision went blurry and he finally passed out.
* * *
The beatdown Jeep pulled up to a house in the usually quiet town. The house was a floor building, pretty small to most on the block. Drew slowly got out of the car, groaning as he felt a pain in his side. Kayleigh got out of as well, with ash marks on her face and clothing. She looked across the street, where a wife and husband were staring at her. She rolled her eyes, turning around and walking towards the house with Drew.
"So, safe house?" Drew asked, looking over the new house.
"For the time being. Yeah. Get used to it." Kayleigh said, slapping Drew's arm lightly with the back of her hand. She walked up to the house, reaching above the door frame and grabbing a key. She unlocked the door and opened it up as Drew followed behind her.
"I can try to reach out to the five. We need to make sure they're fine." Kayleigh said, pulling out her phone. Drew noticed the house lacked any type of furniture. The living room was completely barren and he found himself slowly sitting down against the wall.
"Are there any... beds or anything?" Drew asked, closing his eyes as he kept a hand pressed lightly on his side.
"Um... no. Let's hope we aren't here that long. I just sent out texts. It's the best I can do right now. Let's just hope they're fine." Kayleigh said, putting her phone in her pocket and walking over to Drew. She sat down next to him, putting her head on his shoulder as the two sat in silence.
* * *
A light shown in Danny's pocket. His body was limp, being kept up solely by the chains on his wrists. The man tasing him had disappeared, but Graham was there to notice the shining light. A small vibrating noise could be heard as well, which caused the Director to appear out of the shadows. He reached into the unconscious teen's pocket and saw that it was a text. He tossed the phone into the dark and looked back at Danny.
"Try to track the number. Find out where that phone is at." Graham ordered.
* * *
Cooper, Mollie, and Javi all got off the bus and stepped into the lively city. They were more on the outskirts however, where the warehouses were located. The three kept their heads down, walking down the street looking for a good place to lay low. Javi looked up, seeing a warehouse that had it's door wide open and looked to be abandoned unlike the others.
"Guys. There." Javi said, pointing at it. Mollie and Cooper looked over at it and nodded. The three looked around, making sure they weren't being watched before running to the warehouse.
* * *
"She's clearly conflicted about what to do, but for now we need to scare her. It's best if she thinks we plan on harming her or her friends. Bring the others in."
"You want me to get Sophie and Johnny?" Professor Romero asked out loud, causing Jade to look up at him. The shirt she was wearing was nearly drenched in sweat since the radiator had yet to be turned down. She felt weak, and drained of all energy.
"If that's what the minions names are yes. Their abilities will be useful in subduing the others."
"Sophie and Johnny? What about them?" Jade asked, tugging on the rope that had her tied up.
"You'll see soon enough." Romero said, opening the door to his apartment and leaving, closing it behind her. Jade tugged on the rope again, knowing it was useless. She felt tears filling her eyes, trying to fight them off. Despite being kidnapped and weakened by her own teacher, her mind raced back to Cooper.
"Please be okay." Jade whispered, feeling the tears start rolling down her cheeks now. She couldn't help back as she began to cry intensely, tugging on the ropes still. She kicked the floor, trying to stand only to fall back to the ground. "Let me out!" she screamed, her eyes blurry from the tears. She finally stopped struggling, fully crying now as she slumped against the radiator.