Chapter One

Lloyd moved through the streets at a quick pace, fleeing from shadow to shadow in an expert manner. A gust of cool wind made him shiver, and he tightened his hood around his face. He turned down the alley before him, hoping to find some sort of shelter.

Strong hands squeezed down on his shoulders, forcing him to turn around. Lloyd's body spun, stumbling backwards. A man with foul breath and scarred skin smiled mockingly at him. "What's a kid like you doing out so late? Isn't it far past your bed time?"

"What's it to you?" Lloyd spat back. He crossed his arms, and took a couple of steps away from the man.

Lloyd's back crashed against another body. He stumbled away from the second man, eyes flitting back and forth between the two. The second man was the first to speak again. "It's dangerous to travel alone at night, you know?"

"I don't have any money." Lloyd lied swiftly, backing up against one of the alley's walls. "You're wasting your time."

"I'm sure someone would pay decent ransom for you. A worried mother, perhaps?"

"Fat chance," Lloyd pouted. He hadn't seen his mother in a long time.

The men moved closer to him, causing bells of adrenaline to ring throughout his mind. A familiar feeling ran through him, making his small hands curl into tight fists. Lloyd tried to stay focused, to keep from releasing the rattling energy bouncing within him. The effort made his body shake.

"Aww, you're scaring the kid," the first man said, but there was no actual concern in his voice. "He's going to cry."

"I'm not crying," Lloyd assured them. "But you two might, if you don't leave me alone."

"Tough threat coming from a pipsqueak," one of the men said, but Lloyd couldn't pinpoint which. His vision blurred. "What are you going to do? Throw a temper tantrum?"

"Stop messing around and just grab him. He'll be worth something."

A rough grip tightened around Lloyd's arm. The kid growled, trying to pull away, but the man was far stronger. The men laughed, causing Lloyd's focus to shift into anger. The control he had snapped.

One by one, the streetlights burst, dumping the three figures into a thick darkness.

"What in the-" The man never finished his sentence. A patch of darkness peeled itself from the ground, hurling him back. His head cracked loudly against the concrete. In an instant, his consciousness slipped.

The remaining man looked back at the kid. A thin purple aura pulsed around his body, and his eyes glowed with the same light. Shaking with fear, the man turned on his heels and ran. Before he could reach the alley's end, the shadows beneath him gripped onto his feet. The man stumbled and fell. With a constant whimpering, he tried to crawl away.

The darkness was unforgiving as it wrapped around his body, trapping him in place, making it impossible to breathe. Before the man's mind dipped into a forced slumber, he managed to mutter in fear. "Wh-What are you?"

Lloyd didn't answer. The man's eyes shuddered to a close.

"They better not be dead," Lloyd sighed, trying to ignore how awesome the power had felt.

A deep, somewhat static filled voice responded inside his head. They are not dead, but they should be. They have seen you, and they will talk.

"I'm not killing anyone," Lloyd said. "Besides, it's not like anyone is going to believe them."

At least allow me to search their memories, They might know something useful.

"Fine. But only because you asked nicely."

I won't always need to ask permission to do as I wish.

Lloyd did his best to ignore the voice's last statement as he kneeled beside one of the men. After a couple of seconds to prepare for what was to come, Lloyd pressed his hand against the man's dirty forehead.

A jolt of energy made him jump, but he kept his hand in place. Memories ran through his mind, experiences that weren't his own, moments he had no business being part of, but they scrolled through too fast to make much of a lasting impression.

The visions dissipated, as they caught up with the man's present. Then they began to move back, before freezing upon a specific scene.

Here is what you need. The voice in his head said. They might be able to help us.

Lloyd shut his eyes, fully focusing on the images before him.

"It isn't as impossible as you might think, sneaking something into Kryptarium prison." The man before seemed to hold a permanent smirk in his features, as if he was aware of a very amusing secret no one else knew. His dark brown hair was styled into gravity defying spikes, which would have been ridiculous on anyone other than him. "We'll help you get this to your friend."

"For a price of course," This time, the voice belonged to a young woman. Her hair was wild and black, roughly pulled up into a ponytail. Streaks of grease dirtied her cheeks. "This won't be cheap at all."

Lloyd blinked himself out of the memory, moving his hand away from the man. As usual, it took his mind a couple of moments to settle on his reality. "How am I supposed to find them? They didn't even say their names!"

The grease mark on the girl's skin.

"A mechanic?" Lloyd stood. "Okay, that's something, but there's still dozens of mechanics in the city."

It is a start, nonetheless.

"I guess it is." Lloyd's mouth widened into a yawn. "Better get moving then."

"Don't move."

Jay froze on the spot obediently. His eyes flickered over to his friend, who stood a few feet in front of him, peeking down an alley.

"What's going on?" Jay tried to make his voice as soft as possible, but the sound still felt loud in the silence. "Cole?"

"Shh!" Cole scolded. Jay pressed his lips shut.

Seconds ticked forward. Jay's curiosity burned within him, but the fear for whatever Cole was worried about kept him quiet. Cole watched the alley, his eyes frowning at the child, and the bizarre lines of darkness that seem to emanate from within him.

Cole was tempted to move closer, to get a better look. It wasn't as if they would see him. No one ever did. Well, no one other than Jay. It was one of the obnoxious yet useful perks of being a ghost.

The look in his friend's eyes, however, kept him rooted to the spot. If Cole went out of Jay's sight, the man would surely freak. So Cole waited, relaxing only when the child moved away into the street. He lowered his hand, and Jay let out a loud, shaky breath.

"What happened? What did you see?" Jay stepped closer, frowning at the shadows slumped on the floor of the alley. "Whoa. Are those guys dead?"

"I don't know." Cole shrugged. "And I don't know what I saw either. It looked like a kid but. . . Something felt wrong about him. He had some. . . weird shadow things coming out of him."

"Are you serious?" Jay stepped into the alley, the bag slung over his shoulder jingling with every step. "Cole! Maybe he was like us?"

To emphasize his point, Jay flicked his arm, causing a wave of electric sparks to entwine around it. He used the light they provided to examine the two guys. A frozen look of fear sat on each of their faces, but their chests moved with the rise and fall of breath. Jay let the sparks die out slowly, before standing.

"Trust me Jay, powers or no powers, that kid did not look friendly."

"Still! He could have had. . . I don't know, answers of some kind." Jay returned to the path he'd been on, walking slow as he talked. "I mean, I'm not complaining about having powers but. . . I'd like to know why."

"Let's just get home. Your parents will be worried if you don't show up soon."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

They moved through the streets, with Cole in front and Jay hanging behind. His mind was heavy with thoughts and questions. They looped around one another, but no matter how crazed and complex they became, it all returned back to the same basic idea.

Who am I?

The question had plagued him for years now, ever since his bizarre control over electricity had decided to go haywire: blocking, jumbling, and twisting most of his memories. Heck, Jay couldn't even remember when he'd become best friends with a ghost. Cole was in some memories, and not in others, but his mind wasn't coherent enough to make a proper timeline.

"You think we should tell Kai and Nya about the kid?" Jay suggested. Maybe one of them would be curious enough to look into it, and Jay could innocently tag along.

"I told you, Jay, the kid felt dangerous." Cole shook his head. "We should just forget about it. Whatever that was, we don't want any part in it. Trust me."

"Forget! Ha, there's something I'm good at." Jay said with a pouty grimace.

Together, they strolled into a large junkyard. Jay spilled the contents of his bag into one of the many piles of junk, then moved through the jungle of objects with awkward movements. Cole moved straight through every obstacle, looking back at Jay with a mocking smirk.

"Wait up." Jay hissed. His shirt caught on one of the stray metal wires, causing him to momentarily stumble back. With a frustrated growl, Jay tugged, ripping the fabric. "Seriously! Again!?"

Cole laughed. "You'd think you'd learn to be a little more patient, Speedy."

Jay ignored Cole's words, focusing instead on the rip his shirt had gained. It wasn't too large, but he still didn't look forward to stitching it back together. Needles weren't exactly the best tool for shaky fingers.

"I'm back!" Jay announced in a chipper tone, bursting through the door of the small trailer he called home.

"You're back late," his father pointed out. "Anything worth reporting?"

"Yeah, we met a demon child that your son wants to befriend and question," Cole answered, but his ghostly voice was only picked up by Jay's ears.

Jay did his best to ignore it. "Not really. Spent the day with Nya, fixing stuff for people. Pretty average."

"I hope you aren't helping them with their. . . other business again, Jay." His mom looked up at her son, putting down her tools and pushing aside a small metal object, whose purpose Jay couldn't guess. "I don't want you in any trouble."

"Of course not, ma!" Jay protested. "I wouldn't! You know me."

"Wait, didn't you help Nya program a key to hack into any door?" Cole pointed out. "Tsk, tsk, Jay. That doesn't sound very legal to me."

"Well I'm glad to hear it. You want me to heat up dinner for you?"

"No, it's okay. I ate with them. But thanks! I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm feeling a little run down."

"Not going overboard with those abilities of yours, are you?"

"Oh, Edna, the boy knows what he's doing." His father piped in. "Don't ya, son?"

"I'm just worried about him, Ed."

"It's okay ma, I'm careful, I promise."

Edna nodded slowly, accepting her son's answer. "Well good night then."

"Night!"

With a bright smile and a short wave, Jay stepped into his room, shutting the door behind him. He then leaned back against it, slowly sliding onto the floor. Jay sat still for a moment, before frantically crawling forward and reaching under his bed.

"What are you doing?" Cole asked, making his body solid enough to rest on the ground.

"I'm!" Jay smirked, pulling out a battered cell phone. He pulsed a bit of electricity into the battery, bringing the screen to life. "Calling Nya. And telling her about the kid."

"Jay! I said don't."

"And I say boo on you." Jay replied, sticking his tongue out and dialing the number.

"That was Jay," Nya said, after clicking away from the call. She dropped the phone onto their one and only work table, before slumping down onto a chair. "He says he saw someone else with powers."

Her brother's eyes snapped up. "Seriously? What power? What did he look like?"

"He. . ." Nya grimaced. "He says he didn't get to see him. His little ghost friend stopped him from doing so. But that it seemed like he controlled darkness or something."

"Ah," Kai looked back down at the tablet in his hands. He scrolled through the profits they'd made for the day, transferring a small amount of the funds to Jay's own account. "His little ghost friend."

"I know you think Jay's crazy, but what if it's true?" Nya's voice was filled with excitement. "What if there's more of us? Maybe this is just. . . Natural evolution."

"Or maybe all those little sparks Jay uses finally fried his brain."

Nya rolled her eyes. "Right, whatever, but what if."

"If there were more of us, don't you think someone would have said something by now? Or done something? Anything."

"Maybe they're scared they're the only ones too. And they don't want ECHO to lock them up and use them as another science experiment." Nya shrugged. "Before Jay, we thought we were the only ones."

Kai bit his lip. He knew his sister had a point, but part of him didn't want to believe it. The more people with powers, the less special he became.

When he had first discovered his ability to create and control flames, Kai had been ecstatic. Part of him had always believed he was unique, one way or the other. He was going to be just like the heroes he'd grown up reading about. The chosen one.

And then, Nya had discovered abilities of her own. Kai's ego had deflated, but only slightly. After all, Nya was his sister. It made sense. They shared the same blood. It would be them against the world.

Then Jay had come around with his silly sparks and dominion over lightning itself. Not to mention his so-called ghost friend, who could grant Jay super strength and control over the earth through the odd act of possession.

Now. . . this.

So instead of granting Nya's thoughts a bit of validation, he shook his head. "I really doubt Jay saw something. He used his powers a lot today, his brain was probably glitching out."

"Yeah," Nya's face fell, and Kai felt a pang of guilt. "Probably."

Above the darkened alley where the two unconscious thugs still lay, a lone figure studied the scene.

Zane's eyes analyzed every shape and shadow patiently, searching for. . . something.

A strange and sudden urge had propelled him out of his bed and towards the window minutes before, and he'd been standing still since then. He couldn't put a finger on the feeling, he only knew there was something he had to do, something he'd always had to do, and had somehow forgotten.

But what?

Zane couldn't say.

With a resigned sigh, he stepped away from the window. He returned to the bed, it being the only piece of furniture in the small room. Zane shut his eyes, trying to focus on recapturing the sudden and overwhelming feeling of purpose.

But it had gone, leaving nothing but the usual emptiness behind.

It was beyond frustrating.

For as long as he could remember, Zane had lived day by day, working enough to assure he would have living quarters, and talking only to whoever he absolutely had to. Zane didn't think he was unhappy.

At times, Zane had found himself wondering about the past. His oldest memory only went back to waking up in the Birchwood forest, with nothing more than a name in his head and the clothes on his back.

But this was nothing more than a simple desire for explanation. Plain curiosity. He didn't feel any longing or sadness towards whatever he'd lost.

Up until now.

Whatever had dragged him to the window, had woken something in him. The urgent need was gone, but it had left a wide void behind, one that Zane was eager to fill. With a determined look, Zane stood, then headed out the door.

He would search for as long as he had to. The desire to find the lost feeling blocked all other thoughts, moving his body forward at a steady pace.