Erick knew he was in trouble as soon as he heard the man's voice. He spoke with the voice of a teacher, like someone who was used to dealing with uncooperative people. Then he heard the second voice, almost growling, "We're the police." He did not sound convincing.

"Sarah, who is it!?" Morris asked from the living room.

When Erick's mother heard Morris her back straightened a bit and she said

"Some people saying that they're cops." That's when Erick heard the second man again, who sounded much more irritated.

"Who was that?" He said as Morris walked towards the door. Erick watched from the hallway as the men forced their way into the apartment. One was tall and clean looking, dressed formally with a black suit and tie. The other man was dressed completely different, clothed in a long black trench coat and heavy boots that echoed through the house. Erick noticed that he walked with a limp.

"Who the hell are you?" Morris said. Both men stopped in their tracks.

They both said their names at the same time, the well dressed man was named Dylan, and the man in the trenchcoat named Graves.

They both recovered quickly and realized something, the man named Dylan reacted with lightning speed. He pulled his coat aside and unholstered a gun that shot two metal darts that latched onto Morris. As he went down his body twisted and jerked as if he were being tased. Erick's mother tried to turn to run but was stopped by the man Graves who grabbed her, putting a gloved hand over her mouth and nose until she went limp. Erick ran for his room while he heard them talking.

"Was that really necessary?" The man David said.

"Shut up freak. You saw what he did." Graves

"We're here for a kid not some-"

"We're here to catch freaks. So I'd better get a bonus for catching this piece of trash. Now help me move these bodies before the kid gets here." The men shut the door and began to move Morris to his chair in the living room and Erick's mother beside him. The man Graves pulled a radio from his coat pocket and spoke into it.

"Any movement down there?" He waited a moment, with no response.

"Hey? Anyone down there?" he asked again.

That's when Ericks phone went off, the loud DING from his phone made him jump from his own skin. Erick fumbled around with his phone trying to lower the volume, hoping no one heard as he read the message.

Blocked number:Hey Hero.

Then after a moment,

Don't wanna knock, you up?

Erick felt a hand grab his shoulder as his feet were kicked out from under him and he was on his stomach pinned to the ground. He felt the grip the man had on his wrist and was very aware that he could break his arm in one movement.

"Please. I don't know anything." Erick started. The man said nothing as he picked Erick up and led him to the room where Graves looked at Erick with the eyes of a starving dog. His scared face complimented his rough voice "It seems like Christmas came early this year." He walked up to Erick slowly pulling out a knife and putting it to his neck.

"We've been looking for you for a long time, kid. You know, I thought you'd look older." Erick saw him glaring at him with hatred he'd never seen before and it frightened him so much he began shaking. Erick screamed and he felt an explosion inside of him, as if a grenade went off on his chest. Erick felt his skin tingle, then they were engulfed in intense heat. Erick looked down at his arms, and they were covered in flickering orange flames. Graves rolled away and pulled out a small machine that looked like a rifle from his coat. As he aimed it towards Erick two arms unfolded from the front, turning the rifle into a crossbow with a bolt already ready to fire.

"Don't do anything to the boy!" Dylan yelled at Graves, still holding on to the boy Erick. The flames from Erick's arms had begun to burn and melt both Dylan and his own clothes.

"I've never seen two freaks have the same defect." Graves said, still aiming his crossbow right at Erick's head, until they heard a bang at the front door. Graves walked to the front door

"That better be backup." Said Graves as he walked to the door. Dylan's grip tightened as the flames on Erick began to die out and crawl onto Dylan, as if he was taking them. The fire swirled around Dylan's arms, but Erick was not burned by them. Erick's arms were numb.

Graves swung the door open, and a metallic clang rang out as Graves flew across the living room, leaving a dent in the wall where he landed. Dylan looked over as Darren stepped through the door with a younger man around Erick's age behind him. Erick immediately recognized the face of the other boy, despite not seeing it for years.

"David?" Erick said out loud.

Graves lifted his crossbow and fired a bolt aimed at Darren's face. Darren raised his arm and the bolt bounced harmlessly off, tearing a hole in his jacket sleeve and exposing the shiny metallic arm beneath it. David stepped forward and raised his arm, and from his fingers a bolt of lightning shot out and hit Graves, causing him to drop to the floor. Dylan held Erick by the neck with his left hand and his right hand was extended, now engulfed in flames.

"Stay back!" Dylan shouted.

Darren and David both stopped in their tracks. David looked at Erick for the first time, immediately recognizing him.

"Come on, Dylan," Darren stepped forward. "We all know how this is going to end. Just let us take our friend and we'll get out of your hair,"

"We both know that's not gonna happen." The two talked as if they knew each other well.

"Yeah, we know," David sighed, "Sorry I've gotta do this." He looked Erick in the eye. "Sorry Erick,"

David extended his hand and electricity surged out towards Erick and Dylan. Dylan's grip on Erick's throat released, and Erick was collapsed to the floor, paralyzed. Darren walked up to Erick and brought him to his feet.

"It's good to see you again, man." They shook hands and lightning crawled back and forth between both of their hands, but this time Erick was not electrocuted. It felt like a static shock to Erick as lightning arced between their hands.

Darren walked across the room to Dylan, who was laying on the floor, immobilized. He was unable to resist as Darren picked him up by the back of his neck and effortlessly tossed him away into the wall.

"Not to rush your reunion, but we should probably leave." Darren said with a smirk. As they ran to the door Erick stopped, "Wait. My mom. We can't just leave her here. I can't just leave her here,"

Darren and Erick looked at each other "Man, I don't know how to say this, but you're on their radar, and our instructions were to bring you, and you alone..." Darren said.

"Fine, don't help. Get out of here while you still can," Erick said, turning around.

"Wait," Darren started.

He found his mother beside the chair Morris sat in, eyes closed. Erick shook her to no response. Dylan had started recovering and fiery embers beginning to smolder on his skin. In a panic, Erick pulled at the light he felt inside him and shouted.

"Go back to sleep!" He yelled, trying to use the power he apparently he felt.

Dylan's face changed from confusion to amazement as Erick was literally exploding with energy. He seemed to glow blue as electricity shot from his forearms. Dylan threw a fireball at Erick, who flinched and shut his eyes and raised his arm in front of him. Erick felt his arm grow cold and opened his eyes to see that his left arm was now covered in steel. Erick marvelled as the reflections of both orange and blue light from Dylan's fire and his other arm's lightning danced off of his metallic skin. The fire died out and his skin returned to normal.

Erick spun and hid behind the chair, mind racing, he let his instincts take over. Erick stood up, arms extended at Dylan, and focused his power into his hands. Electricity shot out of his palms and sent Dylan to the ground. Erick's arms turned to steel as he picked up his mom, who was suddenly as light as a feather. He ran for the door and found Graves holding his crossbow pointed right at Erick. From behind him a bolt of electricity hit Graves, who cursed and continued to twitch on the floor. Erick made his way out the door in a panic and ran into David and Darren.

"So, we decided that you've proved yourself, so congrats. You just won two memberships," David said, smiling the wicked smile that Erick still remembered from his childhood. As they ran down the halls of the apartment building he added, "That was the coolest thing I have ever seen,"

They ran past halls and down to the elevators. Before Erick stopped running

Darren shouted, "No good, we gotta use the stairs,"

"Why?"

"They'll be expecting us to go through the elevator,"

"It's 57 stories." David reached the stair entrance and opened the door. "The sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done,"

Erick was tired beyond belief, after 5 stories his steel arms turned back into skin, then they felt like they were as heavy as lead as he dropped his mother. They stopped as Darren offered, "I could carry her for a bit, but we need to get as far as we can right now,"

Erick simply sighed. There was a moment of silence before they moved again. After over 40 flights of stairs they needed to stop.

As he caught his breath Darren asked, "What about the guys in the lobby?"

"I already told you," David said. "It's lights out for those guys for at least a couple more hours. What I am worried about is the 20 minutes we have until Graves gets up," Erick and David both noticed how Darren flinched a little.

"God, I wish I was Kyle right now," David said, moving on.

"I think...I think I can try again," Erick said suddenly. Erick looked at his hands and closed his eyes. The flame he felt inside was now clear to him, he grabbed at it and opened his eyes to see and explosion of electricity in the palm of his hand, crackling before turning into a ball of flame. Erick focused even harder, and his entire arm turned to shiny metal. David looked at Erick with a worried look on his face. Darren gingerly handed Erick's mother back to him.

"Let's go," Erick said. "Like you said: time's almost up, and I feel that we want to be as far away from these people as possible," He began walking down yet another set of stairs. Erick didn't know where they were going or who and why people were chasing him. All Erick knew was that if Darren and David were running from them, then there must be a reason, and he didn't really want to find out why.

When they reached the lobby Erick found more than a dozen people laid out on the floor, all dressed like members of a SWAT team. Evidence of a fight was everywhere: bullet casings were strewn around the marble floor, soldiers were bruised and bleeding, many with broken and twisted limbs. Scorch marks blackened several walls and parts of the floor.

"Sorry about the mess," David smirked. One man, also dressed in black SWAT gear sat on the marble floor with his back against the wall. He was the only man in the lobby who was still conscious. The radio strapped to his shoulder crackled to life with the voice of Graves.

"If anybody's listening down there, you better hope you catch those freaks before I get down there. You've got three targets headed your way: One turns to steel, one's got lightning, and one with an unknown mutation. Deal with the two with whatever means you need to, but I swear to God you better not kill the third one, or you'll answer to me!"

The officer looked up at the three standing above him with fear in his eyes. Graves called for the soldiers to acknowledge him, becoming angrier each time he was met with silence. A weak whimper escaped the lone soldier's mouth.

"Stay where you are," His eyes showed how helpless he felt without any backup.

Darren leaned down and yanked the radio off of the officer's uniform, crushing it in his hand. Shattered plastic crumbled to the floor. As the three stepped away from him, with Erick carrying his mother with him, the soldier got to his feet and ran for his life out the front doors of the apartment building, disappearing into the night.

They opened the door to chilly winds and ran down the street

"No car?" Erick asked.

"Um...we took the bus here," David said "But I think we could get one," Darren sighed and cursed under his breath. The three of them ran back to the underground parking lot and stopped in front of a light green prius. David grabbed the handle of the car and released a bolt of lightning. The door unlocked.

"You know how to drive?" Erick asked David as they piled in the car, "Don't you?"

"We're about to find out," Erick sat in the back with his mother while Darren sat in the passenger seat. The tires squealed as David sped out of the parking lot. He swerved along the roads and slammed the brakes frequently. After what seemed like an eternity David finally got the hang of driving and led them out of the city. Erick's mother groaned weakly and her eyes fluttered open.

"Erick? What's happening?" She whispered, eyes widening with fear as she took in her surroundings. "Did we get kidnapped?"

"No, mom. These are some friends, Darren and David. They saved us from...someone"

"Hello Erick's mom," David turned and looked back from the front seat. Darren yelled as the car swerved across the road. David turned back and kept his eyes on the road.

"Um...hello David," Erick's mother looked around, confused.

"Mom, there's a lot I need to explain to you,"

As they drove in the dark, Erick explained everything that had happened to him in the past few days. From his first time meeting Darren, to his apparent superpower, to the fight in the apartment. David chimed in to enthuse about how Erick fought off Dylan and Graves. His mom simply listened the entire time, and at the end of it all she said nothing.

"You're seriously just going to believe everything Erick just told you? No questions at all?" David asked her.

"First of all, it's so good to see you again David. Second of all, don't act like I didn't know about you. And third where is your sister Amber?" They all looked at how Erick would react, but he was quiet. He turned to Darren he said, "Can I ask questions now?" Confused, Darren nodded his head.

"I thought powers were just something in comic books and movies. I didn't think they were real,"

"First things first, everything you know about the world is only the half of it. It's missing everything that would expose what the Order doesn't want you to know. The other half you're not quite ready to know yet,"

"Okay, then who was trying to kill me?" Erick demanded.

Darren was about to say something but David interrupted, "The big, scary, emo dude is Graves. You'll want to watch out for him. The fire guy is Dylan. They work for the Order. They were probably there to take you and use your powers for their own,"

"And if I had refused to go with them?"

"Well you already saw how much they liked you. Since you just beat them up and ran away, you just earned the golden ticket into our group. We call ourselves David's crew-"

Darren elbowed him and said, "The best way to avoid them is to never show up on their radar. You know, keep a low profile. But since that doesn't exactly seem like an option anymore, you'll have to come with us."

Erick now turned to his mother, "Did you know about any of this?"

"Not at first, but when I did start noticing...I couldn't tell what exactly it is you could do…. I still don't know."

"So what do you know?" He pressed.

"I know the people that helped hide David and Amber after the incident with their mother and I knew that after that you had a chance at having a regular life so we stayed and-"

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"The night my mom died," David said, "Amber, she changed what you remember about that night," He continued. "You were there actually. I remember my mom started screaming, we hid but you left. We chased you to our kitchen and you ran at the man who had broken in. He tried to hit you but I shocked called the cops, but...my mom was already dead. Your mom came over and called Armando, Amber made everyone forget what happened, and her and I left with Armando."

"Amber changed how I remember it? How?"

David smiled. "I think she's gonna be happy to see you,"

Amber stood on the side of the road as cars whizzed by, blowing her hair across her face. Everything around her was fuzzy and out of focus. She became aware of her brother, David, standing to her left, and Erick stood on her right. The bus was late, and the only other person waiting with them was a man. He wore a suit, he had a satchel and was on his phone. The more time passed the more upset he became, he was texting and mumbling to himself. Then he started crying, quietly at first but after a few seconds he was sobbing.

He got a call and picked it up instantly and listened. "Vanessa don't ignore me please-who is this? This is him. She what? No." He fell to his knees, "Where?" And finally, "I'll be right there," He hung up the phone.

Amber knew she wasn't allowed to use her powers in public, but she couldn't resist and took a peek inside his mind. In an instant she knew his every thought and feeling, and his sorrow that ran so deep it brought tears to her eyes.

Worst year of my entire life.
 Amber dug deeper into his mind, hearing his thoughts as if he were speaking right into her mind. My dad, mom, and now my wife and baby? I just got fired. What am I gonna do?
 She stepped out of his mind, feeling instantly guilty. Wanting comfort, she turned away to face Erick, he looked at her with his smug smile and she felt better. She knew Erick could cheer her up so she let herself enter his mind for just a second. Wow I can't even look away. She felt warm and happy then back to her normal self. Erick's attention had finally been pulled when the man in his suit dropped his phone.

The man looked at the street and ran for it, straight into the traffick. Erick moved with such speed towards him barely grabbing on to his satchel. Erick pulled him back just before a semi truck slammed into him.
Amber was ripped from the daydream by a message on her phone. She had gotten use to how vivid and lifelike her dreams and thoughts were. She was at her desk waiting for word from David. She hadn't heard from him since he had left with Darren to collect the new recruit. She looked down at her phone and saw the simple message David had sent:

"We have Erick."

Amber got up and walked out of her room into the dark hallway. She could feel the minds of her friends sleeping in different rooms. She used her phone light down the hall and walked to the main area. It was a large room decorated with only pictures and a clock. There was a fireplace against a wall and 3 couches placed around the room and a couple of chairs. Isaac, Peter and Melissa were sitting in front of the fire place, the fire inside it dwindled down to just embers.

"They're almost here," Amber said breaking the silence of the room. Peter was the first one to respond.

"Can you hear him yet?" He asked. Amber closed her eyes, she could still feel everyone in the room, but now they were like formless figures in the dark, lacking shape. She searched and found the form she recognized as David, whose figure stood out more than anyone else's. He wasn't in the room, but Amber felt that he was close. She focused on his mind, sending her own thoughts into his head. She visualized the words as if she were sending a text directly into David's head. What happened, David?

Hey. Amber felt his response in her head. I know you are probably excited to see Erick but before you do just watch this: She now saw David's own memories playing in her head as if they were her own.

She saw Erick standing by his unconscious mother, he shouted something, then suddenly began crawling with electricity just like David did when he used his power, then he caught fire for a second. As fire smashed into Erick's side his arm turned to steel. He jumped out of sight then came up electricity shooting from his hand, and the memory shifted. They were in a staircase and Erick held out his palm. Lightning sparked around on his hand, then suddenly turned to flames, then his whole arm turned to steel.

David told her the rest of the story, "Do you realize what that means for Erick?" She said aloud, but also to David's mind. After a pause she suddenly felt David's guilt.

What about his mom? Amber asked David.

She's good, it's actually good timing considering Armando's condition, he'll be real glad to see her. We'll be inside in a second.

Amber's eyes opened, and Peter was in front of her holding her hand. He wore his sunglasses, even in the fire-lit room. "What's wrong? You seem upset,"

She smiled at him, "It's nothing,"

He pulled her in close and whispered, "You know you can tell me anything," She pushed away, smiling.

"David and Darren are almost here. Let's go see what they brought us,"

Erick and his mother stepped out from the car, followed by David and Darren. Following Darren, they all walked down an alley to a dumpster that's sat in front of a cage door. Behind the door sat a man in a small room, sitting alone and reading a book. The room barely fit them all. Darren stepped forward.

"What's up Adam,"

He looked up and smiled at Darren "Sorry, didn't know when you guys would get here," He got up and walked to the back wall placing his hand on it. Suddenly a green oval formed on the wall, slightly taller than Erick's head and about as wide as him. Inside the oval was a swirling mass of green.

Erick looked at Darren, who laughed. "Fine I'll go first " And he walked into the oval, disappearing inside the swirls. David followed after, disappearing like Darren. Erick and his mother stepped forward cautiously before slowly walking through the oval. The man named Adam chuckled as they stepped through. He was suddenly In a different room, not much different from the one he's just come from. A soft orange glow came from under the door at the end of the room. Darren held the handle and looked back at Erick

"Sorry, dude. This is gonna make me look bad, but it's totally necessary," Darren turned and pulled a small strip of cloth from his back pocket. He approached Erick and put it over his eyes. His mother's protesting voice was evidence that a blindfold was being put over her eyes as well. He heard Darren open the door, and then his strong hands grabbing his shoulder and guiding him forward.

They walked him for a while and placed him on a chair, strapping his hands and legs to the chair. He no longer heard his mother.

"What's up with that shirt?" He heard someone he didn't recognize ask.

"We didn't exactly have time for him to change." David said back
"Peter, could you take Sarah to see Armando?" Darren said from somewhere behind Erick and a door somewhere in the room opened and closed.

"Can someone get him a shirt?" Erick heard a girl's voice. Erick's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard her.

"Amber?" Although Erick could not see, he felt everyone in the room staring straight into him. The cloth over his eyes came off and he was stunned by the sudden light. After a second to adjust he saw Amber standing in front of him, arms crossed. She was much different than the last time Erick had seen her, but she was still instantly recognizable to him. She was taller than he remembered, but her hair was much shorter and the tips of her black hair were dyed red.

"Good memory," She said sarcastically.

"How could I forget?" He said with a smile. Darren threw a shirt at Erick as David untied the thick ropes from his wrists and ankles. This was the first time Erick looked around the room, empty of everything except a bare light bulb in hanging from the ceiling. Five people sat in folding chairs around Erick. He saw Amber in front of him with Darren and David sitting to her left. A girl sat in another chair next to Amber, and she looked at him with distaste, annoyance and curiosity. Away from him chair in a corner sat a boy. He was Hispanic and he had curly hair and looked like the only innocent looking child among them.

He took off his dirty, torn shirt and they all looked at him oddly, then he remembered as he looked to the scar on his chest. Amber gasped as she reached for it, but stopped and looked him in the eye.

"Can I see?" Erick nodded and she pressed a finger on the side of Ericks head. She closed her eyes and he couldn't help but smile.

"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Just watching. I'll show you," She said.

Suddenly, Erick was outside a house, one that Erick knew too well. Erick knew this place as the origin of his scar, the fire that has haunted him almost every night. As Amber stood next to him they both became spectators to the raging fire that engulfed the house. They looked at the house burning so bright they had to squint

"You went in there?" Amber asked him. Erick pointed to his younger self running in, then they were suddenly inside the flaming house. Around them debris fell all around them. They watched as Erick wandered the house crying and coughing until he opened a door and found the girl in the corner of the room. He picked her up and stumbled out the room, they found a destroyed staircase, and Erick threw her across as the floor began crumbling beneath him. She made it down and ran for the door. Erick tried to jump across but when his feet hit the ground the floor fell and he was on his back. They watched as a burning log pinned him down burning away at his shirt then melting his skin. Amber gasped as Erick remembered the pain. The world went black and they were back in the room.

Amber backed up and turned as Erick now awkwardly put the shirt on. "Why exactly was I blindfolded and strapped in a chair again?"

"Just because you used to be buddies with David doesn't mean that we all trust you," Her voice made Erick jump. The girl who didn't seem to like Erick now stood a few feet in front of him.

"Well now that you mention it, I don't exactly trust you people on the account of ruining my life and dragging me into this mess,"

"Meeting Darren ruined your life, so that's on you," She spat back.

"I'm sorry, Erick," Darren said.

"You could be dangerous for all we know," The girl carried on. "Or a spy," Erick noticed that everyone made a face when they heard spy.

"That's enough, Melissa," Amber said.

"But-" She protested.

"We can trust him," Amber looked at Erick. "We have to,"

"And why is that?" the boy in the corner asked.

"Because we're looking at one of the Big Five,"