Jack's eyes slowly focused as he regained consciousness. He had no idea where he was, and barely remembered what had happened to him. He felt groggy and stiff. He'd been drugged.
The room was bright, too bright to readily make out the figures standing over him. He only saw them as dark shadows, obscured by the glare of the room's lights. He thought he heard one say, "He's coming around."
He finally gained near-perfect sight as his eyes filtered out the overbearing light. The shadowy blobs around him became human figures. There were two men and a woman near him. A little further away were two identical brown-haired young women. Across the room, he saw a man with a strange grin on his face.
Unbridled aggression immediately grew inside of Jack's heart as he realized who the man was. This was the man who had been captured by NeoDrug, the man he'd been sent to rescue, the man who shot him. This was Zeno.
Jack leapt up off of the examining table, rushing toward Zeno. An animal's roar exited his throat as he raised a hand, from which five six-inch claws were protruding, preparing to slash the man's throat.
"Jack, wait," a woman screamed.
But Jack couldn't wait. He was now only inches away from the man, and ready to kill him. He could almost taste his prey's blood as he was suddenly hit by a mass of hot energy. He was knocked to the ground, and his MASC flickered, slightly damaged by the blast.
Two men drew close to him and restrained the crazed young man. One was a black man, the other very white. A young man stood over him, a glowing orb in his hand.
Jack's aggression faded and his claws turned back into human fingernails as he realized who the people around him were, and where he was. The two men restraining him were Warren Chase and Avery. The man standing over him was Sol. The two men and the woman beside the examination table were Altman, Ray, and Paula, while the two young women were Derecha and Izquierda. They were all in one of the labs located in the team's underground base.
"What's going on?" Jack asked, directing the question toward anyone who would answer.
"The training mission didn't go as planned," Ray answered.
"Training mission?"
Paula explained what training mission her husband spoke of. "The mission to save Zeno from the NeoDrug facility. It wasn't real. It was only a training mission to test your skills."
Jack, who had just been released by Avery and Chase, stood. He looked at Paula, then Ray, then Altman, trying to understand what he'd just heard.
Altman stepped forward. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you, Jack. But we needed an accurate measurement of your performance. If we'd revealed that this was just a training mission meant for your assessment, the results would not have been accurate."
"You lied to me," Jack stated, staring angrily at Altman.
Sol immediately came to his adopted father's defense. "No one lied to you, punk. We just didn't tell you the whole truth."
Jack turned his head to Johnny. "You lied to me," he repeated, returning the young man's hostility ten-fold.
"Come on. We're gettin' outta here." Jack said, approaching April, who was watching a movie in the mansion's recreation room.
"What? Why?"
"These people are just a bunch of liars," he growled. "Just like the rest of the world."
"Jack! Don't go!" Altman and his disciples entered the room.
"Why shouldn't I? I trusted you. All of you! And you lied to me." He tried to leave, but he couldn't move. He wasn't paralyzed; he could feel his muscles tighten as he tried to escape. Something outside his body was preventing him from moving. "Let go of me, Elias."
Altman approached him. "Please, just hear me out. Then I'll let you go."
Jack sighed angrily. "Fine," he blurted. "I'm listening."
"It was supposed to be a simple mission," Altman said softly. "You and your team were supposed to get Zeno and the other prisoner, and get out. No one was supposed to get hurt. You weren't supposed to get drugged." He turned and glared at Zeno. "I'm not even sure how Zeno got his hands on those tranquilizer guns."
Jack said nothing. He was still angry.
"You weren't supposed to find out, Jack."
"Well I did find out! In fact, I found out a lot of things! I found out that you're all just a bunch of deceitful jerks. I found out that I'm just your tool. I found out what it feels like to stare down two pistols wielded by a psychopath! I found out what it feels like when you think you're about to die!"
Zeno made his way out of the group of commandos, slowly moving toward Jack. He looked at his feet, mumbling in an Australian accent, "Sorry 'bout that, mate. Didn't mean ta scare ya like that. I just wanted ta have a little fun. You know...rewrite the script a li'l bit."
Jack looked at Zeno, then at Altman. "What?" he yelled. "Your lackey just apologizes and everything's supposed to be fine? I thought I was dead!"
Altman sighed. He released Jack from his telekinetic control, whispering, "I'm sorry. You can leave if you want to."
Jack eyed the older man before forcing his way through the group of people standing in the doorway. "April, get your stuff and meet me at the garage."
Everyone was silent as Jack walked away. No one knew what to say, or what to do. But Paula quickly changed that.
"Jack, stop," she commanded. "Stop being so selfish. Stop acting like we owe you an apology. You knew what you were getting into. Just like all the rest of us knew when we joined this team. And just like the rest of us, Elias owes you nothing. We owe him!"
Jack turned. "What?"
"I said that we all owe him. He saved your life. He's saved all of us at one point or another." She paused for a couple seconds, and then continued, "He saved Derecha and Izquierda from the streets of Los Angeles. He saved Johnny from having to go to a boys' home. He saved Frank from drugs, Craig from a life of hatred, and Warren from a mental institution. But most importantly, he's saved hundreds of helpless children from fear. From lynch mobs and crime. From poverty. From themselves.
"If you leave, you're decreasing all our chances of saving scores of helpless innocents. We need you, Jack. We need you to help people like us, people like you, and people like April."
Jack stood silently for some time. He said nothing. He didn't move away from Paula and the others, but didn't move closer. He simply nodded his head, hesitantly agreeing with her.
