"We must ask ourselves, are the actions we take worth the price we must pay? For there is always a price. For every step that is taken forward, something must be left behind. For every gift…something must be sacrificed.

Is the price worth the prize?"

-Mohinder Suresh

Kelly Raegan flicked on her computer, watching as the dreaded Mac powered up. She had begged for them to get PCs, but noooo! Her fellow editors thought that Macs were so much better and would make their jobs easier. There was no way that it would turn out to be a useless thing that would shutdown at random times and not save her work when she needed it too.

'Think Isucky.'

Moving to get the coffee going for all the mooching reporters that would be in for their free caffeine fix, Kelly let herself focus on other thoughts.

'I know someone who has magic.' She thought to herself, a stupid grin crossing her face. 'I know a spellcaster…a freaking wizard!' Resisting the urge to squeal in pure delight, Kelly practically skipped over to her desk. 'God…I wonder what else he can do? Can he alter anything else? How strong are his powers?'

Kelly looked over and noticed that her computer was frozen.

"Maybe Carter can blast you into pieces." She grumbled.

"What do you want blasted?"

"Carter!" Kelly exclaimed, whipping around to face her friend. She looked him over, a bit startled. Carter Daniels was leaning in the doorway, happily chewing on an apple. His hair was swept back out of his face, eyes flickering with amusement as he ate his breakfast. While he normally would wear a loose t-shirt and whatever pants he could find, the young man had gone a totally different route today.

A tight gray shirt covered his chest, highlighting muscles Kelly didn't know Carter had. His jeans were also form fitting, crisp and clean. Topping off the entire outfit was an open, brown corduroy blazer. The coat might have looked wrong one someone else, but when Carter wore it the jacket just seemed to fit perfectly. Not quite ivy league, not quite rebel slacker. Somewhere in-between. Somewhere, had Miss Raegan not been into girls, very yummy.

"You…you look different."

"Feel different too." He said, tossing the apple core in the garbage and gliding into the room. "You ever have one of those mornings where you wake up and are ready to tackle the new day? I know, I know, it's really cliché. But still, when I got out of bed this morning, I felt like a man reborn anew!" He grinned. "Helps that I am."

"That you are?" Kelly asked. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Didn't I just say I was feeling alright?" He asked, plopping down on the couch. "I tell you, I've never been so happy."

"Uh…Carter?" Kelly said with a soft grin. "I am happy that you feel that way…infact I'm happy about a lot of things…I think you kinda…" She pointed to his right hand, the tips of his fingers glowing.

"Oops." He laughed. "Still haven't learned how to control these things. Calm." Another flash of energy, and Kelly felt her face slowly return to normal. "I really need to find some way to practice with that."

Kelly gave him a perplexed look. "You…seem a lot more accepting of things then you were yesterday."

Carter rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. God, I was acting like a moron…if I act like that again, just smack me around alittle, ok?"

"Ooookkkk…you are dressed differently, you are acting differently…you aren't even stuttering. Who are you and what the hell did you do with Carter Daniels?"

Carter couldn't help but laugh at Kelly's obvious confusion. "Oh, I'm still Carter, just version 2.0. Now with less errors and a much…much better speech function. Do you realize how hard it is to be trapped in a body that doesn't want to behave like you want it too?" He began to laugh a bit harder. "God, I'm finally free. Finally able to express myself the way I want, baby!" Leaping at once to his feet, Carter began to spin around in unadulterated joy.

"How?" Kelly asked.

"How?" Carter echoed. "I thought you of all people would know…you practically suggested it."

"I…" She paused, her eyes lowering to the young man's hands. "Carter…did you…"

"Use this little gift of mine on myself? You bet your gay ass I did!" He chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at her. "And may I say, what an ass…"

"Carter!" Kelly exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh, come on, you were lusting after…calm….it yesterday?" His waved his hand in the air, watching with mild interest as Kelly's eyes flickered from horny to annoyed. "Don't blame me, blame the hands."

"I do blame them…and blame you." Kelly stated. "Seriously Carter, what the hell did you do to yourself to turn you into…" She waved her hands at his general form. "This."

Carter shrugged, moving to the center of the room and taking a boxer's stance. "All I did was stare the old me in the eye…literally, I had to do my magic into a mirror to make it affect me….and gave it a couple of jabs!" He began to shadow box, handsglowing as he spoke. "A courage to the right, calm. A quick upper cut with some confidence, calm. Bing bang boom, old me is out for the count!"

"Just like me!" Kelly cried, gripping onto the couch's arm. Carter hadn't been watching, but each time he had used his powers, Kelly had been hit. And after five total emotional punches, she was reeling almost as much as she would if she had really been punched. "Carter…please…don't say another…emotion."

Carter glanced over at her. "You ok?" He asked, knelling down next to her.

"No…you whammied real good."

"Geez…I'm sorry…I just didn't…"

"Notice?" Kelly asked. "I noticed…no pun intended."

The young man frowned, stroking her back. "I really mean it…I should have been paying attention. I was just too…"

"Self occupied?" Kelly asked. At his sheepish smile, the editor shook her head, and with lightning quick speed, she gripped his face in her hand.. "Look…I'm only going to say this once, ok? Number One…don't do that punching thing again, ok? Second, I don't want you thinking that I am coming down on you or anything, because I'm not. I just want to make sure you understand something, ok?" She forced Carter's head to move up and down.

"Now, I am thrilled that you are enjoying your new…personality. If anyone deserves this chance, it's you Carter. That said…don't over do it, ok?" She smiled. "A lot of us already like you. No need to go making yourself completely different. There are qualities of the old Carter that I likes, and I don't want see them gone. I don't need Carter Daniels 2.0…just 1.5. Ok?"

"O-a." Carter managed to get out through his squished face. Kelly giggled and let him go, the young man straightening his coat. "Don't worry Kelly…I'm still me. Just now with a new lease on life." He walked over to door, picking up his bookbag. "Listen, I've got to get to class. Want to see the teachers' faces when I wow them with my intelligence. I'll see you later, alright?"

"Yea." Kelly said, watching her friend leave. 'Why do I get the feeling that everything I just told you went over your head, Carter?' She moved back to hr desk. 'Just don't soar too high, Icarus. The final drop will be a doozy.'

&&&

(Southwestern Airlines flight: Houston to Las Vegas, 9 pm)

The man set down his drink; looking over the documents his associate had given him. The information was interesting, to say the least.

"So the boy has been released?"

"Yes." The African American man said. "He snapped out of it this morning. Seems there is a time limit on how long they are affected."

"For now." The older man said. "What did he tell you?"

The black man pulled out another sheet, reading it verbatim. "While under the command, he continued to repeat the same thing, "Stay away." When the Haitian dug deeper, he was able to get the rest of the sentence: "Stay Away Carter.""

"So this Carter …we are sure it's him?"

"Positive."

"…he was able to make this young man fear him, just by commanding him too?"

"That is what the reports show, sir." He handed the older man another sheet. "This is all the information on Carter Daniels. Interesting kid…suffers from low self-esteem, fears of talking in public, your average shy quiet kid."

"Always the quiet ones you have to watch out for." The older man took a sip of his cola. "I assume that we are placing him at P Class?"

The African American man shook his head. "No sir, I believe not."

"Is he that advanced that he is already M Class?"

"Unfortunatly…no."

"R Class then?"

"That…is not what I suggest."

The older man sighed, shoving the file away from him. "Then what class do you suggest? He must have some potential."

"Too much…sir…" The younger man lowered his voice. "It is in my opinion that Carter Daniels…be classified as an…A Class."

The older man's glass cracked in his hand, fractures appearing in the plastic.

"An A Class…there is only one other known A Class…are you suggesting Carter Daniels posses the same threat as Dr. Suresh's so called Patient Zero?"

The black man nodded. "Yes sir. Think about it…if he can master his power, he could issue a command over network television, radio…he might even be able to send a wave of energy around the earth by himself. Imagine…a being that could command us all to be loyal with just a thought. We'd have no defense against it."

"…" The older man looked down at the file once more.

"I know what it would mean doing this, Sir. But we have no choice. We either deal with him now, or have a global threat on our hands."

The older man nodded, "I understand, Terrence." He adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses, then picked up the pen and filled out the final blank on the file:

Subject: Carter Daniels

Age: 22

Power: Emotion Manipulation

Class: Potential/Armageddon

And with that, Mr. Bennet sealed Carter's fate.

&&&

Author's Notes: The Classes are of my own creation, designed to show just how a super-powered being ranks. The current ones shown in this chapter are:

P Class- Potential: A super whose powers are just beginning to show, and shows the chance of becoming stronger.

M Class- Manipulator: Super whose powers are designed to allow them to control or manipulate certain things. Hiro could be considered an M Class Hero.

R Class- Rogue Class: Super who, because of personality or powers, would be difficult to control by Mr. Bennet. Also counts for any hero that is currently using their powers activate. Niki could be considered an R Class

A Class- Armageddon: A super whose powers could be used to cause a global disaster and would be near impossible to apprehend, let alone control. Currently one active A Class (Sylar) and one potential A Class (Carter Daniels). Other characters like Hiro could also become A Class Supers.

As the story goes on, you will learn more of the Classes.