As much as Ezra hated to admit it, even to himself, it was getting a lot easier to use his powers. Without even thinking about it he was able to lift objects in the air and move them around at will. The strange man was pleased, far too pleased. Whatever this man had planned, it would not end well for Hiro.

The man was only concerned with keeping Ezra healthy, once he'd become noticeably sick he kept Ezra and Hiro in separate rooms, even going as far as to make sure Ezra had a bed and food while Hiro slept on the cold hard ground with most likely no food. Though Ezra continued to get stronger, the man still tortured Hiro relentlessly when Ezra failed to meet his standards. The torture though went beyond using his powers to choke Hiro and was now physically beating him.

Though Hiro's thin frame was covered in cuts and bruises he refused to be angry at Ezra even though inadvertently he was the reason Hiro was in such bad shape. A part of Ezra wished he was better so this man wouldn't have a reason to hurt Hiro, but Ezra also knew it might not make much of a difference, he hated humans, and Hiro was human. If Ezra hadn't had powers they wouldn't be here and Hiro wouldn't be so sick and in pain. If he was normal they'd be safe and sound with their families…his family might still love him.

How could Hiro still care about him when his own family didn't? Hiro wasn't afraid of him even though he could easily kill Hiro with this curse he had. The man called his powers a gift, all Ezra saw was a curse. If he could he would never use his powers again, all they did was hurt the people he cared about most. The man though didn't care that he was hurting innocent people, he didn't think regular people mattered.

Ezra tried to understand this man, but nothing he did made sense. He wanted Ezra to be like him, to be his apprentice. But he tortured people Ezra loved. Dad always said if you're mean to someone a person cares about they won't like you, so why did this man think hurting Hiro would make him want to have anything to do with the man?

"Your powers are growing," the man said. "Why are you holding back?"

"I don't want to hurt people," Ezra said.

"You are my apprentice and you will do as I say!" the man growled, lifting Hiro off of his feet.

"No!" Ezra shouted.

"I am your master boy. You will obey me!" The man shouted, "Maybe something a little more…permanent will get the message across." He continued, pulling out a knife.

"No, please don't!" Ezra begged, dropping down on his knees. "I-I'll be good….master…" the man stared at Ezra for a minute before saying,

"I am your master boy, best you remember that."

"Y-y-yes….m-master…" Ezra stammered, feeling sick. Suddenly the man flung Hiro to the ground in front of one of his henchman saying,

"Take him out of here; I believe his presence might be distracting my apprentice. See if you can actually make him useful." The man nodded and dragged Hiro to his feet and took him away, leaving Ezra alone with the man. "Now let's try again boy." Ezra slowly stood and willed the three crates in front of him to rise off of the ground, and they did.

"Much better," the man said a twisted grin on his face. "You're going to be very strong someday."

"H-how do you know?" Ezra stammered, immediately regretting asking the question and winced, expecting some sort of punishment. The man though only patted Ezra's head giving him a twisted smile saying,

"Your mother was very powerful," he said. Ezra was surprised to hear that. He knew Ezra's mother? How? What was she like? He had so many questions, but he knew asking even the one question was risky so he restrained himself. "Now, let's continue."

Hiro didn't know why he was being taken away from Ezra, but he didn't have the energy to care. Everything hurt, he would go between being unbearably hot to absolutely freezing and every time he swallowed his throat would start throbbing and he was so hungry. Despite all his pain and discomfort though he was more worried about Ezra. The man was trying to make him do bad things, but Ezra wasn't a bad person, he was one of the nicest people Hiro knew. But the bad man was trying to make Ezra bad, and that scared Hiro. What would he do to Ezra if he didn't do what he wanted?

Suddenly the man lifted Hiro off of his feet and unceremoniously dropped him onto a bed. It was not a very comfy bed, but after spending so long on the floor it felt wonderful. Hiro didn't understand though, why was he being given a bed now? What was going on?

"You're not allowed to die boy," the henchman said. "Boss says we need to make you better." Why did the man suddenly want Hiro alive? The man shoved a bowl of soup at Hiro saying,

"Eat." With shaking hands Hiro took the bowl and started to tentatively drink from it. The soup warmed his chilled bones and helped calm his shaking limbs. He greedily scarfed down the rest of the soup, staring at the bowl sadly when he finished it. His hunger was only somewhat quenched by the meager meal and he desperately wanted to ask for more, but he knew that would only result in more pain for himself.

Hiro carefully set the bowl aside and slowly laid himself down, tightly wrapping the thin blanket around himself in a vain attempt to keep warm. As he drifted off he heard the man slam the door open and then leave, locking it behind him. As Hiro drifted off to sleep, all he could think about was Ezra and pray that he was okay.

"I don't understand why you're suddenly so interested in keeping the brat alive," Kallus groaned, angrily pacing the room the Inquisitor was trying to meditate in. "You spend weeks saying how the kid is worthless and how you want to kill him, and now you're ordering us to keep him alive?"

"He was the key to getting my apprentice to…embrace his power," The Inquisitor replied.

"What?"

"My apprentice was fond of the boy, feared any harm coming to him. That fear helped him unlock his powers and will help them continue to grow. Now that he has accepted that I am his master the boy can be now used to the best of his abilities."

"He's an inhuman too?" Kallus asked.

"No," The Inquisitor sighed. "But he is brilliant. With some more training, he will be quiet useful."

"I see," Kallus said.

"Perhaps we can finally finish our weapon with his genius." The Inquisitor continued.

"Isn't it a bit early to be thinking about that," Kallus asked. "Who knows this kid may not turn out to be a smart as you think he is."

"He is very advanced for his age," The Inquisitor explained. "Far more advanced than a child who would not one day become very intelligent."

"True…" Kallus agreed.

"And if he becomes a problem, he will die," The Inquisitor added.

"Won't you lose your leverage on the boy?"

"If it does come to that, by the time it does he'll hate humans so much he'll be begging to kill him if it comes to that." The Inquisitor assured.