Pinn poked at his French Toast, hardly having given any attention to it in his time at the diner. Kelly had the sense to leave him in peace, only attempting twice to make light conversation before realizing he was too deep in his thoughts. The door opened and Pinn heard the familiar slosh of Sami’s water jug as he waved it in his Shadow Hand.

  “Sami.” Kelly smiled as she collected plates on a tray.

  “Hey Kelly. Do you have any lemon cake?”

  Kelly stopped mid-movement, eyebrows lowering seriously. She opened her mouth, then closed it, shaking her head to herself. Scoffing, she smiled slightly and tilted her head.

  “Very funny. Do you know how many people were mean about the lemon cakes yesterday?”

  “I can imagine it went pretty badly.”

  “Was great for tips, and awful for pretty much everything else. You want coffee and some grapes?”

  Grinning, Sami nodded as he grabbed the seat across from Pinn and sat himself down. Eyes on his food, Pinn nodded to the table in greeting. Sami drummed lightly on the wood, looking above Pinn.

  “Did you ever get a chance to count your powers? There’s just so many,” Sami asked.

  “I’m pretty sure I still manifest new ones,” Pinn replied, unfocused.

  “That sounds so cool.”

  Pinn glanced up to Sami who was taking a drink of water. “It’s not.”

  “Maybe not for someone who’s retired, but imagine if someone like Apex kept getting powers and kept saving even more people.”

  “Or someone like you.”

  Sami smiled, balancing a spoon on two fingers of his Shadow Hand. “So, when are you gonna un-retire?”

  “Not anytime soon.”

  “Are you sure? No offense, but you seem pretty bored when I come join you for food. HUE is a lot of fun. You could even join without the flames, I’m sure. Plus, we might be working on learning where the Awakening comes from.”

  Pinn raised an eyebrow a fraction. “You have researchers?”

  “No, it… Can you keep a secret?”

  Pinn raised the eyebrow even further.

  “Right, duh,” Sami said, rolling his eyes and almost dropping the spoon. “So, I was at this thing yesterday for fundraising and we overheard someone talking about an Antiserum.”

  “Antiserum for what?”

  “We only got bits and pieces, but we’re pretty sure it’s something you inject to get rid of powers and undo your Awakening.”

  With a light twang, the spoon suddenly folded into a tight spiral and smacked against the table, indenting itself into the wood. Sami looked at his Shadow Hand, then to Pinn with a mix of shock and awe.

  “Dude, what was that?”

  Mortified, Pinn snatched the spoon and unspooled it to a jagged, yet somewhat acceptable state. Lowering his head in embarrassment, he passed it back to Sami who looked it over.

  “What do you know about the Antiserum?” Pinn asked quietly.

  “Not much, really. We only know some guy at Welden Steele’s table was talking about it. Why do you care?”

  “I could have some use cases for myself.”

  The spoon clattered against the table again, this time dropped by Sami. His pleasant smile went into a firm line of disappointment.

  Trembling, his Shadow Hand pointed hard at Pinn.

  “You wanna use it on yourself?”

  Pinn said nothing, but raised his head defiantly. He liked Sami, but the kid didn’t know about his life. His judgement wouldn’t faze him.

  “Dude!” Sami said, running three hands through his hair. “I just met the strongest Awakened person yesterday, and all she does is sit around and do nothing! What is it with you being the strongest people and wanting to waste your life!”

  “Strongest Awakened? Stronger than me?” The thought of someone who could shoulder the burden in his stead gave Pinn the slightest bit of hope.

  “Maybe if either of you did anything, I’d have something to compare!”

  For a moment, Pinn felt like he was speaking with his mother. It was always about his wasted potential and not the toll that the powers took on him. But this time he wasn’t talking to his parents, so he wouldn’t hold back.

  “Listen. Almost every single time I use my power, whether intentionally or not, another power goes off. A random flare of a power totally out of my control. Take a second and consider that, Sami. Every time you try out that Power Sense, your Shadow Hand jumps out and strangles an innocent man. If I want fire, I get lightning too. Enhance my speed, break some glass. Phase through someone’s chest, cut an innocent bystander’s face. I even have a manipulation power that I have to make sure I don’t accidentally use on random people because it’s so sensitive! I’m a walking travesty. I just want some semblance of control in my life.

  A never ending trolly problem. Imagine having the power to pull the lever to save 100 people only to have your own powers harm another 100 people. Or more! And if you don’t do anything, you sit with the guilt of what you could have done. There’s no winning.”

  Studying Pinn, Sami’s features were still harsh. Judgemental. “You could work out your powers to get better control of them.”

  “What do you think I did as Lightcrown?”

  “But you did great as Lightcrown! You saved so many people and were a hero!”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Pinn’s face went stern, eyes looking deep into Sami. “Until what?”

  Sami said nothing, but by the way his mouth dropped open slightly it was clear he was thinking of the Silent Scream.

  “How do you think it happened?” Pinn prodded.

  Sami’s jaw set tight, shaking his head slowly. “It was a madman with bots that went haywire.”

  Pinn shook his head slowly. Sami blinked, eyebrows trembling. Pinn leaned back slightly, sighing and slackening his posture. Blinking again, Sami looked like he was holding back tears.

  “You?” Sami asked, horrified.

  Pinn said nothing, pushing his unfinished food away slightly. He had lost his appetite entirely.

  “But… You said you don’t have control, right? It was an accident?”

  Pinn scrunched his face in disbelief. Sami was giving him the benefit of the doubt. For the Silent Scream of all things. Slowly, he nodded marginally. To his surprise, Sami sighed in relief, picking the bent spoon back up and balancing it on his Shadow Hand again.

  “So it wasn’t even your fault.”

  “It was,” Pinn insisted, suddenly feeling somewhat offended that he wasn’t being taken seriously. “If I wasn’t there, the whole thing never would have happened.”

  “And, like, a hundred deadly bots would have been there instead,” Sami said confidently. “I was there, remember? The drones weren’t just robbing people, they were hurting people. Killing some, right in front of us. We were terrified until you showed up.”

  Pinn fell silent, his gaze fixed on his food.

  Sami sighed, exasperated. “Come on, dude. Do you really want to get rid of your gifts?”

  Pinn looked back up at the kid. Sami wasn’t being aggressive, and neither would he. His tone came out evenly. “What if I do? To stop from being a walking bomb?”

  “I mean, I’d be disappointed, for sure. I guess I expect more from my friends.”

  Friend. Those words cut deeper than any insult he expected Sami to throw. Footsteps approached the table and Kelly very carefully placed a plate of grapes and coffee in front of Sami. Her slow speed and shifting eyes sensed the energy between Pinn and Sami.

  “Hey, guys. Everything okay?” she asked, worried.

  “Kelly, if you were Awakened, what would you do with your power?” Sami asked, eyes on Pinn.

  “Nice try, I asked because I care, not because I want to get in the middle of this,” Kelly said, some humor in her voice as she waved a check between Sami and Pinn.

  Pinn grabbed it, not breaking eye contact with Sami as he placed cash on the receipt. Kelly hesitated, where normally she would go to another patron after dropping off the check.

  “Was the French Toast bad?”

  Pinn finally broke away to glance at his food. There were fork marks in the bread, but no bites.

  “Not hungry,” he mumbled.

  “And yet you ordered food. Interesting,” Sami said playfully, placing Shadow Hand on his chin and grinning.

  Pinn sighed and smiled. “Sorry. I’ll take it to go.”

  “You got it,” Kelly said, scooping the plate up and going to get a box.

  Sami threw grapes into his mouth with one hand, catching anything that fell out with Shadow Hand. Pinn watched, impressed by how Sami could handle any situation. If he had more influence on HUE than the organization had on him, it would definitely turn out for the better.

  “You’re probably pretty disappointed in me,” Pinn finally said.

  The smile left Sami’s face as he swallowed his food. “Nah, I get it. I mean, the Silent Scream… A lot of people died. If I did that, I’d probably become a jaded old man.”

  “I’m not old.”

  “Delusional, too.” Sami nodded.

  Pinn chuckled.

  “Look,” Sami sighed, “I think you’re much better as Lightcrown than you are as… not him. You saved my life, and others, I’m sure. And I understand now what’s up with you and retirement, but I also think it’s a total waste to turn off your powers permanently. We can team up and I can use my Power Sense to help you figure out what’s what, if you want. It could be good training for both of us.”

  Pinn gave thought to the suggestion, but shook his head. “I think everyone would be safer if they didn’t have to worry about me.”

  “They already don’t.”

  “Because they’re ignorant.”

  “Or because, for years, you haven’t given them anything to worry about.” Sami popped the last grape into his mouth.

  “Because I don’t use my powers anymore.”

  Sami tapped on the bend in the jagged spoon on the table. “Never?”

  Pinn frowned. Not even close. He could think of a dozen times he used various powers in the past week alone. Face twitching in embarrassment, Pinn did what he always did when Sami cornered him. He changed the subject.

  “What kind of fundraiser were you at?”

  “It was okay, I guess,” Sami shrugged, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. “The cause was decent, the We Will Rebuild stuff to keep repairs coming in for Awakened disasters. But I got weird vibes from everyone running for mayor. They’re all Awakened and I don’t like it.”

  “You think they’re using their powers for shady stuff?” Pinn lowered his voice.

  “Nah. Well, maybe. I just don’t like them because they’re all politicians. They speak weird, like they’re never sincere or talk around subjects.”

  Pinn cracked a tiny smile, thinking immediately that his father would get along with Sami. But he also found it odd that a teenager already had the innate distrust for people in power, rather than an optimistic look to the future.

  “Not a fan of politicians?”

  “Hardly. Do you know how they treat orphans? They parade you around to show off how much they care about you, then throw you from foster home to foster home without even asking if you have an opinion. I knew I could take care of myself, but I wasn’t allowed to. And somehow I was the poster child of the good they were doing after the Silent Scream.” Sami gesticulated with his Shadow Hand, throwing it aside in mild disdain.

  Pinn lowered his head, sighing. Part of him wished he had never met Sami and had to see the grown consequences of the Silent Scream. An orphan teen who distrusted authority and idolized Lightcrown too much.

  “I’m sorry, Sami.” Pinn said sincerely.

  “It wasn’t all bad. I got to have food made by Jordan Bambsi!” Sami said.

  Pinn raised both eyebrows, genuine surprise on his face. “Well, now I’m jealous. But the fundraiser wasn’t what I was sorry about…”

  “Yeah, I know.” Sami waved another dismissive hand. “It’s in the past. It’s not your fault.”

  “It kind of is.”

  “Oh yeah, you definitely caused the whole childcare system to fail me because you couldn’t single-handedly take on an army when you were… How old were you?”

  “Your age.”

  “See!” Sami slapped the spoon on the table. “You beat yourself up too much! We just have to crack the code to all your powers and you can get back out there.”

  Pinn smiled slightly, appreciating his enthusiasm. He let his silence answer, and Sami shrugged with a grin.

  Kelly placed a box in front of Pinn.

  “I hope you two have a good day. Really,” Kelly said sincerely.

  “Thanks,” Pinn said, standing from the table.

  “See you next time! Consider my offer!” Sami saluted them both with two fingers to his temple and rushed out of the diner.

  “What’s a teenager offering you?” Kelly asked, amused.

  “He wants to train with me.”

  Kelly giggled. “That Sami is really something else. The way you carry yourself, I’m pretty sure you’d have a lot more to teach him, even in Awakened training.”

  Pinn eyed her curiously. “You think so?”

  “I know it.”

  “I can’t imagine how you’re so confident when all we really do is talk over my food.”

  “Well, then, you wanna talk somewhere else?” Kelly asked, smirking at Pinn.

  Pinn’s face went hot red. “I gotta go.”

  Rushing out the door as Kelly giggled behind him, Pinn quickly pulled out his phone to run as many searches as he could on Welden Steele. Whatever it took to learn more about the Antiserum.

  I keep oscillating in the Rising Stars rank, and I don't know if I'm going up or down anymore