Their new room was too quiet.
Jack sat in the middle of the common area, the Echo Mask resting on the table beside him. Michael lounged in a recliner with his arms crossed. Emily sat on the windowsill, knees pulled to her chest, staring out at the ocean.
No alarms. No screaming. No cameras. Just silence.
But sometimes silence was louder than anything.
Jack broke it first.
"We should talk. About… before this place."
Michael looked over. "You sure?"
Jack nodded. "We're a team now. If we're going to survive this… we should know what we're fighting for."
---
💧 Emily – The One She Couldn't Save
Emily spoke first, her voice quiet and distant. "I didn't even know I had powers. Not until that day."
She stared out at the sea like it held her memories.
"There was a girl drowning. Everyone was recording it. No one was helping. So I ran in. I didn't even think."
Her hands clenched.
"But… she was already dead when I got to her. I dragged her out anyway. I was crying, panicking—and that's when the water moved. It just… exploded. Shot up around me."
She looked down at the floor, shame in her eyes.
"Everyone saw. Someone recorded it. The government was waiting for me by the time I got home."
She wiped a tear before it could fall. "My parents… didn't even fight it. I think they were glad I was gone."
She paused, then added, "But I don't want to be afraid anymore. I want to be strong enough to save someone next time."
---
🔥 Michael – The Fire That Didn't Go Out
Michael leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
"I grew up in a dump. Parents hated each other. Always fighting. Always blaming me."
He looked down at his hands—the ones that could burn a man alive.
"I found out I had powers when I lost my temper. Punched a wall and it exploded. Almost burned down the living room."
He gave a bitter laugh.
"The next day, people in black suits came. Said I was a threat. My dad shook their hands like they were giving him a prize. Turns out he sold me for a check."
His jaw tensed. "I wanted to burn the whole world down after that. Still do sometimes."
Then he looked at Jack and Emily.
"But for now… I'll settle for burning my way out of this place."
---
👁 Jack – The Night Everything Changed
Jack took a slow breath.
"My life was quiet. Me and my grandpa, living on a farm. He took care of me. Raised me like I mattered."
He stared at nothing, voice flat.
"One night, after dinner, we sat on the porch. Talked about the weather. Then he told me to get some sleep."
He paused.
"I woke up to gunshots."
Michael and Emily went still.
"I ran outside. Smoke was everywhere. Lights in the cornfield. People shouting. I didn't know what was happening. I ran—for the cornfield. I thought I could get away."
His hand brushed his ribs unconsciously.
"I got shot. They found me bleeding in the dirt. Threw me into the back of a truck. I never saw my grandpa again."
His voice lowered to a whisper.
"I thought he was dead."
Jack didn't say anything else. He didn't need to.
---
The room stayed quiet.
But the silence felt different now. Not cold—just heavy.
Three broken kids. Three different scars. But for the first time… they weren't carrying them alone. The silence hung in the air like fog—thick, heavy, but honest.
For the first time since they'd been captured, Jack, Emily, and Michael weren't just survivors. They were people again. Not weapons. Not monsters. Just three broken people with too many scars and not enough answers.
Then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound shattered the quiet like a bullet.
Jack's eyes narrowed. Without standing, he raised a hand—and the veins along his arm pulsed faintly red. His power activated. Invisible tendrils slithered under the doorframe, gripping the handle, and turned the knob slowly.
The door creaked open.
A figure in a white lab coat stood there, clipboard in hand, cold professionalism in their eyes.
"Time for the arena fights," the scientist said, like it was a dentist appointment. "Get dressed. You'll find the arena in the west wing. You have ten minutes."
Jack didn't reply. He just nodded once and shut the door.
He turned to the others.
"Well… guess story time's over."
---
⬛ The Arena
The arena was nothing like the training rooms they'd known.
It was massive—walls rising like a coliseum, with giant lights hanging overhead. Cameras buzzed in the corners. Dozens of viewing boxes lined the rim above, where unknown eyes watched from the shadows.
The ground was a mix of broken concrete, scattered metal debris, and raised platforms. A battlefield designed to test chaos.
Emily looked around nervously, clutching her water beam device. "Why does it feel like a trap?"
Michael rolled his shoulders, fire dancing in his palms. "Because it probably is."
Jack scanned the space, Echo Mask secured over his face, his suit adjusting to his heart rate.
Then a voice echoed over the speakers:
"ROUND ONE – TEAM 9 vs TEAM 3. BEGIN."
Across the arena, three figures stepped forward:
A woman crackling with electricity, her arms arcing with live blue lightning.
A tall man who vanished for a split second and reappeared ten feet closer—super speed.
And the third… wasn't visible at all. Just a faint shimmer in the air as something moved without being seen.
Jack's mask immediately switched into tracking mode, scanning the area for heat, sound—anything.
Michael growled, flames bursting up his arms. "Seriously? We just finished talking about our trauma, and now we're fighting a damn superhero squad?"
Emily swallowed hard but tightened her grip on her gear. "We can do this."
Jack stepped forward, his voice steady.
"Then let's show them what broken people can do."