One
DISCLAIMER ⚠️: If you are still stuck reading the "James Knight: Teenage Superhuman" series and don't like spoilers, please skip this or wait until the series is finished. THERE ARE SPOILERS.
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As a child, I firmly believed I was destined to become a superhero. I thought I was just an ordinary human at birth, but I would gradually acquire extraordinary abilities as I aged. However, as I matured, I came to realize that my belief was far from reality.
As a teenager, my father had a mishap that gave him superpowers, and I was a pawn in a bigger scheme than the government sought. My uncle Alexander, the leader of the unethical organization, was a monster, the real threat, but for a while, he led us to believe our father was the villain.
My siblings and I were born in a private facility inside government walls. We were subjects in a secret government operation they developed to create super soldiers from children. My father fought to stop the operation but was powerless against the group and forced into recreating a supergene; the same supergene was passed down to my siblings and me.
Alexander finally set us free on my big brother Maximus's tenth birthday. That day was heaven on earth for all of us. We were free from the prison they kept us in. We all knew where we needed to go to find Dad. We knew he lived somewhere in the area, but that was all we knew.
Alexander abused me for a year and a half before I ran away. The night I left, I smelled smoke from the park bench I slept on and found myself amid an apartment on fire nearby. I quickly rushed to the scene and bolted in, searching rooms and pulling people to safety while putting out as much of the flames as possible with my powers.
The fire department showed up moments later as I carried a man in my small arms outside the apartment. My eyes met with Dexter for the first time as I gently put the man by the ambulance and rushed back in with superhuman speed. Dexter ran back in after me as I pulled an older woman from the wreckage. She was the only one left, barely breathing from the ash and debris.
Dexter found me standing in the middle of an open hallway. "Kid, get out of here," Dexter roared. Flames licked every wall around me. There was no way out. Dexter ushered me towards him, and I set the lady in his arms. He heaved the lady over his shoulders and pulled my body against him as I fought.
"What are you doing?" I growled.
"I'm saving your ass, kid. Stop fighting," Dexter demanded. I relaxed in his arms the minute I gained trust. His eyes stared straight into mine for a moment. He lifted me over his shoulder, and just as he raced towards the flames, shielding us in his arms, I dropped from his limbs, turning to face the firewall. My hands pushed out in front of me, diminishing flames in a split second, while Dexter watched in amusement, but something inside kept him calm.
"Go-go-GO!" I heard Dexter yell. I pushed through another wall of flames. The flames flickered out quickly, creating a path for us to race through. We busted through the front door in a few minutes, sprinting to the ambulance in the distance.
"Is that everyone?" I heard another firefighter ask Dexter.
"Uh..." Dexter looked at me for reassurance. I nodded at him. "Yeah, that's everyone," He finished with profound relief.
"Where are your parents?" Dexter asked, scanning me for burns, scrapes, or bruises, but I was clean besides my torn clothes.
"I-I," I hesitated for a moment. Do I tell him the truth or lie as Noah would?
"I'm homeless," I grimaced, dusting ash from my hair all over my face. I wasn't lying, but I wasn't telling the truth either.
"You want to come with me, kiddo? I'll take you to the station where my brother works. You'll like him." Dexter asked me. My eyes vibrated under the harsh light flashing on my face as Dexter lowered my arm.
"What's your name, kid?" another firefighter urged me.
"Bryce, uh," I stopped myself, thinking of what Alexander trained us to say. Dexter's blue-green eyes glowed in the moonlight, shining on his face as he watched me. "Just Bryce," I said.
"I'm Dexter Marian," Dexter said, taking a subtle breath of cool air. Let's get you out of here and somewhere safe." Dexter searched my body for cuts and scrapes before helping me dust them off.
"Here, kid. Put this on." Dexter surrendered his oversized yellow coat, which was three sizes too big for me. "You'll freeze out here. It's ten degrees in the middle of winter." He took a deep breath in.
"Come with me, kid," Dexter waved me along, and my curiosity kicked into gear, and my stomach rumbled, hungry for anything. Dexter opened the firetruck door and helped me get up the steps. He sat in front of me in a beat-up red fire truck. The other door screamed open, and more firefighters jumped into the car, throwing some of their tools into the back seat.
"Is this your first time in a firetruck, kiddo?" Bruce asked me, a big, beefy firefighter sliding next to me.
"Yeah," I replied. It was my first time.
"Hang on. It'll be one hell of a ride," the third firefighter, Jack, said, jumping into the front seat. And we drove off.
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Deep into the city, I stared out the window. The radio played in the background as Jack pulled up in front of a police station and turned off the truck. My eyes bounced to the building, a tall, rundown, and expansive police department.
"Stay here and keep Bruce some company. I'll be right back." Dexter instructed. I got comfy in the passenger seat as Jack and Dexter wandered out of the truck into the police station, greeted by the other busy police officers. I snuck off when Bruce wasn't looking, and he raced after me moments later.
Jack stood at the front, tapping his fingers against the counter. Marcus looked up at his papers. The TV screen off to the side showed pictures of the apartment fire. A reporter described the scene; Dexter joined them, staring at the screen before Marcus spoke.
"What can I do for you two?" Marcus asked. Jack sighed, shifting his feet anxiously.
"Do you see the fire?" Jack gestured to the TV hanging on the wall as Marcus briefly looked behind him.
"What about it?"
"I found a kid in the middle of everything," Dexter replied.
"Oh?" Marcus seemed amused. Then, his focus turned to Dexter.
"Yeah, he's sitting in the truck with Bruce. He says he's homeless." In the background, Bruce and I sat, dirt all over my body from head to toe, the jacket still wrapped around my shoulders. A police dog in the station corner barked, and Marcus and Jack locked eyes with Officer Johnson, the dog's owner.
"Is that the kid?" Marcus asked.
There was a silence before Dexter cursed. "Damn it. I thought I told you to stay in the truck."
"I wanted to come inside and meet Thomas." I shrugged. The dog leaped from his corner, dragging the desk with him before his leash popped off, and he shuffled in front of me, lying down on his side for me to pet his belly.
Officer Johnson groaned as all eyes turned in my direction. "Just-" Dexter thought for a moment. "Sit over there while I figure this out." Dexter pointed to a metal bench attached to the wall, and I got comfy with the dog. "Could you maybe have Peter do a background inspection?" Dexter asked.
Marcus nodded, rolling away from the desk. "Will do. The kid looks like he can use some psychiatric help. I'm just saying-" Marcus walked off, and Dexter walked over and sat beside me.
"Look, kid. I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you're covered in ash and dirt, and for all I know, you could have hurt someone or worse," he said. Jack and Bruce looked back at Johnson's dog with raised eyebrows. His tail was wagging while I stroked my lap. The dog was in.
Marcus returned to the counter as Dexter wandered over. "This is what you're going to do. Take him home with you, let him shower, get him used to Kyra and Sebastian, and let him stay in one of your guest rooms. We'll check the missing kid's reports, and hopefully, by tomorrow, someone will claim him, or we'll put him with childcare services. It's that, or we keep him in custody here or the hospital under a 5150." He explained to Dexter.
Dexter and Jack nodded, wandering back to me. "How would you like to stay with me for the night, kiddo?" Dexter asked.
"That's perfect." I smiled widely. I was finally getting a family I could love and trust. I no longer had to worry about my father. I was free, or so I thought.
