Michael fiddled with his pen as he listened to Mr. Johnson go on about the history of Crestville City. He soon droned out and was lost in his thoughts. The last thing he remembered before waking up was the dark-skinned man standing over his fallen body, spilled water somewhere beside him along with the cup.

Everything the intimidating man had said was still jumbled up in his brain.

Slick and Heath...

Altering a person's mind...

Him being one of them...

None of it made any sense, but at least they let him go. He'd have to tell Captain Ruiz about them, then they'd be sorry. Yeah, that's what he'd do. He'd also ask for a new security detail. The ones assigned to him were just a bunch of idiots.

When he woke up; in his bedroom no less, he immediately went out to ask his security detail who dropped him off. They had replied with a laid-back attitude, something about a redhead girl and her mother.

He had face palmed in front of them but he said nothing else. How weren't they suspicious, like at all?

Well, in their defense, Crestville was a peaceful city so the cops didn't really have anything to do. It seemed to have made them incompetent and weak.

"Earth to Mr. McKing... Mr. McKing..." Mr. Johnson's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He blinked and sat up straight.
Being a back bencher, everyone in the class had turned around to stare at him. He didn't get why they were staring this time, so he stared right back.

There was an awkward silence in the classroom. Mr. Johnson sighed before he asked, "Didn't you hear the announcement, Mr. McKing?" He frowned a little in confusion. Announcement? What announcement?

"I guess you didn't," Mr. Johnson muttered. "The principal would like to see you in his office. Now..."

"Oh," Michael said softly as he rose from his seat. "Why?"

Mr. Johnson cocked his head to the side slightly and folded his arms. "And how would I know that, Mr. McKing?" he asked, his voice suddenly sharper. Michael knew if he didn't leave, another detention might be in his future.

"Right..." He slung his bag over his shoulder and hurried out of the class, closing the door behind him.

The hallway was deserted. Classes were ongoing so that was to be expected. The principal's office was on the next floor so he headed for the stairs. He passed by classrooms and lockers decorated to the owner's taste.

He walked past the shiny trophy cabinet just opposite the stairs. He didn't need to look closely at the framed picture in the middle of the cabinet to know the people there. A younger Principal Matthews was shaking hands with a man in front of Crestville Junior High School.
man was as tall as the principal, his blonde hair was side-swept but the man obviously tried to comb it back, as a few unruly bangs fell lazily across his bright blue eyes. His smile seemed so pure and full of life.

Michael would know... He used to have the same smile.

He ran up the stairs and got to the next floor. The lockers on this floor were a bit larger and were green; the ones on his floor were blue. These lockers were sparsely decorated, the classrooms were quieter and the hallway was spotless and student-less, save the hall monitor who just walked by.

He didn't spare Michael a second glance, he was probably off to catch loitering students on the floor below. He was one of the few students who didn't stare. The blonde respected him for that.

Michael walked down the hallway and made a right. At the end of the hallway was a brown door with the word Principal Matthews inscribed boldly at the top. He knocked on the door and entered, not waiting for a response.

He was met with an old frowning face, glaring at him from behind a mahogany desk. He backed up slightly in reflex. It was just the principal's secretary. An old bat who hated kids more than her job.

"Did I tell you to come in, boy?" she asked in her usual nasal voice. Michael wasn't one to be deterred. "I'm here to see Principal Matthews," he replied curtly. The old secretary's frown deepened and she clicked her tongue.

Soon, she picked up the phone beside her name tag and called the principal. Why she didn't just get up to tell him in the next room beat Michael. Maybe she really did hate her job. She got off the phone and glared at him some more.

"He'll see you now," she told him.

He nodded and walked for the door in front of him. He knocked again and entered; again without waiting for a response. He faintly heard the old bat grumble as he shut the door behind him with a smirk.

Compared to the secretary's office, this one was pretty big. It was painted bright yellow, the ceiling plain white just like the illuminations. The principal's desk was in the middle of the office, two seats before the desk for visitors or students like himself. The floor was covered with a soft dark rug, his shoes sank a bit into it.

Principal Matthews' degrees were framed and hung up on the wall, just beside the shelf filled with different books. There was a window after the principal's desk so if he turned, he could see the city and some parts of the school.

Principal Matthews looked up from the monitor before him and noticed Michael. He gestured for him to sit and he did without hesitation, dropping his bag by his feet. The principal did a few more things on his computer system before he finally relaxed in his seat and addressed the blonde student.

"Michael McKing," he said.

"Principal Matthews," Michael replied.

"How are you today?"

"I'm alright." His hand unconsciously went to rub his sore neck. The principal didn't pay much attention to that.

"You weren't in school yesterday. May I ask why?"

Michael's eyes narrowed a bit. It was a tricky question. Should he tell the principal what really happened? About him being 'kidnapped?' Or should he stick to the story?

"Yes, well, I was at a friend's house," he finally replied, cringing inwards as he said it.

The principal just hmphed and turned in his chair. "By a friend, do you mean Miss Gallagher?"

"Eh?" Michael said blankly.

"The redhead girl? Sheila?" Principal Matthews tried again with a raised eyebrow. Michael mouthed an 'o' as his face showed realization.
"Yes- yeah, Sheila's house. That's right," he said with a nervous laugh.

Principal Matthews inwardly shook his head. "Kids these days... they're friends and he doesn't know her last name," he thought sadly.

"Her mother called to tell me," he said. Michael nodded along like a good little boy. "She also called to tell me Sheila's dropping out of the school," he continued.

Michael was still nodding before he stopped and shook his head. "Wait... what?"

"I'm guessing you didn't know. It's probably for the best. She's going to be homeschooled according to her mom. She seems to have made an impression on you though."

"What do you mean?"

"Entering a food fight? Skipping school? This isn't you, Michael. And I'm not the only one who thinks so," the principal said in concern. Michael rose an eyebrow at this. What brought this on?

"Who else?", he asked.

"Captain Ruiz", Principal Matthews replied causing him to roll his eyes; something the principal didn't miss.
"And rolling your eyes? This Sheila child has really changed you, Michael. If it were up to me, I'd send you to the counselor..."

Michael frowned a little, the way the principal said it, he made it seem like he was a case, a problem child.
"Captain Ruiz wants to see me?" he asked. Principal Matthews nodded. "After school. Your security detail will take you to him."

Michael rose from his seat and carried his bag. "Is that all?"

"Yes. That would be all. You're free to go," Principal Matthews told him.

«»

Captain Ruiz stood with his hands to his back. He had discarded his suit jacket, leaving his tie and blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up close to his elbows. His gun was in its holster attached to the right side of his belt.
He loved standing in that particular spot, on the steps of the precinct. The wind ruffled his midnight black hair slightly, his golden tie clip prevented his tie from billowing wildly.

He closed his eyes and listened to the city. Cars honking, trees bending to the will of the wind, pedestrians talking amongst themselves.

The sounds calmed him down every time. It reminded him of why he became an officer in the first place. This was what he fought to protect everyday...

"Captain?"

He opened his dark brown eyes to see a sergeant before him. What was his name again? No matter, he'd just call him Sergeant and be done with it. But wasn't he the one in charge of watching Michael?

He looked past the sergeant and saw a police car parked in front of the precinct. Inside the vehicle was another sergeant; he knew this one's name, thankfully, and behind the sergeant was the blonde haired boy he requested to see. He offered him a small smile and gestured for him to come.

He obliged and got out of the vehicle, leaving Sergeant Albert. He started to climb the steps when he addressed the sergeant before him.

"Thank you, sergeant. Wait in the car, he'll join you when we're done," he said.

The sergeant saluted and went back to the police car, passing by Michael. The boy stood beside him and smiled up at him. It was a small smile but he knew it was genuine.

"Look who's finally growing up," he said with a smirk. The last time he saw the boy, he definitely wasn't that tall.
Said boy replied with a shrug, "I have to grow up sometime right?" He nodded in agreement. "Come on inside. We need to talk," his tone serious.

Michael noticed this and nodded. Captain Ruiz headed into the precinct and he followed. He would have said something about him not liking the inside of the precinct but when the captain's voice was serious, he knew better than to complain.

That knowledge came from experience, he unconsciously shivered at the memory.

He followed Captain Ruiz down the hallway, they made a right when there was a see-through glass to their left.

was the precinct in all its glory. They came down a small flight of stairs and Michael avoided looking at the numerous officers. Their desks were scattered around the large room but it was still orderly. There was enough space for people to walk by each desk. The dark brown floorboards creaked as they made their way to the center of the room which was mounted higher than the stations. They climbed up the spiral steps and entered the captain's office.

There was someone in the office already, sitting with his back turned to them. Captain Ruiz went around and sat in his chair; his jacket hung around the chair neatly. The captain obviously knew the person already.

The stranger finally turned around so Michael could see him.

"Ah crap," Michael thought. He glanced at Captain Ruiz and then gestured at the stranger with his eyes repeatedly.

It was something the captain had taught him when he was still a detective. It was kind of a secret language they created. The captain wriggled his eyebrows in response. That meant the person wasn't a threat. But the problem was, this person was a threat.

He was the same chocolate-skinned man from the day before. He smiled warmly at him and gestured for him for Michael to sit opposite him. The orphan looked at the captain for reassurance and the captain gave it to him with a slight nod.

Michael sat down slowly, observing the dark skinned man cautiously.

"Michael, I believe you know this man," the captain said.
"We've met," replied the blond. "What I want to know is how you know this- this kidnapper."

The dark-skinned man couldn't help but chuckle. "This kidnapper has a name, you know?" he said.

"Well, I don't really care."

"Michael..." the captain chided the boy who frowned in reply. "If you must know, John is a good friend of mine," Captain Ruiz told him.

Michael rose an eyebrow and smirked in the direction of the dark skinned man.

"Is something amusing?" the man asked him. He snickered a bit.
"Your name. You don't look like a John," Michael replied.

The man rose an eyebrow at this. "You shouldn't bother yourself with that since you have to call me Director Gray," the man's tone changed the same way the captain's own did.

The rational part of Michael told him to listen and drop it. So he did what he had been doing all his life; he listened to his rational part. He nodded swiftly causing Director Gray to smirk.

"Good, now shall we get down to business?"

Michael looked from Captain Ruiz to Director Gray and he started connecting the dots. "Does this business have anything to do with the I'm 'one of you' stuff you said yesterday?" the blond asked the so-called director.

The two men nodded seriously.

"Mijo, what do you know about evolution?" Captain Ruiz asked him. Michael thought it over and shrugged.
"Not much, it has something to do with adaptation?" he tried.

Director Gray hummed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Would you believe me if I told you that there are people out there who are ah, evolved and have some... some unique abilities?"

Michael blanked as his brain started putting two and two together. He hated that he did that every time. His eyes shifted from the director to the captain.
"Are you saying I'm one of these... evolved people?" He looked at the director and rephrased his question. "One of you?"

The director rose an eyebrow and glanced at Captain Ruiz. "He's a smart one, ain't he?" he asked.

Michael let out a harsh humorless laugh. "You're kidding, right?" he asked no one in particular.

"I'm as surprised as you are, kid," Director Gray told him. That took him aback a bit.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you're the first evolved person that doesn't have an evolved ancestor to be discovered in... in centuries," explained the director.

Centuries?

Director Gray caught the look in his eyes. "That's right. Centuries. We go way back, kid," Director Gray told him.

He sat back into the chair and tried to digest everything he just heard.

"Deep down, you know it's true. Now that you know, don't you see that everything finally makes sense?"

He wanted to refute but he couldn't. The director was right. Everything finally made sense. Why the dodgeballs Kevin threw at him seemed slow, why he could knock Kevin out with just one dodgeball.

Another memory that he had long forgotten resurfaced at that moment. He remembered going for a walk, then the sky darkened and it started to rain. Not wanting to get wet, he started running.
In a few steps, he had gone from one street to the next. He remembered seeing a man staring at him then the man turned and left. He ran again but nothing happened so he thought he was just distracted.

But now...

"Is that why those guys... Slick and Heath, is that why they came for me?" he finally asked the director who nodded in reply.

"You seem like a bright kid. You should know how these things work. There are good guys, bad guys, you know. We're the good guys, Slick and Heath work for the bad guys. So yeah, that's why they came for you," the director replied seriously.

Michael thought it over and seemed satisfied with the answer. "So, what do you want from me?" he asked.
Director Gray frowned a little at this. "And here I was thinking you's a genius or something. Why, we want to recruit you, of course."

"What?"

Captain Ruiz decided to intervene at this point. "Mijo, he told you he's one of the good guys, so you should know he's in some sort of organization," he explained calmly.

"Yeah yeah, we're like... like the cops of evolved people," the director added his two cents. Michael looked at the both of them, acting like a team.

"Does that mean you're an evolved person, Captain Ruiz?" the confused blonde asked.

The captain chuckled softly. "Me? God, no. I'm not."

"Also we called evolved people evos for short, you know, just to save time," the director chimed in.

"Um... so that means I'm an evo?" Michael asked, trying out how it sounded. He had heard someone else say it recently.
"Yeah, yeah. Now you're getting it. You'll fit right in," Director Gray assured him. That did little to pacify his growing headache.

"How do you know about them if you aren't one of them, captain?" Michael asked. Said captain gave him a knowing smirk as he replied, "I'm a cop, mijo. It's my job to know."

"So every cop knows?"

"No," they replied in unison before they chuckled.

"Not every cop is as sharp as ol' Daniel here," Director Gray said, gesturing to the captain who gave a mock bow.

"So, that means normal people don't know about evos?"

"Precisely. We like to keep ourselves low-key, if you know what I mean," the director replied with a wink. Michael didn't get why he was acting like they've become best buds. He hasn't even agreed to join his 'organization.'

"Okay, so let's say it's all true -"

"-It is all true," the director interrupted.

"Whatever. Why should I join this organization of yours?"

Director Gray took a thinking pose for a while. "Well, for one; if you don't, Slick and Heath will keep coming back for you," he finally replied.

Michael froze as he remembered how helpless and scared he felt around those... those monsters. If Sheila wasn't there, he doubted he would have been able to move.

"But... but Captain Ruiz knows about them now, so he can stop them, right?" Michael directed his question at the captain who stared at him dejectedly.
"I actually can't. Unique abilities, remember? They're out of the cops' league," he replied with his palms turned up.

"That's where my organization steps in. Without us, the world as a whole would be in disarray," Director Gray said too.

"Oh."

"Yeah, we're kind of a big deal," the director murmured proudly. Captain Ruiz rose an eyebrow and shook his head. Michael though, was still deep in thought.

He was finally more than just the city's golden boy. He was more than just a fragile billionaire orphan that everyone pitied. He was part of something bigger and the thought frightened him, but also thrilled him.

He hasn't felt that way in a very long time and it felt... good. He finally felt alive again.

"When do I start?"