A dimly lit alleyway. The smell of concrete and old trash was in the air, mixing with the metallic scent of blood.
Daniel was curled up against the cold brick wall, his ribs screaming in protest with every breath. Bruises darkened his skin, and his left eye was already swelling shut. Above him, Nathan Brown grinned, a grin that carried nothing but cruelty.
"It's always been like this, hasn't it, Danny-boy?" Nathan's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. "Seven out of ten people in this world flaunt some flashy superpower, but you? You're just useless."
Daniel barely had time to suck in a breath before Nathan's boot slammed into his stomach, knocking the air out of him. He crumpled, gasping.
Andrew Perez, let out a chuckle. "You're a freak, Danny. No superpower, just a scrawny, pathetic excuse for a human."
A third bully—one whose name didn't matter enough to remember—added, "Time to leave before some cape wearing hero decides to show up."
Their laughter echoed through the alley as they walked away, leaving Daniel alone in the dirt. He spat blood onto the pavement, his body aching, his pride shattered. He didn't need a hero. He needed to be strong. But without power, how?
Neon lights flickered over the endless waves of people pushing through the streets. Daniel hobbled through the crowd, his hoodie pulled low to hide his bruises.
His father was going to be pissed. Again.
"What am I going to tell him this time?" he muttered, gingerly touching his bruised ribs.
Before he could think further, the shriek of police sirens cut through the noise.
A fleet of panic tore through the crowd as people screamed and scattered, shoving past each other in a frantic attempt to flee.
Daniel stumbled, the press of bodies knocking him off balance as he struggled to stay upright. Bruises on his arms, and face, his ribs flaring with pain every time he moved. The crowd surged in panic, people shoving past him, desperate to get away from—
What?
Then he saw him.
A man, maybe mid-thirties, tearing through the street at a dead sprint. White. A thick black beard. Slicked-back hair, disheveled from the wind with six streaks of white. His long blue coat flared behind him as he ran, a revolver clutched tightly in his hand.
And behind him—
Five cop cars skidded around the corner, sirens screaming. A police helicopter roared overhead. Officers shouted, shoving through the bystanders, weapons drawn.
The man's wild, desperate eyes locked onto Daniel's.
Fifteen feet.
Ten.
Five.
Before Daniel could react, a rough hand seized his collar.
Yanked.
The world spun.
The next thing he knew, his back hit cold brick, knocking the air from his lungs. His mind barely caught up before he felt it—the unmistakable weight of a gun pressing into his ribs.
"Don't move," the man growled.
Luis White.
Daniel recognized him instantly. A wanted criminal. A precog. Someone who could see a few moments into the future.
That alone made him dangerous. Precognition wasn't unheard of, but it was rare—the kind of ability that only surfaced in a small fraction of the population. Even among supers, most people got something flashy like fire, strength, or flight. But powers like precognition? True invisibility? Quantum displacement? Those were different. They were the kind of abilities that could take you to the top—or drag you deep into the dark.
And Luis? He was infamous, not just because he had precognition, but because he weaponized it, slipping through police raids, dodging every ambush, always a step ahead.
Officers rushed the alleyway, guns raised.
"Stand down!" one of them shouted. "He's a precog! He knows our moves before we make them! Hold your fire!"
Luis tightened his grip on Daniel. "Back off, or the kid dies!"
Daniel's heart pounded, his breath ragged. Why am I so useless? The thought burned in his mind. His hands clenched into fists, his body trembling, not with fear, but with something raw, something violent. The fire in his veins burned hotter than the pain in his ribs. He wasn't going to die in this alley, crushed under someone else's power. His teeth gritted, his voice shaking but unyielding.
"I will survive."
And in that moment, something inside him snapped.
It had always been there, buried, dormant, waiting. He had never been powerless. He just never wanted power badly enough to steal it.
And then—something changed.
A warmth spread through him. A tingling, electric sensation coursed through his veins.
Luis's grip faltered. A faint pulse of energy—like a hum in the air—slipped from his body into Daniel. Daniel gasped. His head swam with a sudden surge of clarity, like the world snapped into sharper focus. He felt his heart racing, his breath catching, but there was a sense of power, too—something dangerous. Something... not his own.
The next moment flashed before him like a vision that hadn't happened yet.
A gunshot.
Instinctively as if Daniel's body moved on its own, Daniel twisted to the side. The bullet grazed his arm instead of tearing through his chest. Pain flared, but he barely felt it. Luis stumbled backward, disoriented, powerless.
The police moved in, tackling Luis before he could react.
A breathless officer stared at Daniel. "How the hell did you do that?"
Daniel, in shock, had no answer.
Luis thrashed as they dragged him toward an armored police escort van. His voice was hoarse, filled with panic. "He did something to me! The kid did something to me!"
His words grew muffled as the van doors slammed shut.
Daniel walked through the streets, his vision sharper than ever. No—not just sharper. He could see things before they happened.
A pigeon flapped its wings an instant before it took off. A street light turned green before the change registered. A cyclist veered around a corner, and Daniel stepped aside before he even heard the wheels.
"It's like… seeing the world in high definition."
A child dropped his ice cream cone, and Daniel caught it before it hit the ground. The kid stared up at him, wide-eyed. Daniel just ruffled his hair and walked on.
His phone buzzed.
Dad: Where are you?! What happened?! Call me now!
Daniel: I'm okay. Coming home soon.
But first, he had to meet Micheal.
Micheal stared at him across the coffee shop table, his expression shifting between disbelief and excitement.
"Dude. You were on the news! Should I get my dad to send bodyguards? What happened?!"
Daniel sipped his coffee. "I think I copied his power."
Micheal choked. "Come on. You've been powerless your whole life. You can't just copy someone's power."
Daniel smirked. "Watch."
He pointed outside. "See that woman?"
Micheal glanced over. The woman tripped, falling exactly as Daniel predicted.
Micheal narrowed his eyes. "That has to be a coincidence, come on Daniel stop playing around."
Daniel rolled his eyes. He reached out, catching Micheal's coffee cup right as it tipped.
Micheal was silent for a moment. "Okay. That was cool. But still—"
Then it hit.
A vision. A warning.
Daniel's eyes widened. He lunged forward, shoving Micheal down.
"DUCK!"
The window exploded inward.
Smoke grenades rolled across the floor. Black-suited agents stormed the café.
Daniel's mind splintered into a thousand possibilities. He saw every move before it happened, his body reacting before his thoughts could catch up.
Agent 1 dashed toward him.
Daniel, still feeling the adrenaline and confusion, nudged a chair into his path. His hand hesitated, unsure whether it would work, but it was already done. The chair slid into the agent's path just in time.
THUD! The agent tripped, faceplanting.
Micheal, coughing through the smoke, blinked. "Did you mean to do that?"
Daniel's heart raced. "Uh… yeah. Totally."
A table flew toward him, but before his brain could process it, his body moved. He ducked, narrowly avoiding the wooden surface as it slammed into the air where he'd just been. His body was ahead of his mind, the reflexes sharp but alien. Did I just—? The thought barely had time to settle before another agent locked eyes with Daniel.
A force push came next. He sidestepped, letting it blast another agent instead.
Then—his vision split.
For a split second, two versions of reality unfolded before his eyes. One where he caught Micheal's teetering coffee cup, steadying it without spilling a drop. Another where it slipped through his fingers, crashing to the floor.
His body acted before his mind could process which was real. His hand shot out—too slow.
The cup shattered. Coffee splattered across the floor.
Electricity crackled as another enemy lunged with a stun baton—right onto the slick puddle. His foot skidded, balance lost.
THUD! He crashed hard.
Micheal gaped. "No way you planned that."
Daniel grinned, heart hammering. "Mostly."
Then—BOOM.
The door exploded inward.
A dark blur moved faster than his foresight could track.
And for the first time, Daniel saw something coming… and couldn't do a damn thing about it.
Blackness swallowed his vision.
...
...
...
Daniel's eyes snapped open to harsh, blinding light. A dull headache pulsed at the back of his skull, and cold metal cuffs stabbed into his wrists. The air smelled sterile, like bleach.
A man sat across from him, posture relaxed but eyes sharp. He wore a crisp suit, the kind that looked more like a uniform than office attire. Ted.
"I imagine you have questions," Graves said, flipping through a thin tablet in front of him. "But I have more."
Daniel's breathing was steady, but his mind wasn't. The second he had woken up, the memories hit him like a truck.
FLASH. A white room. Rows of children sitting at long, sterile tables. A Proctor in a white lab coat held up a scanner, reading results off a floating holographic display. One by one, names and power classifications appeared above the students.
Pyrokinesis. Enhanced Reflexes. Density Shifting.
And then
Martinez, Daniel.
A long pause.
The Proctor frowned. Tapped the screen. Scanned again.
Powerless.
Daniel felt the weight of a hundred eyes on him. Whispers. Snickers. The teacher coughed, then moved on.
FLASH. A classroom, years later. A history lesson about the collision event.
"The first confirmed superhumans appeared eighty years ago," the teacher droned, tapping the screen. A grainy image of a golden-masked hero flashed up. "The Titan Initiative formed soon after. Their goal was simple: integrate enhanced individuals into society, ensure peace, and prevent chaos."
Daniel barely listened. His eyes flicked to the window, where, in the distance, a man lifted a car with one hand. Another soared through the sky, leaving a contrail of blue energy.
What was it like—to belong in that world?
Back in the interrogation room, Graves cleared his throat. "Daniel?"
Daniel forced himself to focus. He was here. Now. Not in the past.
"You're quiet." Graves tapped his tablet. "Let's cut to the chase. You tested powerless for sixteen years. And yet, yesterday, you displayed the ability to absorb and use precognition. That doesn't happen randomly."
Daniel's jaw clenched. He wasn't about to play along so easily. "And?"
Graves leaned forward slightly. "And… we need to know how it works."
Another flash burned through Daniel's mind.
FLASH. The alley. Nathan's boot slamming into his ribs. The laughter. The taste of blood.
You're just useless.
FLASH. The coffee shop. Micheal's wide-eyed stare. "Dude, you were on the news." The moment he saw the attack before it happened.
FLASH. A hospital room, years ago. His father pacing. "They must have made a mistake."
A government official sighed. "Mr. Martinez, the testing equipment is accurate. If your son had an ability, it would have manifested by now."
His father's voice turned sharp. "Then test him again."
The woman hesitated. "…We already have."
Daniel exhaled sharply, grounding himself in the present. His wrists ached from the cuffs. Graves studied him carefully.
"I didn't know I had a power," Daniel said finally. "I was told I was powerless my whole life."
Graves nodded, unsurprised. "Yes. And that's where the system failed you."
Daniel narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Superhuman testing isn't perfect. It works on known genetic markers and energy signatures. But your ability—it required a catalyst."
Graves turned the tablet around. A screen displayed a complex chart of data. Daniel's name. His test results. His brain activity during the Luis White encounter.
"Your power never registered," Graves continued, "because it was dormant. Locked away until you experienced the right conditions. Near-death? Adrenaline? Desperation? Something triggered it."
Daniel's pulse quickened. If they were right… then he had been capable all along. He just hadn't wanted it badly enough.
"What does this mean?" he asked.
Graves tapped the table. "It means you're an anomaly, Daniel. And anomalies don't go unnoticed. You absorbed a precog's power, which suggests yours isn't just copying abilities—it's stealing them permanently."
Daniel stiffened. He hadn't considered that.
Graves let the silence stretch before delivering the next blow.
"That makes you a national security concern."
A cold weight settled in Daniel's chest.
"There are people out there who would love to get their hands on you," Graves continued. "Some would want to study you. Others? They'd want to use you."
He let the words hang in the air. Then, he leaned back and folded his hands together.
"You have two choices, Daniel. You can cooperate with us. Learn control. Get ahead of the people who will come looking for you."
Daniel swallowed. "And if I don't?"
Graves' smile was thin. "Then you'll find out exactly how much interest the world has in a boy who can steal others' powers."
Silence.
The weight of everything crushed down on him. The memories. The truth. The implications.
Daniel took a slow breath, then exhaled. He had spent his whole life being powerless. He refused to be that person again.
What will I be doing?
...
...
…