“Ms. Penn, what happened to your escort?” Ashton asked. He wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to ask first, but he had to say something to end the odd tension.

  “They are watching from a distance,” Kayla replied, clearly disappointed with Ashton’s greeting, “Since I will be living here from now on, I was allowed to approach without them. I don’t know what they think I am going to do. Run for it? Where?”

  “I’ll go fill out the forms,” Ashton sighed, “Can you show her the empty apartments, Summer?” He tossed her the master key and headed towards the vehicle that must be Kayla’s escort. It was an unmarked van in a common silver color, but the man who stepped out to greet him clearly wasn’t common.

  “Mr. Ashton Gray?” he confirmed, “I am here to brief you on Ms. Penn’s situation and requirements.”

  “Requirements?” Ashton asked. This hadn’t been part of anything with the twins, but Kayla was from a much higher level facility.

  “Yes. You are already aware of the facility system, but F2 is special,” he explained, “F2 is not for those with dangerous powers, but those who are easily taken advantage of or who already have been. In other words, they are under protection because they have a power that others would want to use for their own gains.”

  That was different from what Ashton expected. “Then why was she allowed to join the team?” he asked, “Due to the nature of the job I will definitely be using her power for our benefit.”

  “Because Kayla herself petitioned for the chance to join,” he replied, “For the first few months she will be constantly monitored by tracking and recording devices on her person to ensure her safety. I will give you all of the contacts you will need if anything goes wrong, and the procedure if she ends up being taken hostage at any point. You must remember at all times that she is under the protection of F2 and you will be held responsible if anything happens to her.”

  That was lot heavier responsibility than Ashton had been anticipating, but in this case he could not keep silent. “When we met during the interview she gave me the impression she has made contact with a threat known as MysteriousMaskz. I intend to tackle that threat. Will this be a problem?”

  “That is exactly why we approved this,” he told Ashton, “MysteriousMaskz has been found to access all thirteen facilities, and recently aided in the escape of someone from F1, a top priority threat. Mind control. Nasty business. You will need to watch out for that threat if you truly intend to track him down.”

  “Mind control?” Ashton asked in disbelief, “Is it similar to Queen Heart?”

  “In a sense, but the methods are far more dangerous,” he explained, “You will get a full briefing on this once your team graduates training. Whatever MysteriousMaskz wants from you, you may be the only person able to stop him.”

  There was that pressure again, not that he was wrong. Ashton was glad he had prepared some of the paperwork ahead of time since he had some extra things to fill out and sign. He was also given a special manual for emergency situations dealing with Kayla Penn. It included all of the people to contact and when, from emergencies to simple questions.

  After that, Kayla returned to start moving her things in. She didn’t have much but she had more than the twins had. For some reason, this seemed to hit a nerve for Summer, who had been watching.

  “You need to come with me,” she told Kayla, “Things can’t stay like this.”

  “Come with you where?” Kayla asked warily.

  “Shopping, of course. We need to get you some real essentials, not that barely functional nonsense.”

  “I don’t have any money,” Kayla pointed out.

  “Luckily for you, I still have plenty,” Summer told her, “Ashton, do I need to pick up anything for the others as well?”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Ashton felt like he was falling behind again. It was already night, but she wanted to fund a sudden shopping spree? He couldn’t deny that there were definitely things that they needed, though.

  “Summer, you don’t need to buy things for them,” he told her, “I know your family is well off, but we should get a team budget for these things by the end of the week.”

  “This is the money I earned myself,” Summer corrected, “And besides, I can’t let my teammates live like this for a whole week. I am going to get everyone the proper basics whether they like it or not.”

  Money she earned herself? That could only be from her time as Golden Reign. If that was how she wanted to use it, he wouldn’t stop her. He knew she had mixed feelings about her time as a hero. He did, however, put some rules in place seeing as it was already late. They would only stop at one store, and they would only buy what they could fit in their cars. The only people who had cars were himself and Summer, but they also had to account for the room riding in them.

  The shopping trip was very successful. They were able to get all the necessities from food to furniture for their new team members, and the compact furniture boxes were able to fit between their two cars. After that, they spent a couple hours helping them set all of the furniture up and splitting the groceries between them. It was a bit of a late night considering their first training was the next morning, but Ashton was used to working late.

  He quickly discovered the next morning that he was the only one. The team that arrived at training looked like a group of zombies, Kayla looking the worst, and Summer seeming normal if it weren’t for her incessant yawning. Their new trainer was waiting for them at the training center. She was a stiff woman who looked like she belonged in the military, and got things going the moment they arrived.

  “This is why we don’t schedule much more than an introduction on the first day,” she sighed, “My name is Harper and I will be the trainer for your team. You will be stuck with me until you graduate and start taking on official missions. Why don’t all of you start by introducing yourselves?”

  “I am Ashton, I will be the team leader,” Ashton began. He definitely hadn’t been imagining the look Harper had given him after her satisfied smile at his introduction. This must be part of his training to naturally take the lead.

  “I am Summer,” she spoke up.

  “I’m Kai, and this is Levi,” Kai introduced, gesturing a hand towards his twin.

  “My name is Kayla,” Kayla finished off.

  “Good job,” Harper told them with a nod, “Now here comes the hard part. You will all be working as a team in life and death situations from now on. You need to tell each other exactly what your powers are. You don’t need to worry about me since I already know.”

  All eyes turned to Ashton to begin again. “My power is electricity,” he informed them, “I can’t do anything on the level of lightning, but I can channel it through devices and give shocks.”

  There was a surprised wave through his team, with Summer almost jumping, and Kayla wrinkling her brows in confusion. He swore he heard a whisper about fire. It seemed that his identity as Shadow Phoenix was not a well kept secret here, but he had no intention of ever calling attention to it himself.

  “I can control light,” Summer blurted, “I can create, manipulate, and remove light.”

  “Levi and I share a power,” Kai explained, “You could say we balance each other and become what the other lacks. It has been called Equivalent Exchange.”

  That sounded like the basics of what Ashton had guessed, but he still wasn’t sure what it all entailed. That only left one more person. What exactly was Kayla’s power that made her so valuable she had to be placed under protection?

  “My power allows me to give powers to others,” she told them, “But I cannot control what that power is and it is extremely temporary.”

  That certainly explained it. A power to give powers to others sounded like exactly the kind of power that others would want to exploit. Unfortunately, Ashton could already see the drawbacks of such a gift. Since she had no control, the powers given might end up clashing in a deadly way with the powers someone already had. At least it was only temporary. Having to live the rest of your life with the drawbacks of a random power would be a nightmare.

  Harper clapped her hands once to grab their attention. “Now that you have each told each other your powers, I will need you to demonstrate. Words mean little in a situation where your life is on the line.”

  “Demonstrate how?” Summer asked.

  “On me,” Harper replied, “I should have begun with this, I suppose. My power is a little something I call an aura shield. When I turn it on, nothing you do should be able to harm me, so you will be able to demonstrate your powers to their fullest extent. Even you, Kayla.”

  Kayla flinched, and looked to Ashton nervously. She must have been abused for her power in the past, and it was his job to make sure she felt safe.