After Yasmine and I "connected" with each other (her words not mine), we headed back downstairs to see everyone eating dinner together. When we entered the kitchen, everyone glanced up at us with varying expressions. Layla gave me a knowing smirk and a look that said "We'll talk later" while Kato, Ashley and Mrs Knight all chuckled at us as we sat down and ate. I noticed that my sister was absent from the table and glanced over at Layla with a question in my eyes. She placed her hand on my arm placatingly and offered me a warm smile.
"She's alright," she said reassuringly. "Using her ability to her limit just tired her out but she'll be up soon."
I nodded. "Thanks, Lay. I owe you one."
"So what now?" Kato asked gruffly, looking directly at me.
"What?" I asked, somewhat defensively.
"You're kinda the de facto leader, Jo," Ashley said. "So what're we gonna do now that the initial plan didn't work?"
I sighed. I hadn't really considered it. Braxton had proven to be more formidable than I had initially thought and I needed to come up with something quick. Yasmine, Kato and I had been able to fight on par with him but once he got serious, Braxton had certainly decimated us with that one attack.
"You're holding back against him," Mrs Knight said matter of factly. "You're still seeing him as your best friend instead of your enemy, sweetie."
I clenched my fist. "He's not beyond saving. He's just being misguided by his complex."
"Josiah, he tried to kill us," Yasmine said incredulously.
"I know but-"
"You can't save him," Kato chimed in. "He's literally willing to kill us. Holding back isn't an option anymore."
"Two wrongs don't make a right!" I said, almost yelling. "We're not gods!"
"Then what're we supposed to do?!" Kato yelled, standing up.
I stood up as well, feeling my powers beginning to charge up. My emotions were getting the best of me but I couldn't agree with what they were proposing in order to stop Braxton.
"Maybe your ego's still bruised from him kicking your ass in gym," I said snidely.
Kato's face scrunched up in anger. "What the hell did you say?!"
"That's enough, boys!" Mrs Knight said, putting a motherly tone in her voice. "There will not be any ability usage under my roof. Sit down, both of you."
Kato and I glared heatedly at each other before sitting down in our seats. Yasmine held my hand and squeezed reassuringly but I was too angry to return her gesture. What they were suggesting....it went against who I was. I couldn't bring myself to use my powers the way that Kato and Braxton would. I hated hurting people but what was I supposed to do? Braxton was too far gone but a small part of me believed that the best friend that I had once knew was still in him, buried underneath all the rage and ruthlessness this was now driving him. I had to save the Braxton I knew from the Braxton that was currently out to destroy me.
"Josiah," Ashley said, giving me a kind smile. "What's your heart telling you?"
I pondered. What was my heart telling me? Mom and dad had always taught me and my siblings to follow on hearts when it came to life altering decisions. My mind was telling that the only to stop Braxton was to beat him at his own game but my heart....my heart was saying something entirely different. I clenched my fist and looked up at everyone, determination swelling within me.
"I'm going to save him," I said firmly. "In the name of the friendship he and I once had, I'm going to save Braxton from himself."
I stared at all of them firmly but no one challenged me. I wasn't going to leave him to destroy himself, I had to get through to him and if fighting him was the answer, then I'd have to give it all that I had to win and bring him back to his senses. But they were all right about one thing: I was holding back. Part of me was still scared of losing control over my powers. I had made a lot of progress but was it enough to stop Braxton's rampage? I still couldn't control my energy attacks and I wasn't able to use fifteen percent for extended periods of time unless I wanted my body to breakdown from the stress it put on my muscles and joints.
"You're mumbling, babe," Yasmine said, laughing a little.
I glanced up to see that everyone was staring at me like I was crazy, even Kato seemed concerned about my well-being.
"Sorry," I muttered sheepishly.
"You mumbled something about energy attacks," Kato probed, leaning forward on his elbows. "You can do that?"
I nodded. "Discovered it a few weeks ago. I can either fire them consecutively like you do or concentrate it in one big blast but I dunno how to control it."
Kato grunted. "I think I can help with that."
I felt my eyes widen in shock. Kato of all people was offering to help me get better with my powers.
"Thought you hated me?" I asked.
Kato sighed. "I did. But after seeing you in action and hearing about your past and all that other shit, I respect you. It takes a lot of strength to try and improve yourself the way you did. I was shallow and my pride made me think that you were beneath me but in all honesty, you're tougher than any of us."
I didn't know what to say. The guy that had bullied since the day that I had come to Charter, was now offering to teach me how to use my powers? I was skeptical but he was the only person that I had to turn to so...what could possibly go wrong?
•••
Okay so remember when I said what could possibly go wrong with Kato helping me? A lot. A lot went wrong. For one thing, Kato would be a terrible teacher. We were standing in Yasmine's backyard doing target practice with the huge tree in the center of her backyard....well it was supposed to be target practice but in actuality, Kato was doing more yelling than teaching but his message getting across clear.
"Visualize how big or small you want the blast to be, that's the most important part," Kato instructed.
"Why's that I asked?" Genuinely curious.
"Too small and it won't do any damage. But if it's too big then you'll end up causing more damage than you intended," he explained gruffly. "Smaller blasts can be used to either make enemies scatter or minimize collateral damage. Meanwhile, bigger blasts can be use to cause major damage or maximize the impact of your attacks. For now, though, try visualizing how big of an energy blast you want and we'll go from there."
Closing my eyes, I exhaled and tried to visualize. Thinking on it, I wanted my energy blast to not be too small but not too big either, something right in the middle. In my mind small blasts were like tennis balls and bigger blasts were basketballs, so the median between those two would have to be.....a baseball. Now that I had settled on a size, I opened my eyes and raised my hand, aiming it at the tree and concentrating.
Baseball sized, baseball sized, I thought to myself. A few seconds later, a baseball sized energy blast appeared in my hand, red in color and pulsing and glowing brightly, humming with energy. Kato's eyes widened in surprise as we both stared in awe at the sphere of energy that had just formed in my hand.
"You just might be a prodigy," he murmured.
A second later, the blast fired from my hand and hit the tree that stood in Yasmine's yard, blasting a nice sized hole straight through the center of the tree. I blinked, slightly stunned, before lowering my hand back down to my side.
"How was that?" I asked, glancing at Kato to see his reaction.
He nodded. "Pretty good honestly. I'm just amazed that you didn't end up destroying the whole tree."
"I've been meaning to ask you," Kato continued. "Why'd you hide your ability? With the amount of power you have, you could've easily kicked my ass whenever I harassed you."
I stared at him sideways before taking a deep breath and speaking.
"Before I came here to Charter," I said, "I lived in a small town not too far from here. I was friends with a girl named Alexis Jackson. She was my best friend and the one person that I had trusted more than anyone. At my old school, ability levels determined everything, kind of like at Charter. I kept my level a secret because.... I had no control over my powers."
Kato's eyes widened but he didn't say anything so I continued on.
"When my powers first awakened, I nearly flattened everything around me and the only reason that I didn't was because my body gave out from exhaustion. From that day on I refused to use my powers because I was afraid. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't master them so I decided to lie about what my true ability with Alexis being the only person that knew the truth. That turned out to be my biggest mistake," I said, my voice sounding somber.
"How so?" Kato asked, frowning.
"I'll never forget that day for as long as I live. She exposed me to the entire student body and revealed that I was an omega. She had somehow gotten ahold of my school file and from there, my life crumbled. My heart was broken and I remember the looks that my former friends had given me. The looks of betrayal and confusion as to why I had lied. A few days later my parents transferred me out and we found our way to Charter. I felt relieved because it was a fresh start for me but now....everything's changed," I replied, finishing my explanation.
A moment of silence sat between Kato and I as he processed everything that I had told him. The only other people who knew why I had came here to Charter were Layla, Ashley and Yasmine whom I had told after I revealed my powers to her. And now Kato knew. I pondered if it was the right choice to tell him about my past. We weren't friends and we were only cooperating with each other at the moment because we shared the mutual goal of bringing Braxton down. So why I had I divulged my past?
"I'm....sorry," Kato said in a low voice.
"Huh?" I asked, confused.
"I.... I treated you like crap because I thought you were weak and powerless. I thought you were someone who I could just humiliate and kick like a pebble on the road but the fact that you were secretly stronger than me and never chose retaliation speaks volumes about your character," he elaborated.
"What're you...?" I trailed off.
Kato glanced at me sideways. "You use your powers to protect the things and people that you care about instead of using them to hurt people like...like me. I gave you hell for three years straight and you never once used your abilities to put me in my place."
I sighed through my nose. "It's never been in me to use them to hurt anyone. Just because I'm strong doesn't give me the right to abuse that strength."
That was something that my parents had instilled in me and my siblings. Strength should be used to help and protect, not destroy and oppress. Our world seemed to have forsaken that ideal in favor of using strength as a measure to determine who was strong and who was weak. Gammas had suffered the most from this and living as one for the past three years had shaped my belief that my powers should be used to help those that couldn't help themselves.
"So....are we friends now?" I asked Kato, partly curious and partly interested in what his answer would be.
Kato was silent for a long time, lost in thought as he stared at the cloudy sky above us. He turned to face me, took a deep breath then stuck his arm out with his fist pointing directly at me.
"I know that 'I'm sorry' doesn't make up for the past three years but if you're willing...I'd like to rewrite our history."
I blinked at him then felt myself smile. "Feels like I'm in a dramatic anime moment right before shit hits the fan."
Kato rolled his eyes and laughed. "Okay, that was actually funny."
I returned his fist bump and nodded my head. "We can't change the past but I'm open to what our future friendship has to offer."
People were capable of change once they did some introspection. Kato had acknowledged that he had been terrible to me but was willing to grow and become friends and honestly.....that was worth more than any apology that he could possibly give me.
"Are you guys having a bromance moment?"
Kato and I jumped at the sound of Yasmine's voice. We both turned to see Yasmine, Eboni and Ashley watching us with smirks on their faces, causing me and Kato to drop our hands in embarrassment.
I cleared my throat. "Glad to say that you're okay, twin."
Eboni shrugged. "I'm still a bit sore but Layla healed most of my physical damage so I'm good to go."
I shook my head. "You're sitting this next fight out."
My sister stared at me dumbfounded. "But why?!"
"You're still limping plus mom would kill me if something bad happened to you while I'm with you," I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "So you're staying here with Mrs Knight and Layla."
My sister opened her mouth to protest but Ashley laid a hand on her shoulder, smiling placatingly. Eboni sighed then went back inside the house in a huff. I stared after her, partly relieved but also partly guilty at my relief at having her sit the fight out. I made eye contact with Ashley and she nodded at me, letting me know that I had made the right decision.
"So what's our plan, babe?" Yasmine asked, addressing me.
"I think you already know, Yas," I said solemnly.
She sighed. "Yeah. I do."
"Are you sure that you can't take him on your own though?" Kato asked. "He won't hesitate to possibly kill you."
"I know. But it has to be this way," I responded. "Otherwise things will just get worse."
A heavy silence hung over the four of us as the clouds overhead continued to gather and swirl, giving an ominous atmosphere to what was coming. I knew that deep down this is what it would've eventually come to: a one on one fight with Braxton. But could I win? That was the big question that I kept asking myself. Did I have the strength and will to beat my former best friend without resorting to killing him? In a world governed by superpowers, it felt impossible. My ability may have been stronger but Braxton had the advantage of experience and natural battle instincts. So in the end....it would come down to who could overpower who.
"I'll need to draw him away from the city in order to avoid casualties and collateral damage," I said finally.
"When are you leaving?" Yasmine asked quietly, her eyes sad but steadfast.
"In the morning," I said. "I'm gonna go to my house to get a few things first."