The Elements

[Gifted]

"I'll call you back when I get time off, alright?" Rick had never, as far as they'd seen anyway, caused destruction on the sort of scale he was describing. He'd never trained with them, claiming he'd perfected his own power already from the moment they met him. Though there had been that one time early on he'd said he was going out for awhile and they'd found him standing where once was empty field and now a crater, but he'd insisted that hadn't been him and he'd never shown the sort of power capable of causing that.

[Raven]

"Yeah, alright," Kenny agreed, frowning. "You been holding back on us?"

[Gifted]

"Later, Kenny." Rick hung up.

Meanwhile the boy Rick was trying to help search for sat in a car next to another boy he only sort of knew as the boys father drove them home. He was staring down through his glasses at the comic book in front of him, absorbed in the story depicted in the bright colours. He looked like the typical shy, quiet kid, with short black hair and green eyes behind his glasses, but close examination revealed there was more behind those green eyes. His hands gripped the comic very tightly, tight enough to be in danger of ripping it. As a kid who prized his comic book collection above all else, risking damaging his books was an odd thing to do, yet he did it seemingly unconsciously. He didn't speak to the other boy in the car, though he knew the boys name and they'd spoken before. He just waited patiently, reading in the backseat until the boy's mother said "Josh, you're home."
Josh Cooper got out of the car and let himself into his tiny little house. He used to hate that his mom had to work such late hours just so they could get by, but now Josh was grateful for the solitude. In fact, if it weren't like that, he wouldn't be living here. The long hours of loneliness were the only reason he hadn't run away.
He'd gotten this strange power four months ago and its manifestation ha devastated his prize comic book collection. He had no idea how to tell his mother he most valuable thing in the house was ruined beyond any hope of repair. He didn't dare practice with his ability again, fearing it would break something or take something else from his life. He just kept it suppressed, and avoided even his mother until he could find a way to get it under control.

[Raven]

Noah Gordon would have named Josh as one of his best friends once. They'd been in the same schools since kindergarten, and often in the same classes. They'd played at recess together, pretending to have super powers. There had been a whole group of kids in third grade, though it shrunk over time. Finally, Noah joined the crowd. He left. He didn't have enough in common with Josh anymore to really be friends, so he left Josh to the people he could really connect with, and to the people who could really enjoy the same things as him. Several years later, Noah's dad gave Josh rides, but things had ended between them, so the car rides were awkward at best. Sometimes he considered telling Josh his secret - that he had a super power now, a real super power - but lately, Josh didn't talk even in the car, let alone hang around where Noah could say it without telling his dad. If his father heard him, he'd probably be institutionalized. Admittedly, for a while, Noah thought he'd have to be.

Four months prior, he'd woken up to what seemed like having a third eye on the back of his head. He had completely new perceptions about the ground under his feet, the things in it, the power within it. He wished he had someone to confide in, to tell him if he was just delusional and imagined he could move earth with his willpower. Or someone to talk to about the real power he now possessed. He just didn't think anyone else would be willing to give him a chance if he led with 'I have a super power'. He had friends, of course, but they didn't really seem like the type to talk to him about it for long, let alone understand at all. Josh at least could empathize through things he'd read. The option still never appeared, though, and so gradually, Noah withdrew more as well. He didn't talk to Josh anymore - and he got the feeling Josh really didn't care. "Bye," he muttered as Josh hurried inside, and leaned against the car door, staring glumly out at the street as they pulled out again and started driving. He wished he knew what to do.

[Gifted]

Josh breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally away from people, and went up to hide in his room. He had no idea what to do. Should he stop going to school? His mother would freak out... but if he didn't, he was putting those kids lives in danger. Not attending school would ruin his life, but a real hero would sacrifice his own life for the lives of others. There were hundreds of kids at that school. And it wasn't lie he'd be leaving anything behind, those kids didn't even notice he existed. He didn't think Noah even realized Josh existed, and they shared a car every day. But him leaving would hurt his mother... he stared glumly out the window at the street where the car had vanished. His mind had been going around and around in this circle the last four months and he still had no idea what to do.

The question was sudden and gave him no time to prepare. After dinner, Matt asked it out of nowhere. "Kenny? Do you think there'll be another death with these new people?"

[Raven]

Kenny glanced up at Matt. He honestly hadn't even considered it, and it took him a while to answer. "Maybe." Probably. "But Death is younger than the rest, and even once they might develop powers, they probably won't realize they have them. We had powers almost ten years before we found out about Death."

[Gifted]

"Of course not, they won't find out until somebody dies." Matt answered, but he looked worried. "I don't want to see them go through what you have to."

[Raven]

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," Kenny said. "We'll be prepared now."

[Gifted]

"We can't let any of them die. Not one." Matt insisted.

[Raven]

Kenny sighed. "Everyone dies, Matt. But we won't let Death get them. We'll catch them if they try."

[Gifted]

"You know what I mean. If none of them die then Death won't ever know they can get powers, will they?"

[Raven]

"Matty, that might not be a choice we have," Kenny reminded him. "We still have to find them all first."

[Gifted]

"Then we find them. We can't let them die. We can't let their death start hunting them, too." Matt insisted He turned and headed to his room.

[Raven]

"We'll do everything we can."

[Gifted]

the next day was Saturday, so Josh was left alone in his house all day. Sometimes that was enough to make him feel secure, but sometimes he'd start thinking about the neighbours and have to get out of the house altogether. Today was one of those days. The neighbour was having a barbecue and he could hear the chatting and laughter of at least a dozen people over there. A dozen people who would be dead if he lost control. He tried to make himself a sandwich out of the little they had in the house, but he was distracted and kept looking over his shoulder where he heard the voices from the neighbours party. He couldn't do it. Forgetting even to put the food away and leaving his half finished sandwich on the counter, he bolted out the door.