When Zach woke up, the inevitable happened.
His grandparents were furious, Henry especially.
Diana stood by with her mouth covered and her hand over her heart.
Zach stood and took the scolding.
He knew they loved and cared for him.
Henry slammed his hand on the kitchen table.
“What do you have to say for yourself!?” Diana flinched but didn’t try to get involved.
She believed men made men; she let Henry raise Zach’s father and didn’t contradict him on punishments.
She trusted his parenting style and respected him enough to let him handle Zach.
Zach didn’t need to exert total control to make his voice weak, tired, and full of regret.
He looked at them both before looking away.
“Look at me when you speak to me, son.” Henry stood up straight as he sternly looked at Zach.
“I am sorry, Grandpa.
I am sorry for making you and Grandma worry.
I didn’t lie when I said I was at the park.
You can call Fred, and he can vouch for me.
A lot happened yesterday, and I just wanted space…”
His voice trailed off as he looked away from Henry.
Diana looked at Henry and nodded.
Henry uncrossed his arms and pulled Zach into a hug.
“I know, son, I know.
We were just worried about you.
I know we are much older than you, but just know we are here for you.”
Diana joined him in hugging Zach.
Zach hugged them back, trying to soak up as much warmth as possible.
They eventually let him go.
Henry had a stern expression on his face.
“You can forget about competing in the tournament this summer, and you can also give up your phone for the next month.”
He reached into a drawer next to the sink and handed Zach a Nokia.
“This will be your only way of communication.
You have 200 minutes on there, so don’t go over.
I expect you to text me wherever you are and if your grandmother or I call you, answer no matter what.”
Zach’s mouth dropped.
Henry raised his hand.
“Any protests and your punishment is extended, be happy you are allowed to keep your laptop, and I am not locking you inside this house.”
Zach closed his mouth and took the phone.
He went back to his room and closed the door slightly harder than usual.
Henry pulled Diana into a half-hug.
“At least he isn’t as bad as his father.” Diana slapped him on his chest.
“I wonder where our son got his attitude from.”
Henry chuckled and kissed her on her forehead.
“Speaking of our son, did you call him and let him know Zach is safe?” Henry looked away as he pulled out his phone.
Diana stared at him.
Henry walked away from her.
“Call his mother too!” Henry gave her a thumbs-up.
Diana went to start preparing dinner.
Zach flopped on his bed and sighed.
He looked at the Nokia in his hands and shook his head.
‘Could be a lot worse, all things considered.
Good thing I chose to wear long sleeves.’ Zach shivered as he thought about what would happen if they found out about the tattoos on his arms.
He put the phone aside and pulled up his system.
Title: Elemental Prodigy
Job: Ambassador for the ALL of Nature
Rank: D+
Level: 2/10
Talents: Total Control[SS], Danger Sense[B+], Fast Thinking[D+], Cloud Storage[E+], and Perfect Recall[E]
Gifts: Negotiation[S] and Creative[C+]
Techniques: Basic elemental bending, and sub-elemental bending
Luck: 77 [Unable to be increased]
Energy: 20,000/20,000
Omni-Coins: 60,000
Inventory: Ambassador Token, Ambassador’s Manual, Self-Created Token, Personal Journal, Letter, and One Photograph
Zach checked the other tabs and saw that a new one had appeared.
It was labeled Group Management.
He clicked on it and saw Fred and Blair’s names on the list.
He could assign them positions in the organization, give them missions, communicate with them, and even see their locations.
‘Perfect.
I won’t need to use the Nokia to text them.’ Zach closed the tab and went to the shop.
He purchased Mental Games.
He also purchased a meditation technique and a wood mask.
The mask was bland, except for the gold and silver accents and the tree symbol on its forehead.
The mask had three modes.
The mask was made of wood; in its normal state, it could change his voice.
Gold for enhancement and Silver for when fighting people.
He closed the shop and used the meditation technique he had just bought.
Hours flew by; in that time period, he ate dinner and messaged Fred and Blair via the group management tab.
He told them that any and all discussions about the Sanctuary should take place here.
Zach had a sinking feeling that someone was already sniffing around.
Fred and Blair agreed with him.
Zach closed the chat and looked at the ceiling.
‘Might as well head to the Sanctuary and test out the training room.’ He waited until his grandparents were asleep before leaving the house again.
On his way to the Sanctuary, he messaged Fred and Blair, telling them that in the future, if they needed to go to the Sanctuary, to message him and he would bring them there underground.
In an undisclosed location
“Speak to me, any news?” It was the same scarred man talking to the same plump man again.
The man shifted his shades.
“On the one who killed Henderson?
No, not exactly; however, I know he had help from someone.
The school cameras were scrubbed clean, and his escape was planned.”
The man panted a little.
The scarred man grunted.
He took the file from him as he sat reviewing footage of the incident.
“Donald, you should exercise more.” Donald nodded.
“I will make sure to do so, Cecil, Sir.”
They both watched the monitors.
Cecil suddenly stood up and moved closer.
Donald jumped but regained his composure.
“Did you see it, Donald?” Donald shifted and nervously adjusted his tie.
“See what, sir?”
Cecil groaned.
He turned and slammed his hand on the table.
“The goddamn boy Donald!
Look,” he paused the video and rewound it.
“Look closely, everyone is running around and panicking except for one person.
Him,” he pointed at the screen at Zach.
Donald took off his shades and stepped closer.
He didn’t see what Cecil saw.
Cecil threw the remote at the wall.
“Shit!
The cameraman moves before anything else happens.” Cecil reached into his drawer for a new remote.
He rewound the tape again.
“He puts the girl on the stretcher, he then makes a move to leave, but is stopped by the girl.” He freezes the video there.
“Look at his body language.
It’s blurry and hard to make out, but his jaw is clenched, and his hands are shaking.”
Donald blinked and turned to Cecil.
“Perhaps he was putting on a show in front of the girl?
He is a young man after all.” Cecil deadpanned and stared at him.
Donald cleared his throat.
“Maybe not.”
“I am telling you, Donald, this boy has something to deal with what happened.
I want to know everything about him.
Dig into his life, habits, hobbies, social accounts, everything, and everyone around him.
I want it all.
If need be, hack into his laptop.”
Donald wrote everything down as he followed Cecil.
“Then what, sir?
Once we know everything about him, how should we move forward?” Cecil stopped and turned to him.
“Then we decide whether he is going to be an asset or a problem.
I would rather have an asset if he has that kind of control over his powers.
If he is going to be a problem, I want to know how big a problem he is and how to solve it.
I don’t need or vigilantes running around, at least ones not signed off by me.”
Cecil stepped into the elevator while Donald went to work.
Donald stepped into the main room and clapped his hands.
“Listen up, people!
We got a lead on Henderson.” He used an iPad, pulled up footage, and stopped on Zach’s face.
“Don’t be mistaken by his age.
The director wants all the information we can pull on him.
You have the green light to ignore certain liberties.” The once calm room turned into a fury of activity.
Zach’s seemingly boring life turned into the most popular and trending topic.
One person shouted.
“Sir!” Donald approached him.
“What is it?” The guy moved over and showed his monitor.
“I hacked into his laptop, and the kid has files labeled: news, gossip, class notes, and even one labeled jokes.
Each one is filled with months of information, and all of it is meticulously organized with dates and times.”
Donald narrowed his eyes, but no one saw because of his shades.
“Copy everything and send it to me.
Monitor those files and let me know if he makes any new entries.” The man nodded and got back to work.
Another person waved Donald over.
“It looks like he started training at his family gym, Maddox Combat Training.
He has been there for approximately 3 months with another young man who seems close to him.”
Donald nodded.
“Send me all the footage of his and the other one’s training.
He walked around the room, and the more information he gathered made him think Cecil was right to suspect him.
‘Damn.
Cecil’s instinct was spot on.
On paper, nothing is wrong, but the more we dig, the more we discover.
It’s like as long as no one looks too close, the kid is invisible.’