Jace sat back on the couch, exhaling as he ran a hand through his hair. "And... that's the whole story," he said, signaling the end of his explanation. He had left out the worst parts—the torture, the implant, the fact that Leo’s entire family was under surveillance—but he had told Leo everything else. His powers, the CDE, the missions, the lies.

  Leo sat across from him, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. He looked like someone who had just been hit by a truck made of pure adrenaline. "Dude," he finally breathed out, shaking his head. "This is insane. You’re out here fighting terrorists, pulling buses, and going on spy missions ?

  "I wouldn't exactly call it spy missions " Jace replied

  Leo ignored him. "And you just—what? Go to school like nothing happened?" He leaned forward. "Wait, how strong are you? Can you fly? Can you shoot lasers? Are you, like, bulletproof or something?"

  Jace chuckled, relieved by how well Leo was taking it. "No flying, no lasers, and yes I think I'm more than bulletproof "

  Leo nodded, still dazed. His mind was clearly racing, but Jace had one question that had been stuck in his head since the fight. "Leo... why did you come back?"

  Leo blinked. "What do you mean?"

  Jace sat up, looking his best friend in the eyes. "Back in the alley. I told you to run, but you came back for me. Why?"

  Leo hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. For the first time since Jace had revealed his powers, he looked genuinely unsure of what to say. Then, he let out a small laugh. "You really don’t get it, do you?"

  Jace frowned. "Get what?"

  Leo leaned forward. "That day, when Tank humiliated me in front of the whole class, I thought... that was it. I thought that was just how life was gonna be—me getting pushed around, being too scared to do anything about it." He shook his head. "But then you stood up for me. You didn’t have to. You could’ve just watched like everyone else. But you stepped in, no powers, no tricks—just you."

  Jace swallowed hard, unsure of what to say.

  Leo continued. "That moment changed something for me. It made me realize I didn’t have to be afraid. That I could fight back. That someone would fight for me." His voice softened. "That’s why I came back, man. Because when I saw you in trouble, running away wasn’t even an option in my head at all."

  Jace felt something shift inside him. A warmth, a spark, something deep in his chest that made him sit up a little straighter. This ! This was why he wanted to be a hero. Not because of the CDE, not because of orders or missions but because of people like Leo. Because standing up for the little guy mattered. Because changing one life was just as important as saving the whole world.

  The CDE had tried to shape him, control him, break him but they weren’t the reason he fought. They weren’t his purpose. They weren’t his future. He wasn’t theirs to use, and no matter what they did, no matter how hard they tried to chain him down, they would never take this from him.

  Jace pulled Leo into a tight hug, catching his best friend completely off guard. Leo stiffened, still dazed from everything he had just heard, his arms awkwardly hovering in the air.

  “Thanks for that,” Jace murmured, his voice thick with emotion, barely holding back the tears threatening to spill.

  Leo hesitated before patting Jace’s back. “Uh… you’re welcome?” he said, still confused. “Not sure what I did, but.. cool, man glad I could help?”

  Jace let out a small, shaky laugh, pulling away and wiping at his eyes before Leo could see any tears. “You did more than you think.”

  --------Days later-------

  Jace sat on the infirmary bed, peeling a bandage off his forearm, fingers sticky with half-dried blood. The cut wasn’t deep, but it stung. Across from him, Dr. Meyers flipped through a tablet, barely looking up.

  "Your ability to heal never fails to amaze me" she murmured

  Jace gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Perks of being a freak, right?"

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  She glanced at him then, her lips pressing into a thin line. He had said it on purpose, throwing Lucian’s words back out into the open. Watching for a reaction. There—a flicker of something—discomfort, maybe even disapproval. She didn’t agree with Lucian’s methods, he could tell. She never had.

  "That’s not what I meant," she said finally.

  "Sure." He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "So why are you still here?"

  Dr. Meyers stiffened, fingers tightening around the tablet. He didn’t push. Not yet. But the seed was planted.

  In training, he stopped playing nice.

  Kai lunged at him, but Jace sidestepped, catching the older man’s wrist and twisting. Kai grunted in surprise, barely managing to yank himself free before Jace’s elbow nearly cracked into his ribs.

  "You’re holding back," Kai sneered, circling him. "Trying to prove something?" Jace rolled his shoulders. "What, you tired already?" Kai’s eyes darkened, and the next round was brutal. Jace let loose, no longer restraining his strength, forcing Kai to work to keep up. Sweat dripped from the man's brow as Jace dodged, countered, and struck without hesitation. By the end, Kai’s chest heaved with exhaustion, his stance slipping.

  Jace barely looked winded.

  While the instructors caught their breath, Jace wandered just a little too far down the halls, slipping into restricted sections when no one was paying attention. He memorized security clearances, exit routes, the way guards rotated shifts.

  Jace had been working on Rob and Steve for weeks. Every chance he got, he pressed, prodded, let carefully chosen words slip at just the right moments. He made sure to get under their skin, not enough to make them shut him out completely, but just enough to make them think.

  "Man, security detail again?" He leaned against the wall beside them, arms crossed. "That’s gotta sting, huh?"

  "Not in the mood, Dynamo," Rob grunted, staring ahead.

  "No, really," Jace continued, voice laced with something just a little too smug. "You guys were Axel’s go-to, right? His best team. And now you’re stuck guarding doors while Kai, Zeta, and the others take all the action."

  Steve exhaled sharply, like he wanted to say something but bit it back. Jace caught that. Stored it away for later.

  "Axel wouldn’t have let this happen," he added, voice quieter now. Testing.

  Rob’s shoulders stiffened Jace tilted his head, watching them closely. "But then again, he’s not dead, is he?"

  Neither of them spoke. Jace exhaled, shaking his head. "Yeah. That’s what I thought."

  They never cracked all at once. He had to wear them down, chip away at whatever loyalty they still clung to. A comment here, a joke there. Little things that made them second-guess everything.

  Then, one day, after a particularly grueling training session, in a quiet corridor, he found Rob and Steve at their usual post. He leaned against the wall, casual.

  Rob looked away. Steve exhaled slowly. "Where is he?" He asked in a tone asserting his determination not to give up; more silence. Jace didn’t let up. "Come on. You guys fought with him. You gonna tell me you’re fine with this?"

  Finally, Rob muttered, "They locked him up. The Box."

  Jace felt something cold settle in his chest.

  "Where?" Steve hesitated. Then, quietly—"Off-grid." It was something.

  He started breaking things:

  One of the high-power drones during training, he punched it mid-air, sending it rocketing through a concrete wall, where it crashed into a lab, shattering expensive equipment. The technicians screamed. Jace winced, lifting his hands.

  "Shit. My bad. Implant’s messing with my coordination."

  Lucian grilled him later, eyes boring into him.

  "You’re lying," he murmured. Jace let his shoulders tremble. "I—I don’t know what’s happening. I swear, I just—I can’t control it." The medical team backed him up "prolonged implant use, possible side effect include coordination loss.

  Lucian smirked, pleased. He liked seeing Jace vulnerable. But he still didn’t trust him.

  Let him keep watching—while Jace tore his whole operation down from the inside.

  He pushed his luck with Zara, too. Found her alone in the training room, methodically sharpening a combat knife.

  "You miss him?" he asked, voice low. She didn’t look up. "Who?"

  "Axel." He replied the sharpening stopped for just a second before she resumed. "You’re being reckless, Dynamo."

  "Maybe. Or maybe I just don’t like being a tool."

  Her grip on the blade tightened. But she said nothing else.

  Later, she told Kai what Jace was up to. And Kai wasn’t happy. He cornered Jace in the hall, shoving him back against the wall.

  "You think you can play games, kid?" His voice was low, venomous. "You’re stepping way out of line."

  Jace smirked through the pain. "Yeah? Gonna run and tell Lucian?"

  Kai’s fingers twitched—he wanted to hit him. But he didn’t. Instead, he stepped back, voice a warning.

  "Next time, I will."

  Jace learned how to disable the implant in the same place he always ended up—the infirmary.

  One of the younger doctors whispered it to him as they wrapped his wrist.

  "You have to overload it," they muttered. "Flood the implant with power."

  Jace’s pulse picked up. "How much?", She hesitated. "At least 800 megawatts"

  Jace blinked; "That’s… a lot." She gave him a sharp look. "It could stop your heart and they’ll know immediately""

  A challenge, then. Jace filed that away. He didn’t need to use it yet, but soon.

  Then, one day ; Lucian walked onto the training floor. Jace barely reacted as the man approached, eyes cold with amusement.

  "You’ve been keeping me entertained, Dynamo."

  Jace kept his gaze lowered, keeping his shoulders tight. Submissive, scared.

  Lucian’s smirk widened.

  "I have a job for you," he said. "A solo mission. The last storehouse linked to The Maker."

  Jace’s heart thudded.

  "If he’s been hiding anywhere," Lucian continued, "it’s there."

  Jace inhaled slowly, this was it.

  He lifted his head, meeting Lucian’s gaze. Carefully, he let his fingers tremble. Just enough for Lucian to see.

  Lucian’s smirk grew. He thought he had fully taken control of Jace, he was now not more than just a tool in his box