The Black Market was a maze of shadows and smoke, a place where people like us were herded and sold like cattle. The air reeked of desperation. Kids in cages, some with tear-streaked faces, others staring blankly into space. They had all been abandoned, or worse—trapped by the very thing that made them different. Their powers. And none of us were safe.
I was in one of those cages, watching the auction unfold. A man stepped up to the podium—dressed in a slick suit, his smile as cold as the steel bars surrounding us. He introduced the next item, a girl around our age, with curly brown hair and wide, frightened eyes. The bidding started.
The auctioneer's voice was like a chant, smooth and sickening. "A rare find, ladies and gentlemen. This one's special—an untrained telekinetic. They say she can move entire buildings with her mind. Who's willing to pay for such power?"
The bids climbed higher, and the girl's face grew paler. She didn't have any choice in the matter—none of us did. We were just commodities in their eyes.
But something strange happened then. The auctioneer's words caught in his throat. A ripple ran through the crowd, and the murmurs started. The doors to the hall banged open, and a figure stepped into the room—a man in a long coat, calm as the eye of a storm. Detective S.
The crowd froze. The auctioneer's smirk faded. He seemed to recognize the detective immediately. This wasn't just a random raid. This was personal.
Detective S. stood still for a moment, surveying the room, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the crowd. The silence stretched on. And then, with the swiftness of a predator, he moved.
The first guard lunged at him. The detective didn't flinch. He ducked, sidestepped, and delivered a swift blow to the man's chest that sent him crashing to the floor. More guards appeared—armed, dangerous—but the detective seemed to know exactly where they'd come from, what they'd do next.
I wasn't sure what he saw, but there was something in his eyes—something calculating, like a man who always knew the outcome, even before the first move was made.
But this wasn't just a raid. This was a rescue—and he wasn't alone.
I looked to Emilia. She was standing at the back of the cage, her fists clenched. I could feel the tension in the air, thick and heavy. She was ready. We were ready.
The first wave of guards rushed at him, but the detective was already unlocking the cells. And that's when our paths crossed. As the detective moved down the line of cages, I saw the familiar glint of fear in the guards' eyes as he approached ours.
They hadn't noticed us yet.
Emilia and I exchanged a glance.
"On three?" I whispered, though I didn't need to say it. She could already feel it too. We'd done this before, though never like this. This was different. This was the moment that would change everything.
"One… two… three!" I said.
I pushed open the cage door with a sudden force, and Emilia stepped forward, her eyes glowing faintly blue. The air around her thickened with moisture, and the water pipes above us groaned as the temperature dropped. The guards closest to us froze for a second—then the water burst out of the pipes, forming into sharp blades, circling Emilia like a protective barrier.
"Get back!" one of the guards shouted, raising his weapon. But before he could pull the trigger, I was already in his head, reading his thoughts. He thought I was behind him. He thought the other guard was closer to me. He didn't even realize he was already dead.
I fired a single shot—silent, precise—and he dropped to the ground.
The remaining guards tried to regroup, but they were outmatched. Emilia's water blades twisted and cut through the air, knocking out weapons and slicing through their armor. The detective was still fighting, still moving like he knew exactly what he was doing. But even he couldn't fight the numbers.
That's when things got… intense.