Takeshi Takumi's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Takeshi slipped into the shadow between two buildings and held still. Someone had been following him for three blocks now. He could feel the attention like heat on the back of his neck. Most people who tracked him down wanted answers he didn't plan to give. But the footsteps stopped just outside the shadow. A man's voice cut through the dark. "I'm not here to ask what you are." Takeshi waited. The man stepped closer, holding out his arm. Blue metal wrapped around his wrist, glowing yellow at the joints. "They gave me these after I put a crater in the ground with lightning I didn't know I had. Magenta lightning." The device looked expensive, sleek. The kind of thing authorities built when they didn't understand something but wanted to control it anyway. "I wore them for two years. They don't work anymore." The man met his eyes without flinching. "I'm Jasper Kreed. And I don't need you to explain yourself. I just thought you should know you're not the only one." Takeshi stepped out of the shadow. For the first time in months, someone wasn't asking him to be anything other than what he was.