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Chapter One

Location: Okinawa, Japan

I arrived in Japan (local time: 23:07) expecting nothing; nobody knew I was coming, after all. Despite this, just a few minutes out of the airport I was met by a strange young girl. Her hair was jet black, her eyes green, and her face pale, with the pink spots on her cheeks the only colour.
"Good afternoon, Miss James." she said, her young voice quiet and calm. "May I have a word?" she had the hint of a French accent.
A cool breeze whistled around our ankles - her power, I discovered, as I touched her mind lightly, just enough to find her name, power, and purpose.
She flinched.
"Please don't do that. I don't mean any harm." she said.
"I'm sorry, I know that now... Cassandra. Tell me, do you have somewhere I can sleep? I'm exhausted." I was. Travelling isn't really my thing.
Cassandra smiled, and motioned for me to follow her. leading me to a small park full of cherry trees, we approached a small Japanese-style pagoda with paper doors.
"Christophe?" she said, as she knocked on the doorframe, "It's me, Cassandre."
The door slid open to reveal a light, airy room, in which sat two girls and a boy on cushions on the floor. The boy smiled and stood up, holding out a cup of tea to me in a china cup.
"I expect you're tired, Miss James," he smiled, his eyes strangely dark, "but would you like to sit with us a while so we can explain ourselves?" I was tempted by his warm smile, I'll admit, but I was getting increasingly more tired.
"Perhaps it would be easier for me to just... find out...?" Yes it was a bold move, considering I didn't know these people at all, but as I've said: I was knackered.
"Of course," he said, laughing, "If I just think the information, is that enough? You have my permission, of course."
Gratefully, I looked into his mind, and extracted the following information.

The Elementals
Composed of four kids, aged 13-19, with powers based on one of the four elements; wind, earth, water, and fire. None of them have any remaining biological family, so refer to each other as their brother and sisters.




Name: Cassandra LeCarre-Blake
Powers: Foresight, Wind control
Age: 13
Nationality: French
Was found by Christopher in an orphanage in an area of France which had recently suffered several huge storms. She was 8, and the first to join him.




Name: Helena Koch-Blake
Powers: Senses emotions (especially fear), Earth control
Age: 15
Nationality: German
Her parents and older sister were killed in a freak earthquake which triggered her powers. Annabella was her sister's penfriend who heard about the quake and came with Christopher to help her.




Name: Annabella Florez-Blake
Powers: Mind block, Water control
Age: 17
Nationality: Spanish
After quietly discovering her powers over a few years of living on a fishing boat, she moved to France when she was 14. Cassandra ran up to her in the mall one day and hugged her. Later, she said that she'd seen it in a dream.




Name: Christopher Blake
Powers: Telepathy, Fire control
Age: 19
Nationality: European, never lived anywhere for more than a few months at a time.
His parents were travellers and when he was born he went with there all over Europe and Asia, until he lost control when he was lighting a fire to cook their anniversary breakfast early one morning. The resulting blaze was out of control before he could warn his parents, and they were burnt along with the rest of his life.


Christopher watched me with a smile as I took the information from his mind. I blinked when I had finished, and looked away form his deep eyes.
"Will that do for now?" he said. His voice was soft and rich, yet strong. It fitted him perfectly, with his dark, dark, dark red eyes, his reddish-gold hair, and his tall and toned, but slim, figure.
[At this point in the reading of this report, you must be thinking that I'm somewhat attracted to this guy. And yeah, you're probably correct - but I'm on a mission.]
"For now, yes." I replied, smiling as his apparent joy at my presence infected me. "Excuse me, but where can I sleep?"
The blonde girl who had sat silent and still since I arrived turned her head to Christopher and raised an eyebrow enquiringly.
"Yes please Lena." he said to her.
Helena nodded and lifted a trapdoor under the bamboo mat near her. Smiling a little stiffly, but kindly enough, at me, she clicked her fingers and, with a minor earthquake to accompany, a tunnel appeared in the ground.
"Bella?" said Christopher to the tall, dark, curvy girl who had moved away form the cushions - Annabella, I presumed.
She nodded and glided over to a box in the corner, opened it, and pulled out some lamps.
"Here you go, Bethan." she said, passing one to me. Her voice was annoyingly high and soft. "Christo, you'll go first?" her question was more like a command, and my stomach clenched as I found that her mind was incredibly hard to read, as expected.
Then it was my turn to face that gaping hole into which Christopher had disappeared, hugging little Cassie - who was small for her thirteen years - to him.
I smiled weakly back at the gorgeous Spanish girl, determined not to let my fear show.
"Is it far down?" I asked, my head spinning slightly at the thought of more than 10 seconds in that small, suffocating space.
"Not far at all." she said, "Just a few metres."
The liar. As I climbed down I heard a whispered conversation between Helena and Annabella.
"Why didn't you tell her how far it really is?" said Lena, quietly, "She's terrified of enclosed spaces!"
"She is?" said Annabella. Her concern was genuine. She called down to me. "Bethan? I'm coming down now."
With the doubled light, and Annabella's warm voice talking to me in heavily accented English, I made it to the bottom. Annabella followed a few seconds later, and then Helena, who sealed the earth around the ladder.
"What's with all the secrecy?" I asked, right before a fresh wave of exhaustion hit me and I yawned.
"We're not very well-liked around her." explained Christopher, his mouth twitching at my yawn. "Your bunk is this one. You can talk tomorrow but now you need sleep." His voice was firm.
My bunk was above Cassandra's and I stayed awake long enough to hear Christopher singing a lullaby to her in French. Then I slept solidly until the morning.

"Bethan? Bethan!" Cassandra shook me softly awake, as Christopher watched from the other side of the room. He held a bundle of clothes under his arm.
"Cassie, leave her alone! She's been travelling for weeks, she's entitled to a lie-in today." his tone was playful but firm, yet as much as I wanted to listen to this advice and go back to sleep, I was wide awake. I sat up and Cassandra giggled.
"Don't worry, I'm awake now." I said. I climbed out of my bunk and realised I'd slept in my underwear the previous night after taking off my travelling clothes. Blushing - an effect that I mirrored - Christopher put down the bundle on Cassandra's bunk and left the room, telling Cassie to help me get used to the place.
The bundle of clothes turned out to be the t-shirt and jeans I'd been wearing the night before. They'd been washed and ironed. I dressed quickly and left the room - which was more of a cave, reinforced with wooden planks - to face my strange new friends.

Chapter 3

Location: Superhuman Research Centre, Okinawa, Japan

I stepped out of the lift into a gleaming laboratory of steel, glass, and marble. A guy with glasses and a labcoat rushed over to us.
"Good morning Dr Blake, Miss James." He said. he seemed nervous.
"Ikane, how many times do I have to tell you? Chris, please."
"Okay, Dr Blake, Miss James..." he glanced nervously at me. I probably looked a bit dishevelled after hiking through Europe for a few months. "You'll need to wear a labcoat." he said, passing me one, and leaving Christopher to get his own
I wouldn't look in his mind if I were you. said an unexpected but familiar voice in my head He's never met a girl like you before and he thinks he has a chance.
I turned to see Christopher grinning as he put on his labcoat. I put on mine and followed Ikane.
And you were going to tell me about your telepathy when? And so what if he thinks he has a chance. He might well have.
I swept ahead, laughing at some stupid joke Ikane had made. I didn't have to be a mindreader ot know that it was bugging Christopher.
Go on, he said. Look at what he's thinking right now. I dare you.
Yes, I looked. I couldn't resist. Then I withdrew to Christopher's side. I whispered in his ear, "Is that even legal?"
Christopher shrugged, trying not to laugh, and pulled me towards the clump of sceintists who'd left their own projects to see this one. I pushed through to the worktop in the centre. Now, this was my territory.
"Excuse me gentlemen," I said, ignoring their surprise at the fact that a 17-year old English girl had just taken control of their project, "but could I have a copy of the notes for this project? I'm most interested in your work here."
The idea was a good, simple one: Weaken the virus, then inject it into something that could produce antibodies, but...
I stared in horror at the little boy on the monitor screen. He was ina windowless stone room, with only a bed, a bathroom,, and a k=jigsaw puzzle.
"What the hell is he doing in there?" I said, controlling my anger in case I needed to mind-zap somebody later.
A very brave little man stepped up, clearly uncomfortable with the experiemtn himself.
"He has powers. He can heal - it won't kill him."
Coldly I explained.
"This monitor, it displays his vital signs. Could you read out his internal body temperature for me?
"Um... s-s-sixty three degrees celsius."
"And wouldn't you agree that, at 63 degrees, one would be experiencing a certain amount of discomfort. I know I would be, anyway. Especially locked in a tiny room with nothing else to think about!" I was getting loud at this point, as my agitation grew. I finally snapped when a short, fat, old man waddled across the lab, made his way throught the slowly dispersing scientists and said, int he most patronising tone, "I'm the Supervising Scientist. I was the one who approved this project. Do you have a problem, young lady?"
Howdareyou?!Howwouldyoulikeit?Lookatyou,you'renothingspecial,justastupidoldman!Youdon'thavepowersandyou'llneverunderstandthem!Justbecausehecanheal,itdoesn'tmeanhe'snotinPAIN!!! I screamed the last word into his mind, and threw him to the floor with my anger.
Then, a warm hand grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into an embrace. I stopped struggling when I realised that it was Christopher, and that he was way stronger than me.
Calm down. It's nearly finished. he said. I looke dpu at him.
"But it's not, look." I turned to the screen, "his temperature shouldn't be that high if he can heal. And his white blood cel count confirms it." I wrenched myself away from Christopher, to stand over the 'Supervising Scientist'. "He's not healing. The virus isn't permanently weakened. His power is gone." Now only the brave one and Ikane were left, looking cautiously down at their boss on the floor, as he crawled away. The brave one stepped up to me once he was gone properly. He looked scared, but apologetic.
"I'm sorry, Miss James, we had no idea."
"Somebody did." I replied, "but it wasn't you. Your name?"
"Doctor Omona. You've met my assistant, Doctor Hanari?" he pointed towards Ikane, who smirked.
"Yes," I said drily, before changing the subject, "Have you got any live samples of the virus? I'd liek to study it if I may."
He nodded to Ikane, who disappeared through a door in the north wall of the room.
"Shall I show you your lab, Miss James?" said Dr. Omona. I looked at Christopher, shy after my outburst. He smiled reassuringly and said "My section boss isn't expecting me today. Shalld we go to your lab, away form all these people?"
I smiled sweetly at Dr Omona. "Of course, Doctor Omona. Though I wasn't even aware I had one," he bowed slightly, and led us to another door, this one on the east wall and made of a thick steel.
"This door can only be opened by your card," he said. I pulled my passe out of my pocket, and swiped it in the slot in the doorframe. Something clicked int he mechanism. Carefully, I pushed open the door.
Thanking and dismissing Dr Omona, I went in, followed by Christopher. A petri dish had been placed on the worktop, along with a needle, a syringe, and a note.
Good luck, Miss James. it said, before an undecipherable signature, and then a postscript, p.s., The sources say that the latest person to enter the second stage is a girl called Ava Storm. A friend?
I wa sscared. Now it wasn't just Ms. Terry and Tom, but Ava as well.
"Bethan?" Christopher had read over my shoulder, "is she one of your friends?" His concern amde me want to cry. I nearly did, but then I pulled myself together.
"Yes. So... could you pass me that microscope slide, and that laser?" I said, and took a swab of the growth in the dish.
My plan was to accelerarate the growth rate of the virus, whilst also stopping it from being contagious, and weakening it slightly. The acceleration would hopefully prevent the weakness wearing off. Then I had to inject it into a willing subject.
After making my modifications - warm water's a great viral aphrodisiac - I prepared the injection, as Christopher waited patiently.
"Don't do it," he said, suddenly, as I rolled up my sleeve. "Let me." He really wanted to, I realised. He didn't want to see me get hurt. Like I didn't want to see him get hurt.
I walked over to him and held his hand in both of mine.
"They're my friends. I couldn't bear it if it failed and you died along with them."
He looked at me with imploring eyes.
I kissed his cheek and released his hand.
"Protect me while I'm out. That guy'll be sore in the morning." I said, lying down on a surprisingly soft couch in my side-office. "I'm all yours now."
Then I pushed the needle into my wrist.