Truth Seekers

Chapter 1

The hermits were a superhero group, made up of around 25 currently. The hermits protected the city, all having some ability or power that separates them from the rest. There were ranks, and all went by code-names.

Xisuma, current commander of the hermits, his ability is telekinesis. Then there is Keralis, his second in command, he was graced with incredible skills in building, he tended to make the suits the hermits wear. There were a few higher ranked hermits. Doc with explosion powers, he can explode anything he wants as long as he can touch it. Etho, who has the power to manipulate the energy of anyone around him. Then, the last of the 'higher ranks' was Scar, who has blood magic and can do other minor spells.

The others, just as appreciated and skilled as the higher ranks, just ignored by the people are; Impulse, who could control minds for up to 10 seconds, Tango, who could control fire, Pearl, who could see into the future through her dreams, False, who has 10 times the strength of an average person, Zedaph, who could hear the softest whisper from miles away, Hypno, who could persuade thoughts (which is usually mistaken for hypnosis), Iskall, who could produce blades from various parts of his body. Mumbo, who could see through electronics, Stress, who was a healer, Gemini, who would help Keralis with suits, Cub, whose power is binging (mentally restricts/imprisons others), Jevin, who can turn into a liquid and effectively disappear, Wels, who mainly does patrols rather than engaging in fights and only few know the power of. Ren, who has a strong sense of smell, Cleo, who could change forms, Bdubs, who could shrink or grow, and Grian, who could teleport through mirrors.

All of them had proper training in combat and other useful skills they'd need as superheroes. All were capable of holding a fight against a villain, there are only 2 villains worth noting, neither have a confirmed name, but the public calls them 'Keiran' and 'Kalayavan' or commonly shortened to 'Kalay'. The two have never been seen, both striking at night, but they still cause major damage. They burn buildings, rob people out long at night, and one person, the only one who's survived an interaction with one of them, was visited in her house and knocked out (they most likely assumed she was dead) and robbed. She couldn't get a good look at them, not seeing any identifiable features, but she could confirm that he wore a flowy, black, cape with a hood.

"Xisuma!" he heard Keralis yell from outside his office.

"Yes?" he answered.

"We have a new lead on one of the villains! The girl who saw him said it looked like his name would be 'Keiran', I don't actually know what it means, but I can find out!" He seemed like he'd been in a rush.

"Can you have her fill out a report? I am a bit busy, and have a few meetings with some of the hermits, so I can't meet with her," he waved him off with a kind, apologetic smile.

"Of course!" Keralis walked into a nearby room, where they kept extra documents, and other important items. The girl sounded like a teenager, knowing fancy words and their meanings, it's often needed for school projects in their city.

"Xisuma!" Scar panted, late to their meeting.

"Hello scar! Come sit," Xisuma smiled and walked over to the table, pulling out a chair and sitting in the one across from it, "how has your day been?"

"It's been pretty good, nothing big happened besides that girl coming in!" They had this meeting once every few months, so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

"Now, because we don't know what the new villains look like, and they just went big recently, I do have to ask just one question." He informed Scar.

"Oh? Go ahead!" Scar smiled.

Xisuma had a good idea what his answer would be, "Is there anyone you think is suspicious or could possibly be one of the new villains?"

Xisuma was expecting some form of 'nope', 'haven't seen anything weird', or some sort of negative answer, but the hushed "Cub has been acting weird lately," was not the negative he was thinking of.

"Cub? Can you tell me more about it?" Xisuma pushed.

"Well, he hasn't been in his office as much, and he keeps getting some calls or texts before he leaves every day. I didn't want to try to listen in, so I just watched." He had a small frown, probably feeling bad ratting out one of his co-workers and friends.

"Hey, I'll do more investigating on it, and I won't tell anyone you told me this if you wouldn't like," Xisuma offered.

"Thank you Xisuma, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep it to us," Scar chuckled a bit.

"Thank you, and can you go get Doc for me please?" He got a nod in response before the door closed and he got a chance to write it all down.

Cub could be the traitor,

That's all the list consists of at the moment, but it'll be updated as soon as he gets more suspects. Xisuma couldn't think for long, because as soon as he put the paper down a knock was heard.

"Come in!" Xisuma yelled towards the door, making sure that the paper's hidden from sight.

"Good afternoon Xisuma! Scar said it was my turn for the meeting?" He wasn't questioning his friends ability to tell whoever's next that it's their turn, but sometimes Xisuma mixes up times and sometimes you forget who you needed to call to his office.

"Yes, yes, how has your day been?" Xisuma confirmed.

"It's been good, the girl coming in was exciting, but she didn't know much," Doc seemed disappointed, understandably.

"I do agree, it was good to know that someone has gotten to see them! But on the topic of the villains, I would like to know if you've seen any suspicious activity from any of the hermits lately?" Xisuma asked.

"I don't think so, Grian acted a bit weird last tuesday, but the day before he had that big fight with Scar and that weird guy, so I assume it's due to that," Doc seemed to be set that Grian was just shaken up from the fight, but even so he had to be put on the list.

Over the rest of the day he got a repeat of Cub and once he got Pearl, but wasn't sure how accurate the hermits ears were. He got one or two more, his list having 5 people by the end of the meetings.

Cub(2), Grian, Pearl?, Scar?, Etho???

By the end of the meetings Xisuma was even more confused, but decided to call each in one-by-one for an interrogation.

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Word count is 1119, I'm sorry for being able to ad one word :(

I don't have a set publishing schedule, i will try to do at least once a week and will say if I cant and the reason.