Problems of the Gifted

Fire and water

(Aiden Mason pov.)

"It's an interesting sight to see people suffer, don't you think?" Is what I hear the doctor saying as I run towards Amaya from behind as fast as my feet allow me to.

She is crumpled on the ground on her knees.

I don't know what happened, but this woman picked on the wrong sister.

"You! Get away from her, now!" I shout, igniting the fire in my hand in the blink of an eye.

However, Snyder doesn't stop, only tilts her head a little to the side when eyeing me.

She simply looks back at Amaya, chuckling:
"Ahh, so your brother has come to rescue? Poor planning."

How does she-

Snyder twists her other hand and I fall to my knees out of the sudden pain.

Dang it-
Her ability!
I- I can't move!

What's worse though is the sudden jolts spiraling through my body.

No...

I remember when I lost control of my ability on that day.

I'm going to lose it again.
Only this time, I'm on my own.

"Nononono..."

I panic as I fight my ability, doing my best to contain it. And yet it's not enough.

Don't let it out, you idiot!

If I let it slip now, there's no telling how much damage will be caused this time.
But the pain Snyder adds is only making it harder to control.
I see Amaya watching me, without being able to do anything either.

If there's one thing I want to tell her, it's that I'm sorry.
I really am.

But then I notice how Snyder always turns her head repeatedly, since Amaya is on her left and I'm on her right side.

Amaya's eyes go wide as she calls me:
"Aiden!"

I'm unable to answer and she quickly continues:
"It's a nonvident ability!
Do you remember what I explained to you?"

Of course- a nonvident ability!

I recall Amaya teaching me about it before an exam.
This means that Snyder can only use her ability if she sees the target, which is why she has to keep an eye on the both of us.

She can't hold me and Amaya at the same time.

We look at each other, and that single moment is enough for me to understand what I have to do- let it go.
As if on command, the image of our last abilities mastery lesson pops into my head. Mr. Olser told us that we cannot control our abilities. We have to lead them.

But can I make it this time?

Although I'm scared like I've never been before, I realize that there's no time for doubting my ability or myself.

My sister's life and the lives of my friends are in on the line.
That's reason enough for me to take the risk.

We nod to each other and I stop holding back.
Flames start circling me in an instant and I slowly stand up, exactly what we need to catch Snyder off guard.

"What the-"

She regains herself and wants to focus her ability on Amaya, but get shot at by me from behind.
Using my right hand as a fingergun, I let the fire shoot in her direction.
It starts out small and grows as it flies towards the doctor.
While Snyder is busy dodging my attacks, Amaya casts her ability in the background, aiming right at Snyder's head.

She exclaims:
"Hey! My doctor always says water is good for your health!"

At that, before she even gets the chance to turn around, Amaya sends a blob of water at her with high speed, hitting Snyder's head.
At last, she collapses.
I fall on the floor to my knees again, partly with relief and exhaustion, hearing Amaya's voice shouting out to me.

She quickly runs my way and kneels down in front of me, putting her hands on my shoulders:
"Hey- Are you alright?!"

I look up at her, panting:
"I- think I- can control my ability."

Amaya only blinks before processing what I just said.
Her expression lightens up in an instant and she shakes her head:
"¡Tu erizo loco! I knew you could do it!"
(*You crazy hedgehog!*)

"Heh- It was about time, don't you think? After all, we are the natural disaster twins."

We hug tightly, glad that the other made it out alive.
Then we both help each other up and look down at Snyder, unimpressed.

"Is she dead?" I ask.

"No, just knocked out." Amaya answers with a raised brow.

"Not gonna lie- it was a good shot."

"I know. And you using fingerguns was effective as well."

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Jian rushing to us, panic and anger written over his face when he walks up to Amaya grabbing hold of her arms:

"Are you alright? Did she-!"

"We're fine." She says, calming Jian down.

"All good." I add.

As Jian sees that Amaya is truly alright, he nods and just looks at her for a moment.
They both blush as he slowly lets go of her, realizing how long they've been looking at each other.

Jeez, this is awkward.
Someone has to help.

I clear my throat loudly:
"Eh- ehm. As much as I enjoy this... we have a world that needs saving!"

"Oh, right!" Jian slaps his forehead and looks at Snyder who passed out.

He uses his ability, eyes lighting up, in order to find out the code, just like Dhalia said: Only Creed and Snyder know what the code is.

In less than a second, we get the results as he makes contact with our hacker friend over the ear pod:
"I know the password. Josh?"

"Sup?" Josh answers.

"We got it."

"Finally! Let's end this ridiculous act, shall we?"

Josh punches in the numbers Jian dictates, thus sending a command to deactivate every single one of them.
All over the city, the sound of crashing drones can be heard.
I grin at the two of them.

Let's hope we won't have to clean all of this mess up as well.