Powerless

16. Power Reader (Roman)

"Great we saw it can we go?" I turned and glared at Caz but even I could see how scared he was. Why? Why was he so scared of a reader? It's not going to get anything off of him so... "Fine... then can you just do whatever you came here to please. I'm sure class is going to be starting soon."

"Who wants to go first?!" I yelled out and Virgil sighed, walking up to the machine. He looked back confused and I started to think. I know I was acting like I was super excited but to be honest, I was a little worried. What if I was wrong? What if I was right? What am I supposed to do if I'm right about this? 

"You have to place your hand on the plate to activate it. The rest is touch screen." Caz's voice pulled me from my thoughts and I narrowed my eyes. For someone too scared to get any closer, he sure knows a lot about these things. I glanced back ok at Virgil and laughed as he jumped. The machine had made a little sound when it turned on and I smiled. "Now just... select individual." 

Wait there's more than just individual. Most readers only do one at a time. There's usually never even a choice. Yes, I have done this before. I was a bit of a... insecure child. Always wanting to know if I was getting any stronger... Always wanting to be able to... to protect... I glanced back at Caz and saw him hug himself as he looked down at the floor still shaking. What is going on with him?

"Ok then, here we go." I watched as Virgil tapped the screen and frowned. He put his hands in his hoodie and glanced back with an eyebrow raised. "What do I do..." The machine started to hum as this ring of light on the floor surrounded us all. Caz narrowed his eyes and quickly stepped back out of the circle. He narrowed his eyes at Virgil but sighed seeing Virgil start to glow. I'm confused about what's happening. "Holy..."

"What?" I walked up a little closer and froze seeing the writing on the screen. Virgil just smiled as he held up two fingers. 

"Power level of 254. I've gotten stronger!" That wasn't all it said though. He glared at me and I got the gist. Don't say a word. Who knew Anxiety had a second power? Shadow manipulation... Honestly, it fits! "Pat you wanna go?"

"Sure, Kiddo." Virgil tapped the screen and the glow around him stopped. He moved out of the way as Patton came over and I just frowned seeing Caz overly cautious about how close he was to the glowing ring on the floor. "Ok, so I just press this?" I watched in awe as he started to glow this time and I smiled seeing the screen started to code in the information. Powers... Shift and Animal Telepathy. Sounds about right. "Power level is... 200 even."

"That's nice Pat. You stronger than I thought you were." Virgil called as he put his hood up. Patton just beamed as he looked over to Logan expectantly.

"Patton, you do realize my powers are all personal right. They aren't offensive in any way." Patton just shook his head and pulled Logan over.

"So was Virgil's but he still did it." I cringed slightly and glanced over at Virgil who's eyes were now pitch black. God, I hate when he does that. It scares the shit out of me. Logan tapped the screen and just stood there bored with life. "There happy? A power level of 135. I told you my powers were of the personal category... meaning the level I have does not equate to what I can do with them."

"This isn't a contest Logan. It's just for fun." He glared at me as he 'signed out' and he just walked away. I frowned and walked over the machine myself. "Guess it's my turn huh?"

"We already know your op so can we just get this over with?" Caz called out and I frowned. I told you there was a reason I wanted to do this. I pressed individual and watched as this light covered my skin. I could feel this buzz of energy surrounding me and the air began to hum. The letters began to appear on the screen and I waited patiently. The letters formed words, and the words into sentences, until finally.

"Power level 476. Powers Elemental manipulation and... and..." Shit, I was right.

"And? What does it say kiddo?" Patton started coming closer and Caz started to look confused. I started tapping things randomly without looking as I freaked out. Caz took a step closer and suddenly the small ring of light turned into this wall surrounding us. Caz freaked out and started to hit it but it wasn't letting him through. When I looked back at the machine I noticed I had accidentally hit the Team button. Why is Caz so scared anyway? What is it gonna...

"Kiddo?" I looked back at everyone and smiled brightly. 

"Don't worry, I cancel it out once I'm able." Caz froze and slowly turned over to look at me with this fear in his eyes. I sighed and glanced back at the machine frowning. It's reading everyone in here but I'm confused. It's not telling us who is who obviously but there are 5 readings. It's clearly bugging out though. The last reading it's giving me is completely weird. It's saying there is a person with 5 powers here. But not only that but the power level is glitching out. It's like it can't get an accurate reading on how strong they are. It's clearly bro...

My entire body tensed up to the hundredth degree as this huge blast of energy ripped through me. I collapsed to the floor just before the machine surged out and the screen exploded.

"ROMAN!" I shakily looked up to see Patton running at me as Caz stood there fixing his mask. "Roman what's wrong." My body seized as nausea hit me in waves and I rolled over onto my back. Energy Perception... Basically, I can sense the energy around me and feel when it's disturbed. Whatever is causing that wave is... strong... scary... and they have no control.

"Well, looks like that was nothing but junk. Can we go now?" Caz called as he stood there avoiding eye contact. 

"Yeah... let's go."