The boy stared at everything around him, his heart thumping. He expected the burglars to unfreeze, and attack him. They didn’t. He couldn’t explain it.

The idiot he stabbed in the knee was still bent over grabbing his bleeding knee. His stomach churned and bile rose in his throat. He hated the sight of blood, even worse the wound revealed bone. He bent over and let the bile escape through the only way known.

After wiping his mouth of the chunks and looking once more at the burglar with the gun, everything slowly went back to normal. The first burglar’s scream of pain was slow and deep, as if it were in slow motion. And the second was laughing, his eyes still burned evilly.

A crash and a small explosion of wood splinters came from the front doors. He was in awe at everything moving slowly. Was he doing this? No, there was no way. He would’ve known if he was indeed doing this. A tall man with hair growing all over his body charged in and grabbed the bleeding burglar and threw him through the window.

The second burglar, seeing his comrade being hurled about like a rag doll reached for the back door, but was thrown back by some unseen force. The boy stood, not moving in any form, watching as the men who broke into his house break out of it, but in a different and more painful way.

The behemoth of the hair-covered man walked toward him, his hand outstretched, “You ok, kid?” The boy nodded, his answer answered by another comment, “Damn, the Elder was right after all.” He looked out the back door, to see a woman walk in. She stood about 5’5’’ and her long raven hair flowed all along her body like a wave of midnight, “You see this, kid? Jana, he survived.”

The woman nodded and looked the kid over, “Yea, Mammoth, I see that. Strong will.” She bent over and winked at the kid, making him blush.

“What’s your name, kid?” Mammoth had bent down on his own bulky knee and his strong eyes explored the kid’s features. “Francis, Francis Mishreau.” The kid stuttered, “My friends call me Kronos.”

Mammoth smiled and looked up at Jana, who nodded. “Well, Kronos, you’re gonna come with us.” Francis looked down at the ground and shook his head, “I need to stay here. I need to protect my family.” Mammoth’s lips went thin and his brow furrowed. He looked up at Jana, and stood up.

They walked over in a corner and began to talk quietly, Francis tried all he could to listen, but he couldn’t. It felt as though something was blocking all of his senses.

Finally, after several minutes of the two Superhumans talking, they looked down at Francis. Mammoth laid a strong hand on his shoulders and squeezed gently, “Well, kid, you can come, or you can stay here. Which do you want to do?” Francis considered everything; the break-in, the break-out, the question he was asked. Everything flew through his mind.

A single breath escaped his mouth and he nodded, “I’ll go.” Mammoth smiled and laughed, “Great, I don’t think we have a single Manipulator on the team.”

“Yea, we do, Mammoth. Remember Fauna?”

“Oh, yea. Fauna, the Earth Manipulator.”

Mammoth looked down at Francis, and smiled, “Well, go say ‘bye to your fam and we’ll go.” Francis nodded and headed up the stairs. Jana looked at Mammoth with her brow furrowed, “You think he’s the one?”

“No doubt.”