John sat silently in an interrogation room waiting for someone to come in. Minutes went by as John tapped his finger on the table. He stared at the cup of water for a long time until the door opened.  A young woman with a gray combat uniform appeared in the doorway. She had reddish-brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail but a piece of it hung down her face. She steps out of the way as a man with a cigar in his mouth enters the room. His uniform is all black, unlike the other soldiers. He approaches the table with a serious look on his face as he places a file with photos down.      

“You’re boys did a real number on these woman, kid.” The man said as John stared at him with an annoyed look. John he leaned back in his chair and shifted his posture.

“Do you have proof I work with those guys or are you just profiling me? Is that what you do here? You see someone and instantly assume they’re a crook.” John said as the man looked at his subordinate while laughing hysterically. John watched he slammed his hand on the table.

“You were there when we arrived, kid. Of course we think you’re guilty.” He said with an annoyed look on his face. John he shook his head and leaned forward on the table.

“Innocent until proven guilty.” John said as he leaned back in the chair again. 

Gizmo entered the room with a serious look on his face. John sighed with annoyance as he covered his face with his hand. “John… you need to explain why you were in zone C, right now.” 

The man with the cigar placed his hand on Gizmo’s shoulder. “Kid, I don’t give a damn whether you fund this facility or not. This is my show and this is my interrogation.” The man said sternly.

 “I’m sorry Commander it’s just… I know John and if he’s involved in that I have to know.” Gizmo explained.

 The Commander took another puff of his cigar. He stepped past Gizmo patting him on the shoulder. The Commander left the room as the woman stepped inside and closed the door.

“Scarlet, could I talk to him alone please?” Gizmo requested.

 The woman stared at him with an annoyed look on her face. She rolled her eyes as she opened the door and left.

“New lover?” John teased.

 “Whether you were working with those creeps or not, you’re still like them. All of you sit on a pedestal above everyone else carelessly doing as you please. You people don’t care about the tragedies left in your wake.” Gizmo said with a hateful tone in his voice. John said as he looked away. The fact Gizmo was becoming obsessed was getting to him.

“I’m guessing this obsession of blaming me for everything again is coming from Jealousy.” John said as Gizmo sighed as he stepped away from the table. The door opened and Octavius appeared.

“The woman we picked up said John helped her. I honestly don’t see why we should keep him here.” Octavius said as Gizmo stared at him for a moment before looking back at John.

“You going to let the woman go home right? She was attacked by those thugs.” John said as Gizmo shook his head slowly. John glanced at Octavius with a confused look on his face.

“She was wanted for armed robbery a while back. We have her being questioned for that as we speak.” Octavius said as John sighed with disappointment.

“All superhumans are criminals.” Gizmo said as John stared at him with his head tilted.

“You’re a fucking superhuman Gizmo!” John yelled as he was becoming annoyed. Gizmo constantly talked down on the superhuman race despite being one himself.

“I’m not like the rest of those heathens.” Gizmo said in a tone that disgusted John. He shook his head as started to look at Octavius again.

“Look can I go now?” John asked as Octavius walked over to John with a key. He unlocked the collar and took it off John’s neck. John stood up as Gizmo grabbed by his shirt.

“What are you?” Gizmo asked as Octavius pulled him away from John. Octavius was appearing to be frustrated. John shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked around the table.

“Right now… I’m a man that’s hungry.” He said as Gizmo pushed Octavius off him. John started walking toward the door until Gizmo appeared in front of him. Gizmo grabbed him and threw into the wall. John hit the floor hard as he winced in pain. He struggled to get to his feet as Gizmo stepped on his side. Gizmo picked him up and threw him into the table.

“I know you’re not human John. You have power that could have made a difference. Here you are wasting it and not trying to help anyone.” Gizmo said as he threw John again into the wall on the other side of the room. John grunted as he coughed up blood as he hit the ground.

“You can’t let go of that cause you live it constant regret. You feel guilty that you didn’t save her… you know I do. Now tell me why are you obsessed with blaming now?” John asked as Gizmo teleported in front of him and shoved him into the wall.

“I gained intel on a man using the alias of X. This man did work for thugs who paid well enough like black mail people or steal from them. Two years ago a man named Marco Walker got blackballed. A scandal of him cheating on his wife as well as dealing with superhumans emerged. He worked for my father and my father fired him. One week later my father was murdered and Marco was nowhere to be found.” Gizmo said with serious look on his face. John stood silently as he breathed heavily unsure of what to say.

Flashback

John stood silently on a catwalk as he took photos of something happening below him. A man in a suit was talking to a man with a strange appearance. The man seemed to be selling merchandise from Giz-tech to the man. This was a deal being done at an abandoned warehouse. John knew that this would cause problems if it got out to the public. The client that wanted this black mail was extremely close to Mr. Valentine. John hoped this Intel would be given to Mr. Valentine and not the public. He sighed as he stopped taking photos and turned to see a man with a gun.

“You’re not getting away with that shit kid. Hand it over I don’t want to kill you.” The man said as John shoved the camera in his backpack.

“Take your best shot but I’m kicking your ass.” John said as he lunged forward. He was a man who learned to forget about his fears. John faced everything head on no matter what.

“You’re funeral kid.” The man said as he aimed the gun and fired.

Present

“What’s that got to do with John?” Octavius said while behind Gizmo. Gizmo stared at John with a hateful glare on his face.

“X was John’s nickname…which I gave him.” Gizmo said as he grabbed John again. He threw John across the room causing him to crash into another wall. John in pain as he staggered to his feet again. Octavius grabbed Gizmo and pulled him away. John watched as the two fought wildly as the door to the room opened. Jazlyn raised her hand and sent both of them hurdling. They crashed into different walls in the room. Jazlyn walked over to Octavius and helped him up.

“I don’t know what your problem Gizmo but leave Octavius out of this.” She said as she slapped Octavius in the back of the head. He looked at her confused as walked over to John. He helped John to his feet as they all stared at Gizmo. John wiped blood from his lip before walking to the door. Scarlet stood across the hall with her arms folded over her chest.

“You two have some serious baggage that needs to be worked out.” She said sounding annoyed as she held her head. John shrugged as he started walking down the hall unsure of where to go. Scarlet appeared next to him as he looked around at all the scientist, soldiers, and other employees working.

“How do I get out of this place?” John asked as Scarlet passed him. He followed her toward an elevator which was already opening. They took no time to hurry inside of it. Scarlet pressed a button and a second later they were going down. After a minute they were in the main lobby. John followed her passed soldiers toward the door.

“Would you like a ride back into the city?” She asked as John glanced at her before waving. He heard her sigh as he continued walking down the street. He knew he’d have a long walk ahead of himself. Fort Dredd was a small city itself right outside of Darko city. He groaned in annoyance as he walked aimlessly down the street. Task force vehicles passed by him every three minutes. After a while a black car pulled up beside John. The windows rolled down to reveal Octavius and Jazlyn. He breathed in heavily as he shook his while opening the back door and peering inside.

“I’m Ava… sorry if it’s cold.” She said as John reluctantly slid into the seat beside her. He felt the atmosphere become colder than it was outside. Although, the cold was something that hardly affected him.

“I shouldn’t have let Gizmo go that far.” Octavius said as his began driving. John looked out the window to see soldiers running a mile together.

“I can’t be completely angry with Gizmo. Especially, if something I did pushed someone to murder his father.” John said silently as he stared out the window in silence.

“Gizmo needs to learn how to deal with his baggage in a better way. He can’t keep bottling it up then take his anger out on you.” Jazlyn said from the seat in front of John. John remained silent while they road back to Darko city.

“John where should I take you?” Octavius said after arriving the city line. John looked around as he tried to see where he could get him to stop at.

“Take me to Zestro’s pizzeria in zone A. In the meantime tell me why you work for the task force.” John said as Octavius glanced back through the rear view. He seemed reluctant to speak at first.   

“When I enlisted I had this desire to one day change how society treated nonhumans. Despite what Gizmo says, he’s the one that made it possible for Jazlyn and Ava to join. Unfortunately, Jazlyn and Ava will have to leave when Michael Kang gets his new law passed.” Octavius said as John glanced at Ava. She was creating something made of ice in her hands.    

“They should leave now. The way things are going we’re headed for a war. Form a group of your own whose purpose is to stop this shit. There has to be a way for people to see that they can live together without hating each other for their differences.” John said as everyone else in the car remained silent. 

After a while Octavius turned down Apollo Street. He pulled over to a parking spot on the side of the road. John got out and thanked Octavius for the ride. He stood under a street light as he watched them pull off. John turned around and started walking down the street to get to the bunker. John lost his appetite for the moment and figured a good night sleep would be great. As he was walking he saw a figure standing with her arms folded over her chest. It was Diane and she had a faint grin on her face.

“You know there’s more food in the world besides pizza.” She said as she walked over to John as he glanced back in the direction of Zestro’s pizzeria.

“Not quite like that place.” John said as he glanced her. She shook her head as she started walking causing him to follow. She looked over her shoulder as John stopped walking.

“What’s so special about that place?” Diane asked as she turned back around. John looked back at the sign of Zestro’s pizzeria.

Flashback

John stood beside Briana as they worked tirelessly prepping pizzas in the back kitchen. Briana threw a handful of flour and John as she laughed. John looked at her annoyed as he grabbed a larger handful and threw it in her face. Then he grabbed a hand full of cheese and sprinkled it all over her head. She had a look of surprise as John stood silently with a calm look on his face. Mr. Zestro entered the kitchen. When he noticed the mess he appeared angry. John lowered his head as he became stricken with guilt. His face was covered in flour and his fingers coated with dough. Mr. Zestro looked at his daughter who appeared in embarrassed. He began to laugh hysterically as he walked over to John and rested his head on his head. John looked up at him to see a warming smile. The only time John felt like a normal person was when he was with the Zestro’s.

Present 

“They were the first people to treat me like a normal kid. They didn’t see me as an assassin or a trouble maker. When I was with them, I was just John." He said as he looked over at Diane while stood silently. She folded her arms across her chest as she looked at him.

"You have more people to call family now. Speaking of which, we were unable to located Sarah. As of right now there’s nothing we can do for her. Once this is over we can try to get her out of there.” Diane said slowly as John groaned. 

He covered his face with his left hand before looking up at the school. No matter what he did he always felt like a failure. Diane patted him on the back as they walked side by side. The street lights illuminated the atmosphere as John wondered what he’d do next.