Chapter 3

"The great city of Northern Spor is one known for its wealth and riches but at the same time it's the place where the DPHC is the most active. There are stories dating back centuries ago of a battle between the DPHC and the Powered Freaks. Or at least that is how the text books say it. It is almost like a stronghold of sorts because it's one of the most important cities in the new government. It's where most of the resources come in and out of but at the same time losing it would be a huge blow to the advantages the DPHC has. It uses the rivers and ocean that runs along the city as a way to control any counter attacks. It also blocks the entrance to the main HQ of the DPHC. Almost like a final defense before you attack the main castle. Sadly there is a problem; there are multiple layers of cities that you would have to take on before you can reach Northern Spor." Dolores told Nekane as he stood in her room looking disinterested. Nekane still had his mind stuck on how everything was going by so fast but at the same time it would be at his disadvantage to not do anything.

"Are you even listening", Dolores asked as she turned away from her computer. Somehow she had managed to set up a powerpoint that goes into full detail about the journey to get to the main stronghold of the DPHC. Though Nekane could not take it seriously. It almost looked like someone was trying too hard on a school project and only had a limited amount of time to finish it. Even worse was the fact that looking around at the apartment made Nekane feel kind of hopeless. It was so clean and organized compared to the mess that he had back at his apartment. He felt ashamed looking at Dolores as she gave him a look of disapproval. He soon got up to start and get ready to pick up the things that were needed for the journey ahead. "You know, Dolores, I am starting to wonder how long you have been planning this… Were you expecting to take on the DPHC on your own? Also, why attack the HQ if Thane is here in New Burn?" Nekane asked as he started to get confused by Dolores' powerpoint. "Oh I was not planning this. This is an old powerpoint I was writing in school once. Somehow it just ended up making itself useful again." Dolores told Nekane.

Nekane out of boredom started to look around the room with a look of disinterest. Disappointment soon started to show on his face as he realized they were not prepared for anything. "You know I want to bite but listening to your powerpoint I feel like I am listening to someone who just woke and decided to be someone big. I am in the same boat as you and trust me when I say that I hate the fact that I have to fight back against the DPHC but I am not going to let either of us die because we started too fast. Besides, do you even know what you can do with your powers? Actually do we even know how these powers work? I feel like the DPHC has a head start in everything right now." Nekane said in a saddened tone. This whole time Nekane may have seemed disinterested in the situation but the reality was that he didn't believe that they were even ready to start making such a long journey. Northern Spor was the capital of the new government and New burn was nowhere near it. That and he knew that at this point they were wanted people and due to that he would need to be ready for the battles along the way. "Why are you bringing this up now?" Dolores asked Nekane as she turned to face him. "Well to be honest I don't truly understand how my powers work." Nekane said in an honest tone. "I can understand what you are saying. I barely understand how my powers work. All I know is that I can freeze things like liquids, " Dolores added to Nekane's statement.

"We are not ready for this journey. At least it seems like you also understand your limits a bit but I doubt that would be enough to overcome them. Haha… his whole things always felt weird to me. When you have powers you start to realize that you have new limits placed on your shoulder. For every advantage you get there is always a drawback." Nekane said "Well yea. I realized over time that my power doesn't just freeze things as much as they do decrease the temperature of the things around me. I am not able to make them hotter so I guess all I can really do is make everything turn into ice. Well I think that is enough for me. Speaking of limits, what is the limit of your power?" Dolores asked Nekane. Nekane took a second to think to himself. "Dolores, what do you think my power is?" Nekane asked her. "Why ask? It's pretty obvious that your power is absorbing electricity." Dolores said in a confident tone. Nekane just shook his head as he expected that answer. "I wish I could say that. In reality my power is not that easy. In fact I can't even absorb electricity from anything. I used to think to myself and test out ideas. Maybe I could use electricity to heal myself or maybe I could create electricity to power up my electronics so I wouldn't have to pay the bills again." Nekane told Dolores and he started to pace around her apartment. Nekane usually walks around a lot whenever he tries to think to himself but he seemed to be walking faster than usual. At least he thought he was. There really was not anyone that could tell him if he was behaving differently.

"You know maybe our powers may be similar if I know where you are going with this conversation. You know I feel like in reality I can not really create ice. As I said before I am more so only able to make ice from physical objects. Part of me thinks that is wrong because of the fact that I have not been able to freeze anything other than water or any liquid for that matter. Maybe I just have not been thinking outside of the box enough to be able to figure out how to freeze solids or even gas. Though by the sounds of things what your power truly is…" Dolores stopped talking for a second as he noticed Nekane stop pacing. "My power is the ability to control electricity or use it to my advantage. Thankfully through many tests I used to do in my free time I figured out that I can't actually be injured by electricity. If anything I am able to use electricity for things like travel. Though If I were to be completely honest with you… I can only travel using electrical devices once a week. It is impossible to know where I will end up and it drains me pretty badly…" Nekane told Dolores. "I thought you said that you cannot be absorbed by electricity? Wouldn't that include being absorbed by it?" Dolores asked Nekane. "That is not what I meant! Look at how I use electricity for travel. It is more like a car. If it has a current I can ride it." Nekane told Dolores.

"Lucky you. That… actually sounds like fun. Too bad you don't know how to handle it yet. Still now that you are telling me this… Is this the power that you used to get away from Thane Whitlock earlier?" Dolores told Nekane. "Ugh… I want to forget that name for just a second. I hate listening to it since I hear about it everyday." Nekane said in a frustrated tone. "I will take it as yes that you did use that ability to get away. Though you are starting to peek my interest now. Why do you hate Thane so much?" Dolores asked Nekane as he started to heat up from the anger. "I would rather not tell that story to someone I just met." Nekane said as he resumed pacing around the apartment. Much to the dislike of Dolores who was starting to get annoyed by his behavior. Though in the eyes of Nekane, behaving that way was the only way he could keep a cool mind. "So what are we going to do then? We don't have any idea of how we are going to make any of this work and by the looks of things it seems like Thane already decided to leave." Dolores said as she too started to get frustrated by the situation. "What!? Already!?" Nekane said as he quickly turned his head towards the T.V that was sitting on the opposite side of the room from him. It seems like he didn't manage to pay attention to anything after all due to his poor attitude. "Damn it… Sorry Dolores I wasn't shouldn't have been so quick in acting the way that I have been." Nekane told Dolores.

"No, it's fine. I was starting to lose my fire as well. Seems like it is impossible to just simply move on from your old life. I feel the same way and should probably take the time to think more clearly. Still I don't know anything about creating change and this seems to be overwhelming me…" Dolores said as she continued to come to the realization that she was going backwards. "I never once asked why you ended up in the situation that you were in, did I?" Nekane asked as he took a second to take a deep breath. "Truth be told, I don't even know at this point. Friend of mine close and dear to me walked up to me and told me sorry before being killed by… him." Dolores told Nekane. "Curt Meyers killed your best friend or something? Sounds almost like she ratted you out but did she even know that you had powers?" Nekane asked Dolores. Dolores simply just shook her head as she refrained from using her power ever since Taylor took her in. Though the more she started to think it the more she started to even question if Taylor was even her friend. Dolores could not leave out the fact that Nekane could have been right in Taylor ratting her out but at the same time why would she never tell Dolores that she knew she had powers… She thought that they were friends but after everything that happened it all seemed to be a false testimony. Dolores started to get madder because of the fact that Curt Meyers was the one that ended up killing Taylor. The man that ended up taking away her parents when she was a little kid. The man that she now wanted dead more than the entire world.

"Seems like you don't hate Thane as much as you do Curt. Guess he had taken a lot away from you and trust me when I say that I understand what you are feeling." Nekane said as he started to sit down on the couch besides. "Well time to let you continue though I feel like we should probably be coming up with this plan together. Before we continue though, what little secret are you hiding?" Nekane asked as he started to shake his leg out of being impatient. One of the habits he has always held but in this case Dolores seemed to have a strong dislike for him doing that. Not surprising to Nekane though because none of his little quirks seemed to be something that anyone around him liked. In fact he didn't seem to be disappointed when he was told to knock it off. Usually he wouldn't really care what anyone thought of his habits. No one ever seemed to like it but it was a part of who he was and no one was going to change him that easily. Still this situation seemed to have made his habits worse because for the first time in forever his anger was starting to take lead over everything else. Secretly Nekane wished he had someone to pour out all of his emotions to but the past years have left him without a single friend.

Part of him felt like Dolores was the perfect chance to finally let out all of his frustration but at the same time he didn't want to tell her anything because they just met. Forcing all of his problems upon her would be a dumb thing to do. Still he couldn't help but be a little jealous of her because she had actually managed to find a friend. Though by the sound of it it seemed more like she was a caretaker turned friend. Years of working since he was a little kid and no one to call friends. Though he was more interested in one thing. "Taylor was like a caretaker to you?" Nekane asked. Though he was not 100 percent sure that it was the cast he still wanted to know. The more he knew about the person he was working with the better. "Yes… She found me and raised me when she found me alone and scared one day. If it wasn't for her I don't know what situation I would be in right now because before she came along I was eating out of dumpsters." Dolores said in a saddened tone. "That is why it hurt you so much when she told you sorry and she died before you could even get an answer. By the way the story has been going, Curt showed up right after she told you that and she ended up getting killed in an effort to get to you." Nekane told Dolores. "How do you know that?" Dolores asked Nekane. "I watch a lot of movies I guess. When you don't have anyone to talk to for years then you end up only watching movies so you can figure out why everyone hates you. Sure enough most movies just end up calling me a freak." Nekane said as he started to put his head down for a bit.

"I honestly want to say that it is all part of human nature but in reality I can't even say that I am human with a straight face. I mean I can just walk outside right now without my hoodie on and look in the faces of everyone around me just to know what they see me as. Heck I wonder if they would even consider me redeemable before even hearing my voice. Damn news has been going crazy about me and now I seem to be what everyone calls a cereal killer, just that accident wasn't even my fault…" Nekane said as his face started to have a saddened look on his face than before. "What happened?" Dolores asked when she noticed me get even more frustrated. "When I landed that attack on Thane purposely reflected all of that electricity towards the buildings around us. I could feel it once I hit him. He shaped his arms in a way that would result in all of the electricity spreading into the buildings surrounding us. He was trying to make me seem like a villain from the beginning." Nekane said as his voice slowly started to rise again. Dolores just sat there in shock when she realized just how smart the man they were hunting truly was. "You know Dolores. One thing is for sure there is no way that we are going to be able to take down the entire DHPC alone. Just the 2 of us just are not going to cut it." Nekane told her.

The longer the conversation continued the more Nekane could start to feel his resolve for fixing his life. He was tired of being called the villain because he knew that he never meant to hurt anyone. He was starting to get tired of listening to the news tell their versions of the story and wanted to be the one to tell his own story for once. "Guess you are right Nekane… But how are we going to be able to find anyone who will be willing to join our cause? More so, how are we going to do that when we are on our journey to the DPHC HQ?" Dolores asked. Soon there was a pause as the T.V switched to the news for an important detail. "Mr. Whitlock. Please tell us what your thoughts about powered humans are? I am sure that you are extremely disappointed at the fact that your team was not able to catch them." Ther news reporter said as he managed to catch up to Thane before he could leave New Burn. Nekane watched as he saw the anger in Thane's face grow from the fact that his team had failed. It only took one day for Nekane to somehow manage to make Thane hate his existence though Thane remembered the reaction that Nekane had when he attacked him. Secretly he knew that it was only a matter of time until someone of that power would try and find him.

Instead of wasting resources in a search that was never going to be successful he might as well go to the place where everyone knew he would be. Still Thane hated the fact that he had somehow managed to lose someone with a power that could turn the tides in his favor. Make it so his plans can finally come into sight. Thane just wished that the government was willing to allow him to have the information on all the civilians. He couldn't attack the building that was holding all of that information either because it would result in a war between the DPHC and the new government. War that truly didn't favor the DPHC because of just how big the government was but there was something he had up his sleeve. "Sorry but I have important matters to attend to real quickly back at Northern Spur. Just know this New Burn. Even though us three are going back the DPHC will continue to search for those two powered humans and they will face justice for the thousands that were killed." Thane said as his car started to drive away. Not before Nekane could see him turn over to Curt with an angry gesture. "Seems like they are in a world of trouble but still… What is he implying!? That I have done that evil act and that it was not his fault for redirecting all of that electricity? I swear I am going to get stronger and make you pay for everything!" Nekane yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Nekane calm down! We are in a department. People can hear us remember?" Dolores said as she realized how hot headed Nekane was becoming. "Oh yea sorry…" Nekane said with regret in his eyes. Nekane felt as if he wasn't seeing things out of the box yet when it came to making a change though the fact was that he didn't even know why he wanted to make a change. Maybe he just wanted to make his life like it was earlier… Though that was never going to work by just simply taking down the DPHC. No, the government would just create a new department in its place and the cycle would repeat. Maybe he was just listening to Dolores in everything she was saying. The more he listened to her the more he realized that she just wanted to create change so she could avenge her friend's death but what did that do for him? No! Nekane was going to make Thane pay and he was going to expose everything to the world. Everything that Thane has been doing. Every single piece of hell that Thane had created was going to be shown to the world and Thane was soon to know the name of Nekane Foreman as he was laid to rest. His whole empire was going to fall. Though there was one issue that was crossing his mind like it did Dolores. "Where are we going to find more members of our team?" Nekane said as Dolores gave out a sigh. "Are you just going to be repeating every single thing that I say now?" Dolores said.

"Not really. I am just thinking about what could be possible. We could ask around but that would cause problems and if we listen to rumors then there may be the problem of them not being true and us getting discovered by the DPHC. Trust me when I say that we would rather not deal with them because of the fact we don't actually have control over our power. Though I have to say that creating that block from the water behind Curt was smart. Everything before then kind of seemed extremely one sided. Still the DPHC that will be left by morning tomorrow may not be as strong as them but they will still be able to overwhelm us with numbers." Nekane said. Dolores shook her head as she started to realize just how well Nekane was at making plans though she was not going to allow herself to become useless in this whole situation. "So we are going to have to leave our plans tomorrow because Thane is probably already setting up the defenses back in Northern Spur. So we might as well start getting ready for such a large journey. We are going to need something to help us keep track of all of the DPHC locations though so we can weaken Thane's power as we get closer to the HQ." Dolores said as she started to wonder how they were going to do that.

"Looks like we are going to have to break into the DPHC stronghold here in New Burn." Nekane said with a sort of out of character smile. Dolores simply turned to him confused because that was going to do the complete opposite of Nekane's idea of not being caught. "Why the surprised face? Of Course we are going to have to do this without being caught but there is one thing in the stronghold that we are going to 100 percent need if we are going to even consider this journey. Every single DPHC network is connected in some way. It so they can naturally know if one stronghold where to go down but at the same time it shows you the location of those strongholds that are in need of help. If we can shut down these strongholds in some way without being noticed then maybe we could somehow manage to steal information on the locations of where the other strongholds are. That way we can grow stronger by destroying them and also gain an edge over Thane." Nekane said. Dolores just took a second to think to herself. "Yea but we are going to need to rest now because it is already late. Seeing how you already took everything out of your house you should 100 percent stay here. You can use the couch." Dolores said. "Thank you. Still we are going to have to strike as soon as possible before Thane gets enough time to build his defenses." Nekane said as he started to lay his head down on the pillow on the couch. "When?" Dolores asked as he was starting to fall asleep. "Tomorrow night." Nekane answered.