Chapter 2

Zuri woke first to rustling and when she opened her eyes she found a boy around her age standing over her. He had black hair and purple bits of skin. In his hand he held a blue flame much more powerful than Zuri's orange ones.

"Hello." he said "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Zuri. Me and my friend, Mira, ran away from a lab."

"They're safe." he called and two other people appeared "Dabi, nice to meet you." he held out his hand which Zuri shook

A girl with blonde hair walked up to Zuri.

"What's your power?" She asked

"Fire"

"Ooh, I'd love to have fire. Dabi never lets me borrow his blood. Can I see?"

Zuri nodded and created a small fire on the dirt floor. It spread quickly until a wave crashed over it.

"Hey!" Yelled the girl "I was watching that."

"Wouldn't want to burn down the shed." Said a boy who looked older than her "Would be such a shame." He turned to Zuri "I'm Peter. If she was more polite she'd introduce herself."

"Himiko Toga." said the girl, turning her attention to Mira "What's her power?" She asked stepping forward

"I'm not sure. She healed me with her spit somehow I think?"

Mira began to stir and slowly woke up. She was startled by Himiko who was now standing over her and jumped back.

"What's your power?" Himiko asked

"My spit is acidic but can also heal people?"

"Are you telling me or asking me?"

"Telling you?"

She leaned forward "then say it like you mean it."

"Leave her alone!" Zuri yelled "She's only five."

"Well I'm not sure we can let a coward on our team."

Mira stood up and spat in Himiko's face. She was now covered in pink goo but it again sunk into her skin rather than killing her on the spot.

"I'm telling you." Mira said again

Himiko nodded to Dabi who held out a small flame to Mira and one to Zuri.

"Grab the flame" he said "go light the torches on the other side of the room. Do not let the flame go out."

Mira and Zuri each grabbed a flame. It burned their hands but they did as they were told and lit the torches. Mira had the worst of it though because her steps were smaller, she held the flame longer and she didn't have a fire power like Zuri. Once they had lit the torches Zuri only had a few small burns but Mira's hands were scarred. She ran them through her hair and all the burns healed in seconds. She spat on Zuri's hands and they were quickly healed as well.

"Wow." Himiko said behind her pulling out a knife "Do you mind if I take blood from each of your arms?"

Zuri quickly pulled Mira away from her "You can't hurt her!"

"Calm down. It's for my power. I can transform into you as long as I have your blood."

Zuri glanced at Mira who nodded.

"Alright, but only a little."

"You won't even notice"

Himiko stabbed her knife into Zuri's arm first. She drained her blood slowly and once she was done Mira spat into the cut healing it up nicely. She did Mira next. The young girl flinched as the knife pierced her skin. Himiko took more blood from her than Zuri and when she was finished Mira spat over her wound as well. Her stomach began to rumble at the sight of blood and she lost herself as her eyes glazed over.

"Run!" Zuri yelled and they all hid

Mira searched for food and she finally found Peter in a corner. She bit him and sucked his blood, killing him on the spot. She came out of her daze and saw his body on the ground. She started crying and Zuri came over to comfort her. She tried to heal him but he was long gone.

"You can't keep her here!" Dabi yelled, "She's a monster!"

At the same time, Himiko said "Cool. I want to do that."

"She's not a monster!" Zuri yelled back, "She can't control it."

"She just killed our most valuable team member. She can't stay here."

"You call this a team?"

Police sirens rang outside. They came closer and everyone dashed to hide. Zuri realized too late that Mira still hadn't moved from her spot on the floor. As she was going to run and grab her the police entered.

"We found one." one of them called outside "The one with the pink hair"

Lisa entered the shed "Don't touch her. Let me handle this." She walked towards the girl "Hey Mira. Do you want to head home?"

"No. You're evil."

"I'm sorry that scientist made you mad. She's gone now."

"I don't want to go. My friends are here."

"What friends?"

"Himiko and Dabi and Zuri. Peter was too but a monster killed him. At least that's what Dabi said."

"Well guess what we'll bring your friends to you ok?"

"But they live here."

"Teddy's waiting for you back home. I'm sure he'd love to meet your friends."

"Ok but only if I can have one of those beds." She pointed to the sleeping bags in the corner

"We'll get you one at home" Lisa brought her daughter to one of the police cars "Search for the friends she told me about" She whispered to the police on her way past

Lisa let Mira climb into the car and buckled her in. They drove back to the lab and Mira was brought to her old room except it now had a sleeping bag inside. She hugged her bear happily as the door locked her in. At the shed, the police had moved themselves to the outside of the doors.

"Look what she's done now!" Dabi yelled as he came out of hiding

Zuri motioned for him to hide again but he ignored her

"She got herself caught and revealed us to the authorities!"

The police opened the doors silently and started walking towards him

"Dabi run!" Zuri yelled from her hiding spot

Dabi turned around and found the police behind him. He tried to set them on fire but they grabbed his wrists and handcuffed him. One charged towards Zuri who stood frozen behind some boxes. Himiko ran to her and started to pull her away. The officer tackled both of them and handcuffed them as well. These handcuffs removed their powers and made it nearly impossible for them to escape. They dragged them to the other police car and drove them to the lab. Zuri was brought to a room next to Mira on one side with Himiko on Mira's other side. Dabi ended up next to Himiko and there was a room connected to each of their rooms through a door. Mira was sitting in that room waiting for her friends to arrive. Zuri was the first to enter and she ran to her, hugging her tight.

"Calm down. I'm alright."

"I didn't think they'd keep their promise."

"Why'd you agree then?"

"Well, I didn't want to lose Teddy." She showed off her bear "He's my item from home."

"We could've gotten you a new bear."

"Yeah but Teddy's special. He has pieces of my original hair inside of him. He's also from my dad."

"What happened to your dad?"

"I don't know. Lisa said he went on a mission one day and never came back. I think he was a hero of some kind."

Zuri shrugged and the two sat in silence. Back in Himiko's room, she was having a slight argument with her guards.

"I want my dagger!" Himiko yelled

"You can't have a weapon." her guard responded

"You said I could choose an object from home! I chose my dagger!"

"Here you can have the cover." He threw the cover to her "No weapons."

"I don't want the cover! I want the dagger!"

"You can have the cover or nothing. It's your choice."

"Can I have the grip too?"

He sighed "Fine." he threw it to her "Now go join your friends."

She happily skipped into the other room where she found Zuri and Mira drawing together.

"What you doing?" She asked

"Just making some art. Look, I made us all together! Even Peter's in it!"

Himiko and Zuri exchanged a glance before Himiko smiled at the girl's pure innocence.

"Great job." She said, "What did you draw Zuri?"

"The lab on fire."

She held up her drawing. It was a very detailed drawing of the lab covered in orange and blue flames. It showed the four friends running out of the flaming building together.

"Can I draw too?" Himiko asked

Mira nodded completely absorbed in her new drawing and Himiko got to work on her masterpiece.