On the run

As Ky's eyes shone brightly, time around him began to move in reverse. Though things were moving in slow motion for him, giving him the time to look around and check his surroundings, time only went back a single second. However, that one second allowed him to grab the steering wheel and turn the car before his brother could react to the other car that was about to hit them.

Time started to move normally again and Ken's car swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding getting t-boned by the other car. "Holy shit, that was close!" Ken said, continuing to drive through the streets in his custom car. "I think I just used powers..." Ky spoke with astonishment, looking forward with wide eyes.

"Are you serious? What is it? It's a time ability, right?" Ken spoke calmly, keeping his cool as he dodged past police officers and civilian vehicles. Spotting two cop cars ready to sandwich him, Ken's ability was ready just in time for him to pause time and sneak past them.

Once time resumed, Ky gave an explanation. "I don't know... I think I can revert time by just a second."

"A second is all we need. You're gonna be my last-minute navigation. Tell me when and where to turn." Ken was immediately ready, coming up with a strategy on the spot. He was a fighter at such a young age, the complete opposite of his brother who never had to fight in his life.

"How- I can't-" before Ky could even give an excuse, Ken shouted at him, spotting an intersection ahead of them. There were police cars headed straight for them, so they needed to turn. "LEFT OR RIGHT, KY!?" feeling a jolt inside him, Ky waited until he could see all sides of the intersection, seeing that the right side was clear while the left side was filled with cops. He turned back time for a single second and shouted his answer. "RIGHT!"

Immediately, Ken slammed the brakes and flicked the steering wheel to the side. The car began to slide, drifting around the corner before he took off in a straight line. "Let's fucking go, Ky!" Ken shouted, checking the rearview mirrors to see the dozens of cops behind him. "I was gonna turn left." Ken laughed before taking a quick glance at his brother who looked as if he'd just seen a ghost.

"Hey, man, lighten up. We're gonna get out of this. Left, right, or straight?" Ken asked once again, knowing that their only shot at getting out of this was with Ky's power combined with his. The two eventually came up to an intersection, allowing Ky to get a quick peek before he reverted time and shouted his answer.

"Straight! Keep going straight!" Ken then punched the gas, took off, and continued straight as the dozens of cops still followed and turned onto the street from both directions at the intersection behind them. Ken's eyes then flashed white and he stopped time once again.

After five seconds of driving through frozen time, Ken turned out of the residential area and started making his way toward the interstate. Checking his mirrors, Ken spoke with a sense of relief. "I think the helicopter lost us."

Ken started heading toward where he knew an underground tunnel was. If he could make it there, he could lose sight of the cops and escape via time manipulation. It appeared that the helicopter still couldn't find them, so Ken started to feel even more relieved than before.

However, Ken's sense of relief would be a false sense as a bullet struck his back tire, causing the car to begin to flip. Ky's eyes flashed white and reverted time to the second before the bullet hit. He then reached for the steering wheel to dodge the bullet, but the bullet was far faster than any car. There was no avoiding crashing this time.

The bullet once again struck the back tire and the car started to flip. Ken stopped time once again, however, by the time he was able to stop time, the car was already upside down in the air. He only had five seconds to do something.

𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦.

He reached over and unbuckled Ky's seatbelt. Ky was frozen in time, looking forward with wide eyes and his mouth open as if he were screaming. He held on tightly to the handle above the door, hanging on for dear life.

𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳.

Ken then unbuckled his own seatbelt before leaning over toward his brother once more so they could both escape the crash.

𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦.

He then took Ky's seatbelt and moved it out of the way before getting out of his own seat to reach for the door handle.

𝘛𝘸𝘰.

He opened the door and pushed Ky out of the car. Ken tried to get out as well, however, he was one second too slow.

𝘖𝘯𝘦.

Time continued and Ken's car continued barreling down the street with him inside it. Ky slammed into the ground, hitting his head on the concrete below him. Once he was able to lean up, Ky was dazed, looking at his brother's car rolling down the street with wide eyes. For him, it was as if he were in the car one moment and teleported out the next. "KEEEEEN!" he shouted as the car eventually came to a sudden halt against a tree.

"Ken!" Ky started stumbling for the tree, only to get halted by police cars, along with M.R.D. armored trucks. He was completely surrounded with nowhere to go. It was the end of the line for him.

"Put your hands up, mutant!" one of the officers shouted to him. Ky had to comply. Sure, he just discovered his ability, but he still had no understanding of it. Even then, reversing time for one second at a time wouldn't get him out of this. Like his brother, he figured that there had to be some sort of limitation to how his time reversal worked.

As Ky put his hands up, he was shot by an anti-mutant weapon, one that disables any and all mutant powers, knocking him out cold and causing him to fall to the ground. While unconscious, Ky began to dream...

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"Damn it! They're surrounding us!" Ky's father spoke to Ky's mother as he peeked outside of their living room window.

"Dad? What's happening?" Ky, who was then only a small child, asked his father. He was the only one who didn't understand what was happening due to being so young. His older brother, Ken, grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the window. "It's okay Ky. We're going to be alright."

"Ken, I want you to listen to me now and listen closely. You and Ky are technically unregistered citizens. Your mother and I did this so that way when this day came, they wouldn't know that you two existed. Do you understand? If you two don't exist, then they will not go looking for you. Take your brother and get out of here."

Ken had this look of disdain in his eyes. He had the feeling that this would happen one day since his parents explained things to him when he was around ten years old. Ken always knew mutants were looked at differently, it's why he wasn't allowed to use his powers. The entire family didn't even use their powers ever, they didn't want to be able to be tracked. Ky was completely in the dark due to not having any powers of his own. To him, his family was nothing more than normal people.

"What's happening?" Ky repeated himself, but he was ignored by the men in his family. Only his mother would give him an answer, kneeling down in front of him and stroking his hair with tears in her eyes. "Bad people are here to hurt us for being different, Ky. We're mutants, we aren't human. Humans think we're dangerous and they want to make us all disappear. You're going to go with your big brother, okay? He knows what to do."

"Are you leaving us?" Ky was starting to cry. He was a little boy, he didn't understand what was happening even with the explanation.

"No, sweetheart. We're just going to go separate for a little while. We'll meet you and your brother later, okay?" Ky's mother wiped his tears, smiling softly at her son for the last time.

"You promise?" Ky asked her.

"I promise." Ky's mother hugged him tightly one final time as Ken and her husband looked on with saddened eyes. She was lying to Ky and they all knew it, however, they needed to keep their game faces on and not let themselves get emotional.

"Alright, Ky. Let's go." Ken told his younger brother, grabbing his hand before dragging him to the back door. Ky took one last look at his family, seeing his mother and father's eyes flashing white. He then looked up at his brother, his eyes also shone white and in an instant, he found himself in their neighbor's backyard.

He and Ken were crouching inside a bush, waiting for Ken's ability to recharge. There were M.R.D. officers everywhere, but due to Ken's ability to stop time, they didn't notice them running past them. Ky had many questions, but Ken covered his mouth with his hand to keep him silent.

After a few moments, Ky and Ken seemingly teleported elsewhere, finding themselves in front of a random home's front porch, hiding behind the railings. Ken still covered his brother's mouth as they still needed to be quiet.

This process of hiding and Ky stopping time to take his brother even further from their home repeated until the two of them were far enough to begin running away normally. As Ken ran with Ky trailing behind him, holding his hand, Ky started asking questions. "Why are we running?" Ky asked. He knew they were bad people chasing them, but that wasn't a good enough answer. He still didn't fully understand.

"It doesn't matter, Ky. Just keep running. No matter what, we keep running."

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Ky opened his eyes, this time in the real world, to find himself inside a cell with strange bracelets on his arms and legs, along with striped clothes. He leaned up, making enough noise for the person on the top bunk to speak. "You up, mate?" the person spoke with an English accent. They sounded young, around the same age as Ky.

"Is this a camp?" Ky asked, leaning out of his bunk bed and looking around his cell. Everything was bland and metallic, including the toilet and sink inside the cell. From what Ky had heard about camps, this seemed far too nice to be one. Compared to what he knew about them, this was a five-star hotel.

"Not a camp, mate. Weapon X facility. They test on us and such. Beats getting gassed, I guess."

Just as this mysterious roommate of Ky's explained, they were not inside any sort of camp. They were now part of one of the many Weapon X facilities scattered all over the world. Some of them tested on humans, injecting them with serums and turning them into mutants to use as their pawns. Others tested on mutants, wanting to figure out ways to copy their abilities to use for themselves.

Ky got up out of his bed and looked out of his cell through the small window, seeing dozens of other cells, along with guards wearing combat armor. They were all equipped with anti-mutant weapons and even if escape was possible, there were far too many of them to fight.

Ky looked back at his roommate, seeing a boy with pale skin, freckles, and glasses looking right back at him. The boy looked as if he were studying him, which would be proven as a fact once he spoke again. "What's your name? My name's Tom."

"I'm Ky."

"Ky. Cool name. What're your powers like?" Tom asked him, still looking at him analytically.

"I can turn back time for one second. I guess. What about you." Ky, seeing this person who was also in this prison with him wearing power dampeners, could infer that this person was in fact a mutant taken prisoner just like him. Since they were roommates, the same age, and mutants, he felt comfortable enough to tell him about his powers, as most people with superpowers do. If you'd keep it a secret, that is cool. Ky doesn't see the point in hiding it.

"I can make almost anything I want from anything I'm given. It's why our room has nothing but a toilet and a sink." as Tom said this, he was waiting for Ky to ask him about what he has made so he could brag about it. However, Ky didn't really care. Despite Ky not asking, Tom continued.

"I once made a bomb using a lighter, along with a mouse and keyboard." Tom spoke as if he were really proud of his ability, which was just as he explained it to be. His brain was able to come up with ways to make things using the most unexpected of materials. Even if he was given something as simple as a clock for their cell, he'd be able to use it to escape somehow.

Ky wasn't even listening to his roommate. All he could think about was his brother. He wondered if Ken was still alive and if he was, he wondered if Ken was in this same facility or if he was sent somewhere else.

As Ky thought to himself, his cell opened and two guards appeared. "1226. You're coming with us." they told Ky, speaking the identification number given to him. Before he could follow their instructions, the guards grabbed him and pulled him out of his cell.

Against his will, they dragged him throughout the facility, ignoring any questions he had for them. It wasn't long until he found himself inside of what appeared to be some sort of testing chamber, equipped with targets, computers, and obstacles.

He wasn't the only prisoner there, as other men and women were there wearing the same striped outfit as he was. The guards forced Ky to sit down next to a young woman with long, brown hair that covered her entire lap as she sat. As the guards walked away, a man in a suit began to talk to the mutants.

"I see everyone is here. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Richard Waller and I am in charge of this facility. Depending on your results today, you will either die or be chosen to take part in my team of mutant hunters." as Mr. Waller said this, a gross expression appeared on all of the mutants' faces. 'He wants us to hunt our own?' Ky thought to himself.

"You're going to have to kill me. There's no way in hell that I'm going to hunt my own people!" a young man with black hair that covered half his face spoke, compelling Mr. Waller to smile at him. "If you say so."

𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙈!

The young man's head exploded, causing his body to immediately flop onto the ground lifelessly. Everyone in the room jolted upon seeing his request being fulfilled so quickly.

"Would anyone else share his sentiment?" Waller asked, though no one said a word. Waller had a huge smile on his face before he clapped his hands and continued to speak.

"Perfect. In that case, welcome to the Dark Angels!"