FLAWLESS CAPTURE

Natoru decided to infiltrate the apartment of a Tenso in broad daylight because he thought, 'Why not?' l

"Who are you?" Hubris said, although he would rather he weren't one, he is the light Tenso. Seeing someone flying through the window isn't the most bizarre thing he has seen in his lifetime, so he remained relatively calm, trying to get answers from Natoru, who stood in front of him.

Natoru looks like a man in his mid-twenties, although he is much older; he had yellow hair with yellow eyes and wore a pair of headphones around his neck. He sat on the bed like he owns the place before he responded, "It's rude to ask others for their name without giving your own name first."

Yeah, like that would fly in this kind of situation. This is another trait of special people; they are the weirdest of the bunch.

"Anyways, I'm Natoru." Natoru said, "And, as I am a god, the honour is all yours. If you would just follow me,

What's this guy on about?

Hubris decided the best course of action was to play dumb. He had no idea who this guy was, and he didn't want to find out, but he knew one thing for sure: whatever kind of world the man in front of him wants to drag him into, it is the farthest thing from normal.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Hubris said. Just leave.

“I obviously didn't expect you would just straight up admit it," Natoru said. "Don't you want to know about your powers and why you have them in the first place?"

Of course I do. Hubris was curious; who wouldn't be? But, to him, it wasn't worth losing his last chances at normalcy. So he weighed the risks and returns and continued playing dumb, hoping he would see his intent and eventually leave, but Natoru had other plans.

"There are too many people here; you’ll never know who’s listening. Let’s go to the base," Natoru said before raising a hand.

The base—what's the base? And did he say "go"? I have no interest in going. This guy won't kidnap me, right? That's against the law, *snap*. Hubris held on to hope to the very last moment as he fell unconscious.

Natoru got to him just before he fell to the floor. He had snapped his fingers just before Hubris lost consciousness.

"You really are different from him," Natoru said vaguely as he smiled, "but I bet he would have liked you."

***

Hubris regained consciousness. He found himself in a large room which was a combination of a dining room and sitting room; it could easily fit 20 of his little apartments and then some. He was seated on one of seven chairs surrounding the long dining table. Surprised to see he wasn’t bound, he tried to guess what kind of situation he was in. The only thing he knows for sure is that he has been kidnapped.

While Hubris was still thinking of the next thing to do, a plate was placed in front of him, and he finally noticed he wasn’t alone in the room.

"Hi, I am Trixie. "Nice to meet you," the girl said. "Don't hold back on my account; feel free to dig in."

She has purple hair with black eyes and looks to be seventeen. What stood out about her most was she had a pretty odd choice of a shirt. All in all, she looked pretty at home in this place. Hubris couldn't see the possibility that, like him, she had also been kidnapped.

She's acting like your average shy girl but giving me food. Hubris knew this was bait and he was the catch. It is a basic kidnapping strategy after all; he has the skill to tell when he is in these kinds of situations, another reason he is special. 'What would the average Joe do?' has always been his thought on stuff like this. He highly doubts the average Joe would just eat the food he was served in the home of his kidnappers, but then again, the average person wouldn't be so calm in this situation. Given the way he was kidnapped, he narrowed it down to "an average person would want to embarrass himself in front of a girl" and decided he might as well give in to the temptation. The bottom line is, he was hungry.

Hubris could not remember the last time he ate homemade food; it had been a long time since he lived with his last foster parents, so it was mostly convenience store food for him.

Not bad, he thought as he took a bite. It isn’t as good as it looks, but it beats convenience store food. The only problem is…

Trixie stared at him with an excited look on her face… That’s never a good sign.

"So, how do you feel?" Trixie finally broke the silence after two minutes of staring. "Do you feel different in any way?"

She switched from shy to extrovert. "It's not bad, although it could use a little—" Wait a minute, what was the question she asked?

"I mean, do you feel any different?"

Oh great, I didn't mishear. "Different? What do you—" Hubris realised his feet and the ground were not connected. "Whoa..." Great, another thing that doesn't happen to normal people.

"It works; I finally tested it, and it works."

Now she’s giddy. Hubris already knew from the start that he was being baited, but he didn't expect to be a test subject. He tried to get back to the ground, but to no avail; he was stuck midair and ascending. In hindsight, accepting food from strangers is never a good idea, no matter the situation.

"Ok, you've had your fun; can you please get me down now?" Hubris asked, "Um, can you hear me?"

Hubris stayed calm, asking for help, as he ascended; again, not the weirdest thing that has happened to him. Trixie pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket and checked something off it before handing another potion to Hubris.

"Try this next," Trixie said. She levitated to reach Hubris level, but she didn't need some kind of potion to do it. "This is another untested potion."

"Why are you warning me this time?"

"It's not like you have any other choice, except, you know, someone else who can get you down from there."

Hubris spent an entire hour testing weird potions afloat.

"Hey Hubris, it looks like my apprentice got you good," Natoru said. "Trixie, I think he has had enough."

When did he get here? Hubris was certain that if another person had joined them in the room, he would have known.

"Well, I was just about done anyways," Trixie said, and she snapped her fingers the same way Natoru does; all the potion effects were negated, and Hubris slowly descended until he was back on his chair.

"I got eight out of eleven potions right," Trixie said, showing Natoru the checklist.

"That’s good and all, but what did I say about warning people before making them chug down one of your potions?"

"I did warn him, see," she said, pointing to her shirt, which read I AM GOING TO POISON YOU.

"I guess that’s good enough," said Natoru before turning to Hubris. "So, why didn't you try to defend yourself?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hubris said; he had no intention of dropping the act.

"I know you have elemental powers; I have known for some time now," Natoru said.

"I really have no idea what you are talking about."

I guess I should take things slow until he feels safe enough to open up. Natoru took a soda from the tote bag he'd just brought and slurped it. "Light," Natoru said mid-sip; this made Hubris flinch a little.

"I am not following," Hubris said. Take the hint.

"That and," Natoru held up three fingers, "I have been stalking for three years."

Hubris felt a chill run down his spine.

“So I ask again, don’t you want to learn about why you have your powers?”

What’s exactly… Hubris looked at Natoru, who smiled back at his gaze … Is this guy’s goal?

That makes two criminal counts; maybe if I can get him jailed, it would resolve everything. "No way, you've been watching me for that long?" Hubris was confident that he could tell when he was being watched.

"I'm pretty confident in my concealment skills." Natoru pulled out a pack of potato chips from the tote bag and snapped his fingers; it appeared next to Trixie, who was writing something in a book on the couch. "Your favourite."

"Thanks," Trixie said as she opened the pack.

"Oh... don't you worry, I wasn't watching you 24/7." Natoru said, turning back to Hubris; he looked pretty relaxed for someone who was talking about legal crimes. "I have other targets I am spying on."

Times five on all charges.

"Before I say anything else, you have to accept my offer."

"Why do you want me to join so badly? What's in it for you?"

"I will get to keep two promises in one go," said Natoru, holding up two of his fingers. "Besides, it's not like you have anything better to do."

"Ok, let's assume I do have these 'powers' you say I have. What do you need me for?"

"Restoring the balance of the world or something like that. Also, don't you want to know how to use your powers? Right now you only know the basics, and that would get you nowhere."

Hubris then felt something click inside of him; his words were no longer his as he blurted out, "You are right, I do have powers, but I really don't want to get involved."

"So you're finally admitting it," Natoru said.

"What…no, I didn't mean to say"—Hubris covered his mouth with both hands before he could say any more. What happened?.

From the corner of his eye, Hubris saw Trixie tick away yet another thing from her list: a potion. You have got to be kidding me.

"At least we are making progress now," Natoru said, taking a seat next to Hubris. "Are you ready to accept my offer now?"

"What now? Are you going to use me for some science project or perhaps take every last bit of my powers for yourself?"

"Just what do you take me for? I just want to help you control your powers." Natoru said, He pulled out another pack of potato chips and a can of soda from his bag and offered it to Hubris, who looked at it suspiciously. "Don't worry, it's safe; there are no potions this time. I will explain the story of this current world to you."

"I didn't ask for a history lesson," Hubris said; he had already learnt every single creation theory of the world.

"It isn't something they teach you in school," Natoru said before he started. “This is the truth of the world…”