"No, not again!"

He dragged me to the stretcher again, restraining me. My pulse quickened as he attached the drip again.

"Please! Don't turn it on, please." I cried.

I really couldn't go through that unbearable pain again. He ignored me again, turning the switch on. For one second there was nothing. But that one second was the worst. I dreaded the moment the pain would come.

The pain hit me and ran me over. I screamed, sobbing, crying for it to stop. I reached a point where no sound would even come out and I just endured it in silence.

I felt like I would rather die than be in this pain. After two hours, I was back in my room. I didn't even have the energy to get up and knock.

"Rita? Are you okay..?" Lena's tired voice asked.

"No! I'm not okay!" I replied in my mind. I couldn't say a single word aloud.

"What the hell did I do to deserve this?"

"You don't deserve to be treated like this. I don't. No one does. It's the people who do this to us that you should blame."

"It was a rhetorical question...So, what's your plan?"

"Well..."
.
.
.

I didn't know the exact time when the man would come I wanted to be ready for him. The person assigned to Lena would also be arriving around the same time.

According to her, there wasn't enough equipment for all of us on the ship so we were brought out in batches. She had also communicated to the people in the rooms around her.

I managed to get the shower head out of the wall. It did take me an hour to finally get it out, and yeah, my hands were red and sore after, but it was worth it.(And I may or may not have done pull ups on it to get it out.)

Though it did cause a bit of a plumbing problem and now the floor was full of water. In a way, it was better. Because the floor would be more slippery. I stood at the side of the door, where it would swing to when opened. I held the showerhead in my hand. It was just the right length.

He barged in, as usual. Now I was behind the opened door, against the wall. Not seeing me, he stepped further into the room. I walked up behind him. By the time he looked back, it was already too late for him.

I hit his head using the showerhead with all my force. He collapsed onto the ground. Right then, I didn't care even if he was dead. I'd seen no regret in his face when he was torturing me. I would do whatever it took to get out of this hell.

Funny, how a blow to the head could bring down even a giant like him. I ran out of the room, gripping the showerhead tightly in my hands. It was the only weapon I had. I looked to my side to find Lena next to me with a bloody showerhead too.

I was beginning to like this girl. I looked at her face. No remorse either. Not all the people she had talked to had been successful. More than half of them had been, though. I guess they were as desperate as me to escape.

We ran around, distracting people who were bringing out other helpless victims. They looked around, not knowing whether to focus on the person in their hands, or on the rogue prisoners running around.

Some of them left the person in their hands and chased after us. The suddenly freed people were brought to our side by Lena's telepathy and others who ran around communicating to others.

Pretty soon utter chaos ensued in the hall. All the guards rushed there, attempting to control the situation. Me, Lena and Mark (a guy with a tracking ability she'd found) ran into the upper deck.

"Mark, where is he?" Lena asked.

"I'm trying... okay I've got it, right from here!"

We turned right to face a room with the door shut with a lock. I hit the lock with the showerhead and it gave way. I opened the door and saw a boy with his hands and legs tied.

"Lena...? Is that you?"

"Axel!" She hugged him.

"Uh.. don't wanna ruin the moment, but you guys kinda look like murderous psychopaths right now holding bloody...are those showerheads?" He asked.

"No time for that. I'll explain later." Lena replied, quickly untying him.

Once he was standing up, he said,"I need to find a guard, someone with a strong ability."

"Wait, what? We came to you because we thought you had a strong ability..? Lena?" I asked.

"He does have one. He can copy other people's powers, but he needs to touch their mana mark with his." She said as we ran into the lower deck again. He could copy others...? Wasn't that a bit too powerful?

On our way down a guard was lying unconscious. He took his hand such that their mana marks touched. He closed his eyes, as if sampling a dish, and said, "Electricity. Good, but I have to be careful. Come on!"

We reached the hall. Many people were lying unconscious on the ground. Some of the adult prisoners had really put up a fight and there were thrice as many prisoners as the guards.

But about one third of the guards were still standing. I counted ten. I looked at the Axel. His eyes were focused on the guards in front of him. He was our only hope of somehow making it out of here. There were however, a few problems.

One: We were outnumbered.

Two: I'd heard that copied powers weren't as powerful as the original ones.

Three: We were on a ship. This meant that even if we defeated them, we had to get this thing to a port or harbour.

Four: He'd have to be extremely careful not to get us electrocuted too.

Chances of escape: Not looking very good right now.

He was on them in a second. It happened almost too fast for my eyes to register. He brought down bolts of lightning on about five of them. His shots were precise and accurate. I admired his ability to control someone else's power so easily.

Five left. One of them was flying. Levitation ability. And all of them were holding guns and shooting. Great. I decided to be useful. I snuck up behind one of them and had almost smashed her head when she looked back at me.

Suddenly, I couldn't move. Her gaze was just too powerful. She wrapped her arm around my throat and held me. She took her gun, pressing it to the side of my head. Oh hell no. I wasn't going to let her take me hostage.

I looked at the Axel. He was touching the hands of those whom had fainted. He would get a new power and attack the standing ones. I observed he could hold upto three abilities at a time.

I didn't know if he cared enough to stop fighting because I was taken hostage, but I knew I was more useful alive than dead to the guard holding me right now. She wouldn't shoot yet.

I jabbed at her ribs with my elbow. She doubled over in pain. I brought the showerhead onto her head. Blood splattered on the floor of the ship. I looked up, panting, to see Axel watching me with his mouth open in...awe? Amazement? Horror? Whatever.

"Axel! Watch out!" Lena said to him as the guard who was flying fired a bullet. He immediately turned back and took him down with a lightning bolt, but the bullet hit his arm.

There weren't any guards left. The floor was full of fainted (or dead, who knows) people, guns, and used bullets. And now his blood too. He gasped and cried out in pain, clutching his arm.

I rushed to his side, ready to heal him - but then I stopped. The Healer's Touch was legal. If they found out I was one, they might turn me in. I couldn't trust them yet. "Isn't there any Terra on this ship?" I asked.

They began searching frantically but couldn't find any. Lena asked the captain who we had tied up but he refused to speak. This guy was losing blood fast. I couldn't bear to see him in pain any longer. I knelt beside him, taking his arm.

He looked at me in confusion. I touched his arm and he flinched. I healed him slowly and completely. The bullet had gone through and was on the floor. Thank god. I don't know if I could have took it out.

After ten minutes, his arm was good as new. I looked at their faces. None of them looked shocked. Then I realized why. They had been here for a quite a long time. None of them knew about the Healer's Touch being legal. It was just too good to be true.

I got up as if it was the most normal thing for me to be a healer. Were they judging me?

"Thank you so much. I'm Axel Celeste. Nice to meet you."
He had brown hair and bright green eyes, the kind that drew you in. His features where chiseled, his jawline sharp. I realised I'd been staring at him.

"Uh...yeah, you're welcome. I'm Rita. Nice to meet you too. And thank you. You saved all of us." I replied awkwardly.

We reached out our hands to shake them, and withdrew them together as we realized both of our hands were covered in blood. I wiped my hands on the floor. I realised I'd been wearing the same bloodstained t-shirt and my hair was a mess. Yeesh. So much for first impressions.

He got up and went to Lena.
"Are you hurt?" He asked her.

"Nah, you should be more worried about yourself. What the heck were you so focused on that you didn't notice someone firing a bullet at you, huh???"

He looked at me sheepishly. What, dude? I never told you to stare at me bashing someone's head in.

Mark had gone to release our fellow prisoners who the guards had put back in their rooms. Lena went to the captain's cabin to try and steer the ship. That left me and Axel in the hall. Awkward silence filled the air. God, Rita, say something! What do I even talk about?

"Your power's pretty cool," I told him.

"Um..yeah, yours too."

I scoffed. "You don't have to be polite. Trust me, I've heard it all."

"Hey, you saved me today. Doesn't that count as something?"

"Only because Terra wasn't here..." I muttered.

Lena and Mark came back along with all the other people.

"Does anyone here know how to steer a ship?" Lena asked. A few of the adults raised their hands. Mark went forward and led one of them into the cabin.

Lena had a phone with her. "Look what I found!" She exclaimed. "Come on, let's check the news."

"No!" I shouted. They looked at me, confused.
"Er.. it's complicated. You've been here a week now, right? I can tell you about what's happened."

"But you've been here for two days too. There could be news even you don't know about. Also, what's the harm in checking?"

I stood back, defeated.
"Oh my god! Axel, perilanters were spotted!"

"Wait, what?!" He came closer, looking at the screen.

"What's this? The Healer's Touch has been made legal..." He eyed me and continued reading aloud. "The government has promised 10,000 dollars for handing over a healer."

Their eyes were fixed on me. Shoot. I was done for.

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