TEEN POWERS Renewed

Chapter 22

It was a few weeks later now and things had gotten so much calmer around the base now that Ed and Demenshia were no longer a threat. General Wallows had sent all the workers on vacation and allowed the team to take some time off from training in the morning.

He was in his office sipping coffee and watching the news when a special segment came on. It peaked his interest when he saw a picture of his team flash across the screen.

"Thanks to the team of amazing heroes our towns, our cities and homes are safe. No need to fear or fret when we have our very own superheroes looking out for us." The lady on the screen beamed happily. And then a picture of Demenshia and Ed getting escorted into a high security containment center appeared, "Reports of the terrorists known as Edward Koz and Eric Wallows have stated that they've been captured, contained and never to be heard from again." The lady continued happily. A video of them getting escorted in played and it showed Demenshia having a meltdown.

"No, NOOO!" He screamed, pulling away from the police who were dragging them in, "You'll be sorry for this! You'll see!" He yelled some more as they went inside.

General Wallows rolled his eyes and turned off the tv, "He got what he deserved." He muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Benny was by himself in the Dome. He was just sitting on the floor, staring at one of the training dummies and frowning. He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Katie come in. She quietly went up to Benny and then sat on the floor next to him. She glanced at the dummy he was staring at and then looked at the vacant expression on Benny's face.

"Hey..." She finally spoke.

Benny jumped slightly. He hadn't realized Katie was right there, "Oh, hey...I didn't hear you come in..." He spoke distantly.

"You're still thinking about what happened?" Katie questioned, already knowing the answer. Benny gave Katie a confused look, "With Fiona?" Katie added, keeping her eyes on Benny's expression.

Benny exhaled slowly, closing his eyes, "It's all I can think about these days. What I did is going to haunt me forever." He replied, "People say I did the right thing...but it's wrong. Killing should never be the answer." Benny shook his head slowly, "Never."

Katie smiled sadly and put a hand on one of his shoulders, "You know how I said I hated you? After all that happened?" She bit her lip nervously.

"Yeah..." Benny shrugged carelessly.

"I didn't mean it...I was just upset and scared and...Benny, I don't hate you." Katie said gently.

"I'd be ok with it if you did hate me." Benny replied emotionlessly.

"Why's that?" Katie questioned with a puzzled expression.

"Because I hate me." Benny answered, looking down at his hands.

"Don't do that Benny." Katie rolled her eyes and pushed him to the side.

"Hey!" He glared at Katie in annoyance and sat upright again, "Don't do what?"

"Don't be all doom and gloom. That's Aaron's job." Katie smirked. She noticed that Benny was staring at the floor and moved his chin toward her with one finger, "Listen to me very carefully." She spoke slowly, "You are the leader of this team. And as leader of this team you are not expected to be perfect. You might think that you have to be but you don't." She said with a smile. Benny went to say something but Katie put a finger to his mouth, "Just because you make mistakes does not give you the right to hate yourself. You're not allowed to hate yourself because you are a great person. No matter how big or small the mistake you make is you have to learn to live with it and move on...but don't let it consume you. Don't let it take over your life Benny." Katie finished and kept looking him in the eye. Benny looked at Katie with a shocked expression, unable to find the words to say. How had Katie managed to snap him out of his funk so quickly? Katie smiled now and stood up, "I should get going...remember what I said though." She pointed one finger at him and then walked out of the dome. Benny watched her leave, still stunned by Katie's pep talk.