Chapter 11: Phase Two
After destroying the Cripo Project in Nazareth, Transition returned to his apartment in Metropolis.
He placed the files he had taken from the facility on his table.
One document immediately caught his attention.
PROJECT CRIPO: PHASE TWO.
Derek sat down and opened it.
He began reading.
The more he read, the more serious his expression became.
Phase Two was not limited to Nazareth.
The documents suggested that the government had been searching for people connected to previous test subjects.
Some of those people had been taken from different countries.
Some had disappeared without explanation.
Derek kept turning the pages.
Then he saw something that made him stop.
Several names belonged to people from his extended family.
Derek stared at the page.
"No."
He turned another page.
More names.
Different countries.
Different relatives.
The government had been tracking members of his family who were scattered across the world.
Derek slowly closed the file.
"So that's why."
He remembered his cousin in Nazareth.
He remembered the people who had been kidnapped.
Then he remembered what had happened in his first life.
His family had already been taken from him once.
Now he was discovering that the government had been targeting his relatives again.
Derek stood up.
"I thought Cripo was about experiments."
He looked at the documents.
"But this is bigger."
He walked toward the window.
"They're looking for my family."
His anger began building.
Not because he suddenly wanted to become a hero.
Not because he wanted to save everyone.
He wanted revenge.
"They took my cousin."
He clenched his fist.
"And now they're looking for the rest of them."
Derek looked back at the files.
"If they're coming for my family…"
His expression became cold.
"…then I'll come for them first."
Suddenly, an alarm sounded outside.
Derek looked through the window.
A superhero was moving through the streets at incredible speed.
His name was Doordash.
Doordash had a speed-based ability that allowed him to move almost instantly from one location to another.
He had been hunting Transition for weeks.
Doordash spotted Derek through the window.
"There you are!"
He accelerated toward the apartment.
Derek didn't move.
Doordash believed he had the advantage.
"I'll finish this before you can even react!"
He rushed toward Derek.
But the moment Doordash activated his ability, Derek disappeared.
Doordash's attack missed.
He stopped.
"What?"
Derek appeared behind him.
Doordash turned around.
"How did you—"
Derek interrupted him.
"You're fast."
Doordash smiled.
"You can't keep up with me."
Derek looked at him.
"I don't need to."
Doordash suddenly vanished and attempted to attack again.
Derek transitioned him.
Doordash disappeared.
A second later, he found himself standing in Antarctica.
The temperature was brutally cold.
There was no city.
No shelter.
No one nearby.
Doordash looked around in disbelief.
"Where am I?"
Back in Metropolis, Derek returned to his apartment.
He sat down.
He opened his book.
He continued reading.
The government documents were still spread across the table.
Derek wasn't celebrating.
He wasn't thinking about being a hero.
He was thinking about Phase Two.
And the possibility that more members of his family were being targeted.
He turned another page.
Another hero arrived.
Then another.
They had all been tracking him.
Some wanted to arrest him.
Some considered him a threat.
Some had already heard about the Cripo Project and believed Transition was responsible for everything that had happened there.
Derek didn't care.
Whenever one of them attacked, he transitioned them away.
Some were defeated.
Some were removed from the battlefield.
And some who continued attacking him were killed.
Derek didn't hesitate.
His anger had changed the way he reacted to threats.
The old Derek would have tried to disable them.
The old Derek would have given them another chance.
Transition didn't.
He continued reading.
One hero broke through the apartment window.
Transition didn't even look up.
The hero charged toward him.
Derek transitioned the hero away.
Another hero attacked from behind.
Transition moved the attack somewhere else.
Another attempted to restrain him.
The restraints disappeared before they could reach him.
Derek continued reading.
The book from the Cripo facility contained information about Phase Two that wasn't included in the main government files.
It described locations.
Research facilities.
Names.
Transport routes.
And something else.
A list of potential subjects.
Derek's eyes narrowed.
He recognized another family name.
His anger returned immediately.
"They're still doing it."
He closed the book.
For several seconds, Derek stood completely still.
Then he picked up the Phase Two documents.
"This isn't over."
He looked toward the city.
"The government thinks they're hunting me."
He smiled coldly.
"They're wrong."
Derek disappeared.
Somewhere else in the world, another Cripo facility was still operating.
And Transition had just discovered its location.
The investigation into Phase Two had begun.
But this time, Derek wasn't searching for answers simply because he wanted to understand the government.
He was searching because he believed his family was being hunted.
And anyone who stood between him and the truth was now in danger.