Free Rogue (Exceptional) by Jess Petosa

Rogue from the research facility below Aden’s office.  His yellow gaze trailed around the room at the Guards carefully placed, all armed and ready to shoot if he made any sort of unscripted move.
    Luke knew better than the others that that wouldn’t happen.  He told his father that the security detail wasn’t necessary, but Aden wouldn’t listen.  Luke visited Hez at the facility several times a week.  At first he had gone to check on the progress that the other Rogues were making, and to ask the most intelligent Rogues questions.  In the first week he learned the Rogue’s name—Hez— and that the boy remembered nothing of his past life.  The doctors guessed that he was about nineteen or twenty, but that was as much as their tests showed.  Hez didn’t know what kind of family he came from, who his friends had been, or what he had done when he lived in the eastern City.  His “first” memory was waking up in the facility bed one morning, realizing that he was barely clothed and being watched through a window.  He had actually been there for months, processing through the animalistic stage of becoming a Rogue.
    But now he was almost like an Exceptional in nature, besides his odd looks; with his green skin and large, yellow eyes.  On the way over he had bared his sharp teeth at one of the Guards, almost getting himself shot in the heart before Luke stepped in.  The shot wouldn’t have killed Hez though.  Luke was one of the few that understood his abilities, and knew that he had reflexes so quick, a bullet would have been useless against him.
    Luke considered Hez a friend now, finding that they could relate in some aspects.  Both had shadows of the past that they didn’t want to reveal about themselves at the moment, if they ever did.  Hez also had no idea what the plans of the other Rogues were, or an inclination to join their efforts to bring down the City, so he was practically an ally.
    Tonight, he was meant to seem menacing.  Hez needed to put on a show.
    “Are you sure about this, Luke?” Pax asked from his side.
    “Yes,” he responded. “Besides, I’m not the one going in the ring with him.”
    Luke motioned his head to the corner of the room, where a gruff looking Exceptional sat with his hands tied behind his back.  There weren’t many criminals in the City, but tonight his presence was useful.  This man, called Chow, was a little over thirty years old.  He had murdered two Ordinarys for fun.  Sometimes these acts were overlooked, but this week a criminal was needed. An example needed to be made, not only of this man, but also of Hez.  Luke couldn’t have orchestrated a more perfect situation.
    Behind him the wall vibrated slightly from the crowd gathering inside the main part of the Warehouse.  They were hooting and hollering, waiting not so patiently for the fight to start.  Normally only Exceptionals under the age of eighteen came out to be entertained, but tonight most of the City had crammed around one of the center rings. Extra seating had to be brought in to accommodate the crowd, and most would have to stand to the side and hear about the fight as news was passed back.
    A female Exceptional peeked her head into the room cautiously.  She took in Hez, her mouth hanging slightly ajar, and attempted to gather herself.  “It’s time.”
    Luke nodded and stood, Hez following suit beside him.  The Guards all jumped up at random times, several of them keeping their guns trained on Hez.  Luke found amusement in all of this, wanting to smother their fears with a laugh. Then again, he also wanted the Guards to fear the Rogues.  He wanted them to know how bad it could be.
    Their group formed a circle around Hez, with Luke positioned at what would be considered the front.  He knew that his father was seated in the front row by the fighting ring, waiting to see how this played out.  The crowd parted for them as they drew closer to the ring.  A hush quickly fell over the