I was attacked by some creature thing at the sinkhole.
A creature thing? What the hell, Nic?
It's okay. I fought it off. Whatever it was, it ran into the woods.
Which means it's still out there. Great, that makes me feel better.
We have people looking for it.
These scratches are a little bit deep, but as long as they don't get infected,
you'll be okay.
Now, what did this thing look like?
Um, well, it had skin that looked like decaying flowers and buds,
and the walls of the sinkhole were covered in the same flowers,
so it must be connected to the creature, or maybe the creature was infected there.
A day ago there were no signs of life. The ground was dying.
Well, whatever is there now is very much alive.
Not for long.
I'm sending a team of BIONA techs to go scorched-earth on the sinkhole.
-Kill anything inside it. -What about the other sites?
-What other sites?
We found sinkholes around the world
in places where the Crooked Man killed Powered people.
He killed Charlotte Tuck outside this house.
We have seen no activity here.
-There's no reason to believe that-- -Reason? You're talking reason?
Pat comes back from the dead, a hole in the ground goes crazy,
and my sister is knocked around by a plant monster.
We are way beyond reason.
Dion has a target on his back.
It's like every crazy thing in the universe is gunning for him.
And Pat said that something terrible is coming to Atlanta,
but he meant it was coming here… for Dion.
Light it up.
Suzanne.
Suzanne!
What are you doing?
Why are you here?
You're blasting the sinkhole with CO2?
We are destroying whatever electrical charge is down there
and then sealing it up.
The site is changing. Suzanne, it's evolving. We should be studying it.
A creature crawled out of there and attacked Nicole.
Yes, and I know she's your friend, but you're the one who taught me
to never let my emotions get in the way of science.
We should be trying to understand what we're dealing with.
"We" don't need to do anything, David.
-You're suspended. -All right, standby.
-Because I brought Pat here? -Yes.
I'm trying to help you.
You've spent millions on R&D in the last two years.
-The BIONA board is itching-- -For something they can make billions on?
Yes, I am very aware.
There's been talk of replacing you.
-You've been talking to Cutler? -He reached out.
I'm telling you as a friend.
Suzanne, we can use this.
You should've seen when Rollins put his hands in the soil.
There's something powerful down there.
You went behind my back and let a murderer out of his cell.
I didn't tell you so you wouldn't take the heat.
You didn't ask me because you knew I would say no.
Pat Rollins still has the Crooked Man energy inside him.
Mom?
Mom, are you awake?
Mom, your alarm's going off.
Mom, get up!
It's that late already?
Auntie Kat did say to let you sleep.
I don't have time to sleep.
She rescheduled your Zoom meeting.
Is she your assistant now that she's not a doctor?
No, she's still a doctor.
Telemedicine is medicine, even if it happens from our living room.
School's out because of a gas leak,
which probably means Mr. Campbell got stuck in the bathroom.
-Oh, you.
So, how was the sinkhole?
Um…
It was nothing. False alarm.
-Really? -Mm-hmm. Ms. Suzanne has it taken care of.
Wait, what happened to your arm?
I… fell and scratched it up.
No biggie.
Okay, well, since school's out, can we go to Six Flags?
-You need to stay inside today. -Why?
You said that one day I could take a day off school and…
And then I could go on the Batman ride.
I know, and we will, just not today.
I'm just busy.
Busy with what? You're always busy.
I just have to take care of a couple things.
We will find some time and we will do something fun later. Okay? I promise.
Okay.
Why didn't you wake me?
You needed the sleep. How's your arm?
Come here.
You have no business going to BIONA.
Let them clean up their own mess.
Well, I'm already part of the mess now.
Can I ask Brayden over to hang out?
-Who's Brayden? -New kid at school.
Uh, okay. Have his parents text me… Actually…
I can watch them.
Text Auntie Kat. Okay?
And, uh, is Esperanza and Jonathan coming too?
No, just Brayden.
Okay. Make sure you let Auntie Kat work, and you can't leave the apartment.
-Why? Is this because of Pat? -Partly.
I need to go to BIONA and make sure that you and I and everyone is safe. Okay?
So stay inside.
-Got it. -All right.
So, I have some news.
Mr. Kwame wants me to do a big number at the end of the school musical revue.
With the song you auditioned with?
No, Mr. Kwame said he wasn't "feeling the folk songs,"
so we're gonna do Dreamgirls instead.
I looked it up. It's a musical about Beyoncé.
Well, that's great.
No, it's not. I don't want to be out front.
-I want to be in the chorus. -Why?
-I'm Invisible Girl. That's my superpower. -You're not really invisible, you know?
I know.
-But don't you want to sing? -Yeah, but--
-But what? -I don't want everyone staring at me!
You're awesome.
You're not like anybody else.
And if you want to sit in the back of the chorus and be invisible,
that's fine, but
I'm just saying that when we have super powers,
I think we should share them with others who don't.
And I think it'd be really great if they saw your other superpower.
Singing.
Yeah, I got that.
-Oh, Brayden's here.
-Brayden? -We're gonna hang out.
Oh.
You must be Brayden.
I should probably go introduce myself to your parents.
They're gone. My mom had to go to the store,
so she dropped me out front and left.
Hmm.
What's up, dude? How awesome is it that school's closed today?
Um, you gotta…
-Pound it.
Boom! Come on. I'll show you around the house.
So Pat's been lying to us this entire time.
I don't think he has, actually.
His cells only contained a trace electrical charge.
Only a trace?
And we have safeguards. L5 is temperature-controlled.
There are guards with CO2 guns at the ready.
I still don't trust him.
Me either.
But he did bring back valuable intel from the sinkhole.
The soil reacted to the electrical charge still inside him.
David described it as having an almost magnetic pull to Pat.
The sinkhole must have some of the same electrical charge.
Pat said when we destroyed the Crooked Man,
all that terrible dark energy inside him was dispersed.
So if Pat still has some of it in him, then where did the rest of it go?
Take a look at this.
This was outside of Atlanta.
Less than 24 hours later,
there was a spike in activity at the sinkhole.
And all of a sudden, Pat happens to show up at the same time.
He saw it on the news. Said he came back here to stop it.
That's not the Crooked Man.
That's something new.
-You've read all these comics? -Yup. You like Teen Titans?
I don't really read comic books.
-Is that your superhero design? -Yeah. I've been working on that one.
It's my favorite, but I got a whole bunch.
I'm still working on the color scheme and logo.
It should be all black, like Kylo Ren.
Like Darth Vader and Darth Maul.
Exactly. The cool ones.
Want more snacks?
Actually,
I brought some stuff.
Sour Patch Kids!
Did you read my mind again? That stuff really freaks me out.
So you don't want any? 'Cause, like--
I didn't say that.
-You sure you want to talk to Pat? -I don't want to. I need to.
-If he has the information. -This is my boss. I have to take it.
-If you want to wait-- -I don't.
Hi, Ben.
-Security alert in the Powered area.
All available security please report to the Powered Wing.
I've had it with your lack of self-control.
-You're dangerous. What are you thinking? -Dad!
You could have hurt yourself or us! You almost hurt my son!
Just leave me alone!
Hey. Come here!
What are you doing?!
-Get her to her room. -What the hell is going on?
-She tried to hurt my son. -It was my fault. I surprised her.
He said hello and she blasted everything.
-And tried to escape. -She's not a prisoner.
Janelle. I'm so sorry. You have to believe me.
-I didn't mean to scare you. -Take her to her room.
Her name is Janelle. And where is her mom?
-You didn't even call her mom?
-This is not your concern. -I think it is.
This is not the first time a super-powered person
has done something out of the ordinary.
But it's the first time guards in tactical gear show up.
Can you explain that?
-Janelle. What's going on? -I want to go back to Chicago!
Your daughter had an outburst. Her trainer was alarmed.
She'll be detained until we determine she's no longer a threat.
Let's dial back the temperature some, yeah?
I'll take it from here, Kurt. You can go. In fact, you all can go.
I didn't mean for things to go this far. I was just scared for my son.
Whatever your reasoning is, calls like that have consequences.
Those guards have guns.
-The emergency has passed. -I know. I'm sorry.
Maybe the Powered Wing isn't good for you.
I'm sorry, Mom.
-Fernando, I'm sorry if she scared you. -I'm not scared of her, I…
I think she's amazing.
-Thank you for stepping in. -Glad I was here.
Janelle, what happened?
I blew something up.
Well, sometimes you've got to blow stuff up.
I mean, I know I want to blow stuff up sometimes.
Like right now.
It felt good!
Do you want to try?
How do I feel? Like crap.
I'm super fatigued, high fever, headache, irritability.
More than usual.
Okay, and how long have you been having symptoms?
Well, two days ago I was fine. Then yesterday was a blur.
Today, I woke up feeling like I got run over by a Mack truck.
And then there's this.
Can you lean in a bit closer, please?
You see those bumps? Looks like there's something growing out of 'em.
My guess is that you have some type of infection.
The skin irritation was likely caused by external stimuli.
Stimuli?
Something that you came into contact with.
It…
It looks like it's gotten under your skin and is causing a subdermal infection.
Have you been in the woods, out in nature?
I ride the Transit with a bunch of animals, but… How do I fix it?
What?
Yeah, I'm working on it.
It'll be done when it's done.
Maybe you shouldn't be at work.
You wanna pay my mortgage? Are you gonna prescribe something or not?
Sir, you need to go to urgent care.
I don't have time for urgent care. Why do you think I'm calling this line?
Useless!
You have a lot of cool stuff.
Me and my mom painted in here last summer when I turned ten.
She let me pick out everything myself.
My mom died when I was four.
I can't imagine not having my mom. Sometimes I can barely remember my dad.
But he left us some videos.
Let's go walk around.
I'm not supposed to leave the house today. I promised my mom.
She's not here. Your aunt's working.
You could teleport out and they won't know.
She can track where I am on my phone.
Then leave your phone here. Put it on silent so she won't know.
-If you're a chicken-- -I'm not.
See that corner? Meet you there.
I can teleport, but how are you gonna get past my aunt?
Don't worry about it. Just go.
Hey, Brayden.
You okay?
I was never here.
-You were never here.
Don't be nervous. Okay?
Because we're here for you.
I'm gonna step outside with your mom.
We'll leave you and Tevin to just go crazy, like the Prince song.
Prince?
Really?
-It hurts, don't it? -Are we old?
Janelle. This is a safe space.
You're not gonna hurt me or yourself.
And Tevin's a great coach. Dion loves him.
I'll let you get to it.
I appreciate what you're trying to do, but none of this makes sense.
There's no manual for how to raise a Powered kid.
I just want it to be over.
The world is hard enough already.
Coming to BIONA was supposed to be better for her.
-Were things rough back home? -Off the rails.
There was an explosion in the science lab at her school.
They arrested her.
Okay, Janelle…
My God.
They put a 24-hour psychiatric hold on her.
Wouldn't let us see her.
Fifteen-year-old girl, alone and scared.
That's horrible. What did you do?
I fought the system.
Or I tried to.
Didn't matter that Janelle was an honors student.
They'll just keep on making their assumptions.
Just like always.
When I saw those guards with her,
it all came flooding back.
That should have never happened.
I will talk to Suzanne about it and bring it up with the Advisory Board.
I'm… I'm so sorry.
Thank you.
-What were all those vans at school? -Well, they were from BIONA.
My dad used to work there. Maybe they can help you with your powers.
No. You can't tell them about me.
Okay.
Why were they at school?
Well, they were at the sinkhole. The one we're not allowed to play by.
Well, something happened there a couple of years ago. A fight.
-What kind of fight? -I don't want to talk about it.
You had to fight Pat?
What's a Crooked Man?
I told you not to read my mind!
A lightning monster?
Daddy!
-Where's Pat now? -Locked up at BIONA.
He used to be my friend, but he turned into the Crooked Man and did bad things.
He killed my dad, attacked me and my mom, and killed my friend Charlotte.
-Charlotte Tuck? -You knew Charlotte?
She came to visit me on our farm once, after the Crooked Man killed my dad.
He killed your dad?
Because he had powers.
He could grow anything as fast as he wanted.
Like that tomato.
He'd fix things on the farm using his powers,
but his powers couldn't fix my mom after she got sick.
Let's go.
Those guys are always picking on younger kids.
They won't pick on us.
Well, well, look at the kindergartners out on a walk.
We're fifth-graders. It's not nice to pick on people smaller than you.
-You gonna go cry to Mommy? -No.
And he's not gonna let you pick on anyone anymore.
How's he gonna stop me?
-Show him.
What are you gonna do, huh?
Do it.
Hey. How'd you do that?
-Ah!
Get away from me!
-Get off!
I… I swear I didn't know. I thought the Crooked Man was gone forever.
Well, he's not. And a piece of him is still in you.
And now all this stuff is happening.
I… I came back because it was happening. To help BIONA stop it.
Not that being stuck in a cell in L5 is helping anyone.
Well, it's helping me.
As far as the world was concerned, Pat Rollins was dead.
I came back to help,
and maybe you and me together can stop whatever terrible thing is out there.
For… For Dion's sake.
Don't say his name.
Once this is over, you go back to being dead,
and far away from here.
So, this crooked energy thing that you saw and the sinkhole, how is it all connected?
Well…
The dark energy that left me is out there
and I still have a-a piece of it.
But whatever killed that guy in the parking lot,
whatever brought the sinkhole to life, that has a-a much bigger piece.
So,
something or someone
has all the bad stuff that used to be inside of you?
Another Crooked Man.
Potentially way worse.
When I touched the soil at the sinkhole, I could feel the anger and hatred
festering down there.
Old grievances that were never resolved and that just went underground.
Dion said a Civil War battle took place there.
Oh, that's, um…
That's terrifying.
The dark energy takes the worst part of you and empowers it.
That's what it did… to me.
Imagine what it could do with all the hate buried in that soil.
Those bullies won't bother you anymore.
Yeah. I was like, "Tree branch. Whack! You want some of this?"
-Felt good to hit 'em, didn't it? -It felt great.
You can get back at anybody who's ever picked on you or hurt somebody you love.
Like Mr. Campbell. Or one of my mom's clients who didn't pay her.
Or Pat.
You could go to that BIONA place and hurt Pat like he hurt us.
I'm not supposed to use my powers to hurt people.
It's not right.
Why not? Those bullies deserved it.
And Pat deserves way worse.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Huh?
Dude, that's like Spider-Man basics!
We have the power, Dion.
We get to decide what's right and what's wrong.
What was that?
Did you kill it?
No. I turned its mind off.
How?
You use your mind to move things. I use my mind to control things.
Um…
I probably should get home before my aunt knows I'm gone.
You don't have to go home.
You could go to a candy store or an arcade.
I never pay for anything. I just make people give me stuff.
We can do whatever we want.
If the energy is amassing in Atlanta, then how do we stop it?
Maybe we can turn the science that created it against it.
Meaning?
Everybody else got good stuff in Iceland. I only got the bad.
It was killing me.
The only thing that made me feel better was… consuming Powered people.
And their good energy quieted the bad.
At… You know, at least for a little while.
Yeah, you thought killing Dion could cure you.
Dion's special.
More powerful than any of them, but… But also, he was…
-What?
An… An answer to me.
My opposite.
How? Why?
I… I can only tell you how it felt.
Dion was born from you and from the great Mark Warren,
and the two of you were so in love, and
I was unhappy and jealous.
I felt I never got what I deserved, which was everything.
And Dion just was
pure goodness, and I…
I wanted that.
But I-I don't feel like that now, and I-I just…
I wanna figure out how to help.
So what if we could use Powered people to counteract whatever bad is out there?
-Maybe Dion could-- -You're not getting near my son.
No, sorry. Okay. I'm not talking about Dion himself.
I'm talking about… his-his powers.
His DNA.
Mark studied his DNA to try and learn more about his powers.
Yeah. So can you imagine the possibilities if we could bottle powers?
I mean, the right cocktail of Powered DNA can cure anything.
I mean, it's good versus bad. It's classic comic book stuff.
I mean, it could keep Dion safe.
Yeah.
It could keep everybody safe.
-Whoa. Oh my… Are you okay?
-Oh, uh, okay. Your arm is bleeding. -I'm fine.
Okay. You don't look fine.
I… was attacked by someone.
Something. I don't know. At the sinkhole.
Can I see it?
Oh, gosh, Nicole.
-Whoa. -What's happening?
It's reacting.
To me. Or to the electrical charge inside me.
My God. It feels like it's alive under my skin.
-Oh my God. Uh… -What does that mean?
Whatever bad was in that sinkhole, whatever bad is still inside me--
Is inside me now.
Dion, wait!
I have to get home. I'm gonna get in trouble.
My aunt's gonna be worried and someone's gonna wonder where you are too.
No, they won't. I don't have anyone.
You still have your mom.
-I'm sorry if the dog thing scared you. -It did scare me.
I don't like you reading my mind,
and you want me to do bad stuff with my powers.
You don't want to be friends?
I didn't say that, but I just don't…
I just don't wanna lie to my mom anymore, or the Triangle of Justice.
-Stop calling them that. It's stupid. -No, it's not!
We're alike, you and me. No one else understands us.
I want to go home!
I'll deal with your aunt. I can turn her off too, like the dog!
Dion! Get over here now!
Leave her alone!
-Why did you leave the house? -Ugh. I'm sorry. Can we just please drive?
You're just wandering the streets by yourself?
I was with Brayden.
Who?
Never mind. Just can we please drive?
I guess I fell asleep.
We're not gonna bother your mom with this.
So far, your labs are inconclusive.
-We'll figure out what it is. -Any changes at the sinkhole?
Readings have come down again. No sign of the thing we saw down there.
Can you sign?
-You think you destroyed it? -Seems like.
We'll make sure it's safe before they reopen the school.
Right now, our focus is on getting you better.
Well, Pat theorized that Powered people's DNA
might be the cure to whatever is coursing through my veins.
And whatever else bad is out there.
Interesting theory. I'll talk to our team about it.
I think we need Pat.
What?
This rash, it reacted to Pat.
It was excited by his energy.
And the sinkhole reacted to Pat.
He said he could feel what it felt, like he knew what it wanted.
I think Pat could be the key to stopping all of this.
He's an engineer. He's not a scientist.
He was studying how to use powers to cure himself two years ago.
And he knows Mark's research backwards and forwards.
If he had access to your Powered DNA lab--
Let him out of his cell?
Under heavy guard.
I mean, there's something terrible out there,
and there's something terrible in me. I can feel it. It's alive and growing.
Pat was the Crooked Man.
He understands it.
And you trust that he actually wants to help us?
No.
But I'm not sure we have a choice.
How you feeling?
Super tired, weak,
a little pissed off.
Well, whatever malady you've got don't know who it's messing with.
-The way you handled those BIONA guards. -Thank you for helping with Janelle.
Yeah. I'm just glad you're not throwing something at me.
-Do you mind if we sit for a second? -Yeah. Do you need anything? Water?
No, I'm okay.
Hmm.
I don't know much about you from your life before this.
Probably a good thing.
BIONA helped me get refocused, which is something I definitely needed.
Let's just say you caught me at an upswing in my life.
Well, lucky me.
Nah, I'm the lucky one.
So, um,
I was…
I was gonna see if
you maybe wanted to go get that dinner?
I have to stay here tonight. In the medical unit.
They just want to keep an eye on me and make sure everything's okay.
All right. Then I'm staying. I'm keeping you company.
You don't have to do that.
I know.
But I want to.
So, food. What are we thinking?
Tacos, uh…
Whatever you want.
Actually…
I need to ask you for a favor.
-How was your day with Brayden? -I don't know.
I thought we had stuff in common, but he's kind of weird.
Weird? How?
No, he's… Never mind. He's okay.
When are you coming home?
I can't make it back tonight.
Uh, things at BIONA are more complicated than we thought.
But you've never been gone for work overnight before.
I know, but I've got a surprise for you.
Auntie Kat's gonna take you out to the cabin!
And Tevin's going. You guys can train out in the real world.
Awesome! Can you come?
I can't make it this time, but when we go to the cabin,
we'll go for a few days, sleep outside and look at the constellations.
With Dad's telescope? -Mm-hmm.
Definitely.
Esperanza sent me this really funny video. Want to see it?
Mm-hmm, definitely.
Wow.
A lot's changed at BIONA since you worked here.
The world's changed.
So this is all Powered people's DNA and blood samples and data?
Mm-hmm.
We both want Nicole to get better.
You said you came back to help?
Here's your chance.
Hey, Glen.
You wanted to see me?
I, um…
I got a call from Cutler on your behalf.
He seems very invested in having you remain in BIONA.
We can do this together, Suzanne. I know how to deal with Cutler.
Sink out of your skis a little on this one.
Let me help you.
I don't need your help.
Unless you wouldn't mind removing your knife from my back.
Now you're getting dramatic.
-Look, he's more comfortable with me. -I wonder why that is.
I helped build this company,
and you come in here bro-ing it up with Cutler,
positioning yourself as my partner.
You're not my partner, David. You never were.
You know, that chip on your shoulder, it's not doing you any favors.
Well, let me guess. I'd be so much prettier if I just smiled.
Dion is not your friend.
I am your only friend.
You killed my dad.
Pat killed your dad because Pat was weak.
Do you want to be weak like Pat?
No.
As long as you are with me, no one can hurt you.
Except for Dion.
He can destroy us both.
He abandoned you.
He doesn't need you, because he has everything.
And you have nothing.
No one,
except for me.
When I'm strong enough, we will destroy Dion together
and you will have everything.
I don't know.
I'm meeting a client for a drink and I'm already late.
-Here you go. Thank you. -Thanks.
-Watch out. -I gotta go.
Ow!
Oh, gosh.