Nightmare

## Summary

*Nightmare* is the second episode of the first season of *Genotype*

*Nightmares haunt the teens; Sam goes back to school; Theo makes some realizations about himself; Jem tries to get help; Charlie learns more about an organization.*

## Plot

### Act One

Kat stands outside Charlies house as Charlie sleeps. In Charlies dream, her mother tries to fight her on a rooftop. Her mother beats her up as Charlie doesn't fight back, she calls her weak and blames her for the deaths of the people she loves. She says that she's neither a hero nor villain, she's nothing. Then, a dark Charlie shows up to fight her and calls her pathetic. She appears in an underground cave where Sam and Jem say they need to get out of there since "the wolf" is there. They say Elle is holding it off and Jem collapses, saying he's hurt. He tells her that she needs to choose between him and Elle. She refuses but then Elle screams. Charlie wakes up in the bed, confused, with Elle sleeping over. Her nose is bleeding. In the morning, she brings Theo breakfast, seeing the hold in the wall and Theo having a panic attack. She calms him down. Apparently Theo didn't know about his power. At school, Jem and Ace aren't talking. People are whispering about Sam. Jem stops Elle and asks about Sam. She says they let him out of rehab. Sam is uncomfortable that people are staring but Charlie says their king is back. They then talk about Luke, who's not getting better. Sam says it's okay to feel guilty even if their dad never does. Charlie tells him not to talk like Abby, who used to ingrain that hero nonsense into them. Charlie then sees Kat and angrily goes after her. Sam tries to stop her but Charlie knows that Kat gave her the nightmares last night and she betrayed them, working for the bad guys. Sam wants her to be calm and reasonable but Charlie says Brightfields wasn't reasonable when they tortured him for months. Sam doesn't think it was a good idea to break him out since bad people also got out, bringing up their father. Sam doesn't want her getting involved in Supe business anymore and she agrees to it. On a rooftop, Jem as Riptide, runs into a man who tries to fight him, saying he's his worst nightmare. He turns into Jems mother. Jem knows she isn't real and tries to use his power but it doesn't work. She then chokes him with her power. She wants him to say something but he doesn't know what it is. He then sees through the illusion and it's Kat instead of Darcy. She tells him about the illusions and she puts him a new one. He's on a bridge. His mom is there and she wants to return to the water. She then tells him "it's coming" and they're all gonna die, and she jumps off the bridge. He leaps forward but appears back on the rooftop. Kat pushes him off telling him to die. He wakes up on the roof, confused and terrified.

### Act Two

Charlie brings Theo dinner and asks him about his memory, which hasn't come back. They talk about trust, since Charlie still wears the mask. She says it's best if nobody there knows who she is. Theo questions if it's because they're all criminals and suggests they're like Brightfields. Charlie assures him they're not Brightfields and he's free to leave, but he has nowhere else to go. Charlie then goes to visit Alex, who's still having fits about being held captive while Sam brings her food. Charlie reveals her power and Alex realizes they're like her. Charlie says she was the one who set them free. Charlie is upset that Alex attacked the city with lightening and hurt her hurt. Alex says that's on her and the water hero. She baits Charlie but Sam stops Charlie from retaliating. Alex says that they're just like Brightfields, keeping her there against her will. Charlie leaves. Jem calls Ace but reaches his voicemail. Jem begs him to answer his calls because he needs someone to talk to, knowing he's avoiding him. He throws rocks at Charlie's window and invites her to talk. She goes over to his house while he quickly hides anything nerdy in his room. She finds his teddy bear and he talks about how his brother used to tease him about it but it reminded him of his brother, him calling his brother "Teddy". Charlie mentions how she's never seen his brother and how there's not even any pictures of him around the house. Jem says it was because he never liked pictures and his dad didn't trust him since he was always out causing trouble. They begin talking about Brightfields and Charlie mentions the experiments. Charlie asks him if he believes it and Jem talks about how the people who escaped are obviously different, like the electric girl. He says that she can't be a good guy since she hurt Luke and attacked the city. Charlie defends her, saying Brightfields screwed with their minds. She then blames Riptide for putting the water on the ground, making Jem feel self-conscious. She says how this whole superhero and villain thing is stupid, why can't people just be what they want. Jem says that some people want to do bad things. They get into talking about Mr.Crimson. Jem is scared of him but Charlie says that if he was gonna do something, he probably would've done it by now. Jem suggests that maybe he's leading up to it and for now he's sending out people like the electrogirl or somebody giving them nightmares. Charlie catches this and realizes, deciding she has to leave. Before she does, she lets him know that if he ever wants to talk, she's there. At school, Charlie finds Kat and interrogates her, knowing she's giving them the nightmares. Kat admits that there are things that Charlie doesn't know, like who is forcing her to use her power. She tells her about "Ember", an organization killing Supes. She thinks they started the church fire because they're the reason Supes were there. They know everything about every Supe, including their real identity. She thinks they aren't attacking them head on because they're afraid of them fighting back. She talks about how Ember set the fire but Brightfields collected the Supes for experiments, Ember would've preferred if they all died. Charlie asks if everyone in the fire survived including Jem's brother. Kat doesn't know since there could've been humans in there that night and some could've died. Charlie asks about X-Static. Kat assumes Ember killed her too.

### Act Three

Elle stops Charlie at school and tells her that Luke is missing, he just disappeared from the hospital. Charlie freaks out and leaves. Behind the school, Jem is attacked by Jake and other jocks. They blame Jem for Luke's disappearance since he visited him before he went missing. They think it's because Jem likes Charlie. Jem says he didn't do anything but Jake threatens him, saying if Luke doesn't show up to the game friday night, they'll kill him. Jem gets angry and stops them when they're walking away. Jem punches him. When the jocks punce, Jem manages to fight back and beat all of them to the ground. When he's done, he's happy with his new found abilities. Charlie storms up to Sam, looking for Kat, saying that she was lying about Ember, this group that's killing people and making Kat give them nightmares. Sam asks why she wants to kill Kat and Charlie says it isn't a coincidence Kat shows up and Luke goes missing. Sam doesn't think it was Kat since she only creates illusions, suggesting she focus on Ember. Charlie doesn't think it was them since Luke is human and his dad owns Brightfields. Sam realizes that's how she got in, she used Luke. But she seems to care about him so Sam is confused on what the truth is since you can't be a supervillain and care about people. Charlie says she cares about him and they're dad cares about them. Sam reminds her of their sister, X-Static. Charlie said that X-Static tried to thwart his plans but Sam says X-Static and Abby were the same person. Charlie then tells him that Ember killed her. Sam questions if she believes what Kat told her and she doesn't know what to believe. Sam promises that they'll find Luke. Elsewhere, Jem visits Ace's house and convinces his mom, Elena, to let him in. Jem surprises Ace, who's still afraid of him, and Jem apologizes. Ace doesn't wanna hear it and he wants him out. Jem tells him to throw the scissors at him, wanting to gain his trust back. Ace does as he says and Jem catches the scissors before they hit him. He says his power is growing and he has super agility now. He promises he won't freak out again as he's come to terms with his power and he's ready to be a hero. At Charlie's house, she hears noises outside the back door and attacks the culprit with a dagger. When she sees who she has pinned to the floor, she realizes it's Luke. She's happy to see him but she's angry he made her worry. She asks him where his burns are but he's just as confused. She then sees electricity cackle in his eyes and she's shocked.

### Act Four

Luke explains to Charlie how he woke up and he couldn't stop running, super fast. He tells her he didn't know who else to go to because his dad locks up people like him. She tells him it'll be okay. He tells her there's more. When he was running, he saw a creature like a huge wolf. They were both there and so was the new superhero that people are talking about, Riptide. Elle was there too but she was dead. He said he was scared and he ran back the way he came. Charlie suggests that it was a dream since he almost died and he was on a lot of meds. He is convinced it was real but Charlie is apphrensive, saying that he thinks he ran into the future and saw a creature that killed Elle. Luke talks about Supes setting their city a flame, absorbing electricity, and exploding a fire hydrant with his mind but him seeing the future is impossible? Charlie isn't completely convinced but she says he can stay with her for now. She leaves him at her house, telling him not to cause trouble. Back with Ace and Jem on a walk, Ace admits he doesn't forgive Jem but he'll be his sensei so Jem doesn't turn into Mr.Crimson. He also suggests they should go to Ace's uncle who worked at Brightfields. Jem doesn't think it's a good idea since they do bad things to Supes there. Jem is scared to go back there for grief counselling. Ace says he had the powers before, he just didn't know it. Jem says his mom always hinted at this stuff but his dad convinced him she was crazy. Ace mentions how there's only a 50% chance a Supe kid is born with only one Supe parent. Ace wants Jem to trust him so they can talk to his uncle about this stuff. Jem reluctantly agrees. Charlie visits Theo. She asks him if he's remembering anything. He says he just has flashes of the fire and at Brightfields but they kept making him forget in experiments. She tells him her father didn't set the fire but she's not sure who did. They talk about giving him a name since she doesn't wanna call him nothing. He suggests "Super nothing" and she tells him that he's not nothing. He thanks her for getting him out of Brightfields. She comes up with the name "Phoenix" because he rose from the ashes and shoots laser beams. She then takes him to the training room where her and Sam set up a dummy for him to shoot at. Charlie demonstrates for him and walks him through it. He ends up hitting the target and burning it. Sam tells Theo to go take a break and he tells Charlie to give Alex a chance. She reminds him of Luke, who now has super speed and staying with him. He asks her about the game Friday, saying they're dead without him. Charlie is angry that Sam is already back on the team and tells him Luke is not playing because he'll expose himself. Ace and Jem go to Brightfields.

### Act Five

Lina, Jem's therapist runs into him. She asks him about how he is, if he's had any anxiety about the escaped Supes. Jem asks her if she has any anxiety about people knowing about the experiments, making things awkward. Lina assures them there were no experiments, they just kept dangerous Supes away from society. Ace's uncle, Carlos, arrives and takes them to his office. Ace confirms doctor-patient confidentiality. Calos assures them they can trust him. After seeing their apprehensiveness to tell him, he reveals he knew Jem's mother, Darcy, was a Supe and he was waiting to see if Jem was one too. Jem asks why his powers only appeared now. Carlos says some Supes have traumatic events that bring out their power, others have trained since they were young. He says Supes with only half the genes develop slower. Carlos offers Jem a chance to stay at Brightfields and they can help him but Jem isn't up for that. They decide to deal with things themselves. Back at the Crimson Lair, Charlie visits Alex. They start up a conversation to which Alex insults her. When Charlie is going to leave, Alex stops her and says she's sorry, she's not good with people since she hasn't been out of society too long. Charlie agrees to let it slide since she's been trapped in Brightfields experimented on. Charlie asks her why she tried to destroy the city. Alex doesn't wanna say so Charlie asks how she got her power. Alex says she was a freak experiment at Brightfields, they gave it to her. Charlie reveals Alex has Charlie's dead sister's powers. Alex apologizes and says she doesn't wanna be good or bad, she just wants to exist. Charlie decides they have that in common. Alex reveals that somebody told her to attack the square. She doesn't know who they are but they seem to know everything. Charlie proposes they work together and Alex helps her capture somebody. At Jem's house, Jem and Ace create a murder board, connecting all the Supes they know about plus the mysteries surrounding Eupolis. In the Crimson Lair, Victor talks to all the Supes. He says they are his friends and they are now safe from Brightfields. A guy, Ron, doesn't wanna be locked up. Charlie starts an argument with him but Victor stops it and says that he can leave but he's not protected and he's not his friend anymore, Charlie saying they're enemies. Ron takes this as a threat and starts a fight with Charlie, physically. Charlie wins and Victor tells the others to be careful because Charlie has his anger. This worries Sam. Elsewhere, Kat goes to Ember and begs to be let go since she tried her best and she can't watch their nightmares anymore. A lady who looks exactly like Jem's mother tells her it's not good enough and if she doesn't complete her mission, she'll find someone who can.