Part 1
Axel didn't know what had just happened. He was about to knock on his old friend's door when it suddenly flung open and someone rushed out and tackled him, knocking the breath out of him.
“!!??gaaaaaah!!” He yelled in confusion and pain.
He heard a high pitched cry right at the same time.
“Where have you been!!!!!!????”
“Wah?! What the hell?”
He was thrown on to the lawn with a girl on his abdomen tightly holding onto him. He wasn't imagining it, there was really a girl there! Thing was, she wasn't just some random girl, she seemed way too familiar.
“what the hell?wait, are you-?..” He stammered.
The girl finally looked up at him with large irritated eyes. Axel got a good look at her features and winced. She appeared to be around his age but was obviously shorter than him. She had long brown hair that reached her back and was curled around the edges. She had brown eyes and wore a beige colored wool sweater with a white top under and black leggings with some uggs on. She also had a burgundy scarf wrapped around her neck.
“you!! Why haven't you been answering my calls?! Am i just chopped liver!!!” The girl said punching his stomach repeatedly.
“huh?!wait wait!!please stop shaking me!!”
The browned haired girl then decided to grab his collar and shake him furiously. With that short fused temper, It finally dawned on him who this hot headed girl was.
“ah!C-Casey?Is that you?!i’m sorry!!but please let go of me!!” He pleaded. This girl was his childhood friend named Casey Smith. He had just not recognized her. She must've gone through a lot of change during the course of one year.
Hearing him say her name and acknowledge her, she finally stopped shaking him. The boy laid limply as she slightly widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows.
“oh? Well, I guess I'll let you go…” She said sounding happy. She let him go and with a soft thump, Axel hit the floor. She got off of him and he unsteadily got up on his feet. Casey stood with her hands on her hips and watched him closely sighing.
“let's go inside . it's soo cold out here…” She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered before quickly running inside her house.
Axel wondered how she could go from angry to normal so fast. Though, he had always wondered that. When they were kids, he once took a doll of hers and tore it apart on accident. She was of course furious but easily cooled down after he swore he would get her a new one. Funny enough, he never did buy her that doll...
After realizing that Axel had not come inside yet, Casey poked her head out of the front door.
“hey?come on! The hot air is going to get out!!” She yelled.
Axel snapped out of his trance and went inside her house. The inside looked a lot bigger than the outside of the house. The living room looked just like the one in his memories from when he would come here as a kid. it brought a nice taste of nostalgia to be in there again.
“I see that this place hasn't changed much at all.”
“yeah well, it's only been about a year. Have a seat. I'll get you something to drink.” She said walking toward the kitchen. Axel sat on one of the blue couches in her living room and quietly waited for Casey. She finally came back with two cups of hot chocolate in her hand after about ten minutes. She handed one to Axel.
“here you go,” She said.
“than-ow!that's hot!”
The cup of hot chocolate was burning hot. Axel held his burning hand and blew at it to cool it down. He looked at Casey who seemed to be perplexed while holding the boiling cup of hot chocolate.
“? Oh, i forget that not everyone is like me. Sorry.”
She put the cups of hot chocolate down on the coffee table in front of the couch and sat next to Axel. He stared at her hands and was fascinated by the fact that they didn't hurt.
“i see your power is still there and in proper working order. Have you figured out how exactly you can…..do what you do?”
Casey sighed
“No. I don't really know yet. I may never know really.”
“Ah, i see.... Hold on, How did you even know i was here?you suddenly tackled me just as i was about to knock.” He asked sounding confused.
She held her chin with her hand and stared up.
“about that, I've been able to detect people with their body heat recently. I sense familiar ones and strange ones. I can only do it from a certain distance though.. and i sensed yours. Somehow i just knew it was yours..”
She looked at him and smiled. From that distance he suddenly noticed just how close she was to him. Was she actually closer than she was before? Suddenly feeling a bit shy, he fidgeted awkwardly.
“o-oh. That makes sense….” He said nervously.
“So what’s the deal? How come you haven’t been over or answered my calls in such a long time?” Casey said this and laid back while using her phone. Once she started to act like her ususal self, AXel in turn began to feel comfortable and laid back as well.
“I was busy helping my parents move plus my phone number was changed since I kept getting calls from an unknown number all day and night.”
“That was probably me you asshole!! My number is different as well!!” She yelled at him while sitting up and clenching her fists.
“Oh, I never thought of that” Axel said as he placed his fingers on his chin. Seeing her get so flustered though really made him chuckle.
Axel was finally able to laugh genuinely and seeing him like that Casey couldn’t help but giggle too. From there, they were finally able to talk with each other more openly like before. He learned that school was really fun for her, and she learned that school was actually really stressful for him. Both their parents were okay, and they discussed funny stories that happened over the course of one year.
Finally,After catching up with Casey for more than an hour, Axel decided that it was about time to leave.
“well, it's been fun but, it's getting really late. I think it's about time I leave.” He announced.
Casey suddenly pouted and crossed her legs.
“Huh? What do you mean, you can just spend the night.” She offered. Axel got up to leave and looked down at Casey who was still sitting on the sofa.
"Hm, I suppose I could do that. But I didn't bring anything so I'd have to go back home anyway. What about next time?"
"Hmmm, yeah that's cool too. But in the meantime how about you promise me something?" She asked standing up to be level with him.
“what is it?”
“You're going to start showing up here more often and avoid becoming a stranger!” She demanded.
Axel looked at her face that held no hints of a joke and answered chuckling.
“sure thing!"
She got up and held her fists in front of her chest.
“I'll also make sure to stop by as well!" She threw in. Since it was Casey it really wasn't a big deal so he agreed. After that was settled, he once again began his departure.
“Well, I'm going. Say hi to your parents for me.” He reached for the doorknob and was about to leave when suddenly a hand grabbed his own. Casey's hand.
“w-what? is there something else?” He asked.
Casey remained silent for a bit and then spoke with a soft tone of voice. Her face expressed vulnerability in that moment.
“it was really nice seeing you. Please be careful on your way home.”
At that moment, a soft glow emanated from the palm of her hand that was holding Axel’s. He was about to pull away when he suddenly felt heat reach his hand other than Casey's own. Did she increase her own body heat? He did not know the answer so, he just calmly smiled. Even though he couldn't understand very well, he unerstood her gesture perfectly. It was quite heart warming...
“sure, thank-”
That's when it hit. His heart suddenly felt cold. His entire torso felt like it was getting frozen from top to bottom and the feeling began from the hand Casey was grabbing. He instinctively pulled away and gasped.
“!!”
“what in the-”
From the looks of it, Casey had probably felt a similar feeling.
(This is just like that time!) He thought
He recognized this feeling. It was the same feeling he got when he shook hands with the girl he met earlier. Why had he gotten it now?what was going on?
Casey was utterly confused and stammered.
“A-axe. W-what was that?” she said sounding frightened.
She even reverted back to calling him by his old nickname she gave him. She probably said it unconsciously. Anyway, Axel did not know how to answer.
“I….I'm not sure. Listen I gotta go. Take care of yourself..” He said turning away.
“w-wait!”
Casey yelled after him but Axel was already out the door.
Axel walked down a path he used to take after leaving Casey's house when he was younger. At this point, he was really anxious. He wanted to know what had happened when he shook that girl’s hand. What if maybe she did something that doesn't allow him to have regular physical contact with people? Or if she implanted something inside him?
What if?
What if?
What if?
He couldn't make sense of it all.. Thinking about it now, he kind of felt bad for leaving Casey without an explanation but he just couldn't think of anything else to do.
He just wanted to go home and pretend like today never happened. He inspected his body once more like before and took in a deep breath. He reached a busy part of his route fairly far from Casey’s house where lots of cars and people were usually around but this time hardly anyone was there. It was around 9 at night but for this place to be barren already was strange. However, instead of finding it weird, he was glad that he wouldn’t have to deal with the usual hi and bye’s from strangers. Right now he was just craving a sandwich.
(Things can't get any stranger right?) he told himself in an attempt to lighten up his mood.
BOOM
As if stomping on his wishes, an explosion sounded off across the street from him. He didn’t immediately turn around, instead he stood dumbfounded and let the wind ruffle his hair. Then, ever so slightly, he turned his head toward the blast with cold sweat flowing down his forehead.
The building, about 20 stories high, now had a huge hole on the side of it. The blast must’ve impacted the first three floors at least. He couldn’t really assess the damage since flames and smoke covered most of it. From where he was standing he could smell the sickening smoke.
His legs tensed up and locked and he fell on his rear. His body began to fail him and he began to hyperventilate. What would he do? What should he do?
All of a sudden, the news from the other day he watched played in his mind.
Terrorist attacks are rising higher than ever and people are advised to be careful while running errands and even walking down the street. In the event of a terrorist attack, please do not delay and run!
(T-t-t-t-that’s easier said than done lady!!)
It was happening! It was really happening! He had to run!
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As soon as this realization hit him, Axel finally felt adrenaline rush through him. He jumped up and began to run the other direction with all he had. And just as he was about to think that he was lucky no one was around, people started swarming out of the nearby buildings by the dozen panicking and pointing at the burning building.
For the first time in his life, he felt his body turn cold to the touch. He stopped running and yelled
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!RUN!!!!”
But his frantic screams didn’t reach their ears. He then felt a low rumble coming from the ground. He nervously looked down at his shaking legs. The ground was shaking softly. It wasn’t enough to attract attention away from the fire but it was there. He looked at the building and something inside him told him exactly what that meant.
[it’ll fall…] Something said.
And at this moment, something caught his eye amidst the flames. There was something standing there….someone…. The cloaked figure stood watching him and just like that disappeared. He looked around and it looked like no one else had spotted it.
It was a loud crack that finally snapped him back to reality. Time began to slow as his thoughts began to quicken. At this point the only thing that was audible was his own pulse.
*Beat*Beat*
The people noticed it too. They gasped and experienced the same thing he did. He watched as one another grabbed each other to protect themselves from the inevitable. Some scrambled to get away. Some began to pray, some began to cry. One mother desperately clung to her two children as he watched them. The little girl in her arms shed one tear but it felt like it’d never reach the ground because the scene before him was moving frame by frame despite it actually happening in a matter of seconds
*Beat*beat*beat*
The building was visibly tilting now toward them. Soon it would be over now, all here would die, he would die, he could do nothing…… his wide eyed stare was all he could muster out. His body would not respond any longer and tears began to overflow in his eyes.
*Beat*Beat*Beat*Beat*
It was…..over…….he would die here like the coward he was…..
As he watched people try and evacuate, he noticed something. Under a large mass of rubble from the building, he spotted someone, a girl who was struggling to break free. Flailing around and desperately trying to claw her way out, she yelled for help but nobody would listen.
"Help! Please, someone help!!!" She pleaded through sobs. The entire lower part of her body had been trapped and there was little to nothing she could do. Flames suddenly began spreading all around her and soon she would be consumed.....
No one was there to help, no human could help. He was so afraid, he was not ready to die, he was not ready to die.... So then, why?
In those moments, I remember wondering why on earth i was doing something so stupid, but at the same time i thought to myself, how could I ever face God if I didn't? Was it out of fear of God, or out of fear of betraying who I am, who I wanted to be?.... Who knows!
Despite all of that! He ran toward her with everything he had. Going against the wave of people he dodged them to the best of his ability. It didn't take long to reach her and when he did he immediately started digging.
"Shit!shit!shit!shit!shit!shit!shit!shit!shit!shit!....!!!" He exclaimed terrified as he continued to try and lighten the load on her body. At the same time, the girl watched with wonder as she saw him do that. It appeared that she had recognized him.
"What on earth are you doing here?" She exclaimed while trying to push herself out. While still pushing rocks off of her, he quickly threw in a glance and finally made out who she was. She was none other than the girl that tagged along with Carlos and also the one who pulled out his notebook from his bag earlier that day.
Yes, it was true that she had bullied me for a very long time, I also know that she was the one that labeled me as "hero" to make fun of me. If I were a bad person, I probably would've left her to die there, though the impulse did cross my mind truth be told. But I am not a bad person, so in that one moment I wasn't really thinking about any of that. What I was thinking was that it was really great that I would finally be able to show her something. Something that would inevitably change her way of thinking forever.
"What.....what kind of person do you think I am?!" He sobbed while pushing on the largest piece of rubble. She stopped for a moment and looked up at him.
"And what kind of "hero" do you think I'd be if I just sat there and did nothing?!!" He yelled as he finally got the last piece to move. With that, she was finally able to scramble out with some help of Axel. She appeared to not be able to move well so Axel placed her arm around his neck and helped her run. Nothing was said in that moment, they simply ran to safety as Axel's tears jumped out of his eyelids and in to the wind. Despite things looking good, the building behind them was still about to come down no matter what.
(Damn it!! We can't escape in time!!) He thought feeling powerless once more. That's when it spoke to him again...
[Even after all this time, despite appearing different on the outside you're still the same on the inside, and that's what I love most about you!] An angelic voice said. He was about to remark when he suddenly felt his body ignite with strength.
[So don't worry, as long as we're together nothing can stop us!]
His eyes snapped open and a powerful glow filled his eyes. He crouched and bursted forward with such force that the ground below him cracked. In the next instant, everyone in the area had dissappeared.
But that wasn’t enough. The building was already collapsing fast and was going to collide with the one directly in front of it. People were still clearly inside that one and would surely die, but for some reason he knew he could save them. With a completely straight face he jumped up at the falling building and swung his fist forward.
That was all it took. With one swift motion the entire building shot away toward the heavens as it tore apart in the process. A huge amount of wind pressure swirled the surrounding area but other than that no further damage was made.
He had done it.
As his consciousness returned to him, his expression changed into one of pure amazement. By now, the building was nothing but a twinkle in the sky. Had he really done that!?
Just as he tried to put his hands up in a cheer, a massive pain engulfed his body. He grimaced and looked behind him. His expression slowly changed to that of fear. To his horror, his arm was bent the wrong way and clearly the bones within it were shattered. His legs? It felt like every single one of his muscles had been torn to shreds. The worst part? He was still in mid air….
[uh oh…...I may have overdone it…..] was the last thing he heard before gravity took its toll and he was personally introduced to the ground, then everything went silent and dark.
Part 2
“hmm….”
She let out a deep sigh.
The day is now Tuesday morning. She had been walking around town almost all night stopping only to sleep for about an hour once she felt comfortable doing so. Her name was Maria. A young girl in her late teens. She looked to be about 19 but she was really only 17, about to be 18 soon though!
She had a well kept body that she was very fond of and skin that had been maintained for quite some time, her pride and joy in a way. She was a girl who was about 5 feet 6 inches, she wasn't too short which was wonderful. She had long golden brown hair and eyes that were the same shade. She wore a long white dress that complimented her body's curves and had frills on the bottom edges of it. Although this was an ideal outfit for every other day use, it was not an outfit for every single day use.
(Where am i supposed to go now?....) She wondered.
Despite her looks, she was now homeless. After she had gotten “the news” , she was kicked out by her family. She had broken up with her boyfriend prior to being kicked out and now had no way to contact him. Even if she wanted to, her phone was not charged.
Now, how could her parents possibly be that heartless one might ask? Well, the world may never know if she were being honest. Never in a million years did she think this would happen to her, her situation honestly hadn't fully sunk in yet.
All of this had started by making one huge mistake. One that Maria will both be grateful for and upset about one day. Now, she just had to focus on finding a place to stay. She was only allowed to take the clothes on her back by her parents, nothing else. Luckily, she had some money in her pockets. Well, inside the one white purse she had around her shoulders.
She walked along the streets and entered a coffee shop, the warm temperature from the inside felt absolutely heavenly. She ordered a cup of hot chocolate as she rubbed her hands together and sat in deep thought. The chill of winter's air reached her now warm skin causing her to shiver. She was not even allowed to bring a sweater unfortunately so she had to endure.
The news played in the background as she daydreamt. Red words moved along the screen. It read: ‘Collapsing building mysteriously obliterated, no clear witness explanation’
A couple moments later, the waitress arrived with her order.
“here you go miss.”
“Oh! thank you” She gratefully responded.
The waitress placed the cup of chocolate on the table and bowed a little before leaving. Maria sipped on her hot chocolate and flinched a little.
“ow...that's hot…” She remarked holding her hand over her mouth.
She then thought about her next move. Walking around like this was a no go, she had to do something and quick lest she freeze to death. She did have one idea in mind and that was to go to her boyfriend's house. Well, her Ex-boyfriend now. She at least knew where he lived. Hopefully, he would take her in.
She stayed in the shop for a couple more minutes while she enjoyed the only warmth available to her and then decided to head out. The sooner she could find shelter, the better.
“well, time to go…”
After paying for her drink, Maria stepped out to begin her journey.
Part 3
“uh……...gruuuuuhhhh…….”
Axel opened his eyes and let out a groan. His body hurt all over. Especially his legs. They felt like they were filled with led. He tried to sit up using his aching arms but with little luck. He could see that he was practically covered in bandages. His arms, legs , and half his torso. His legs looked especially bad. He was laying on a bed in a bedroom that looked to be empty except for the one bed.
“hey, don't try and move yet. You're still recovering” He heard a familiar voice. It was a girl's voice.
He looked over at the girl who was trying to stop him from sitting up and froze. The first thing he noticed were two long jet black twin tails attached to a girl who looked to be about 13.
“wah! You're that girl from yesterday!!”
The day before, Axel had run into this girl who was looking for someone. That wasn't the strangest thing that happened though. When they shook hands to go their separate ways, a cold feeling entered Axel's chest and after that he magically started experiencing phenomenons way out of the ordinary. He didn't know what the cause of that was but something told Axel that she knew why since she hurriedly left after that.
She frowned.
“Is there something wrong with that? Now quit moving! I'm trying to help you sit up!”
After a bit of a struggle, the girl finally managed to control Axel and have him sit up. The reason he stopped struggling appeared to be because he had remembered something.
“Wait a minute, what happened to everyone??What in the world did I do?!!!!! How did I do that??!!!!”
Axel continued to yell many questions while flailing around his bandaged arms seemingly trying to get up. The girl really wanted to be patient with him and was doing a good job at it....... or at least she was up until he back handed her face on accident. She blinked multiple times and brought her head back in a questioning manner as if utterly appalled.
“Oh no you didn't you little shit...... Stop asking so many questions and sit still!!!” she yelled as she sucker punched Axel in the arm. Axel winced and did as he was told while biting his quivering lip.
“The people at the scene are alright. Most of them passed out so they don’t really recall anything. Those that saw can't really remember seeing anything other than a blur and then it was all over” She replied rubbing her now red cheek. The boy relaxed his shoulders and fell back on his bed.
“The culprit of the explosion wasn’t found but they suspect it to be a superhuman. As for that building you destroyed, no one was in it at the time fortunately”
The boy relaxed his shoulders even more but he seemed to be deep in thought. He furrowed his brow in frustration. At the same time, he felt relieved. For a split second he thought he had killed people possibly still inside the collapsing building...
The girl sighed.
“let's start with introductions. My name is Ella.” She said regaining her composure.
The boy looked up and nodded.
“Ella?...” He whispered.
“good. Now what is your name?” She asked
“Axel Ison.”
Ella widened her eyes just a bit after hearing his last name.
“Ison huh?....well, I'm sure you have lots of questions to ask so I'll just start from the beginning. This should hopefully give you an answer.” She said twirling her hair with her fingers.
Axel nodded and decided to focus on the girl.
“First of all, as I'm sure you are aware of, I was looking for someone yesterday. I know you found it strange that I kept asking you strange questions but i was testing you to see how you would react. It’s a way of weeding out those involved with the supernatural and those who aren’t. My Captain taught it to me.”
“Captain? from where?” He asked confused.
“You’ve heard of superhumans before haven't you? And how we are supposedly a danger to the community?”
Axel backed up against the bed he was laying on and suddenly felt danger.
“n-no way. This is a joke right? And you're apart of t-that?!”
Axel started to shake nervously and began looking for a way out again. There was no possible way that she was one of them. A small girl like her couldn’t possibly hurt a fly!......right? Then why was she here? What had she done to him? Was she here to recruit him?! Would she eliminate him right here and now?! Not a chance, not this guy.
“Will you relax!? Why would you believe everything the media tells you!!I won’t hurt you!” Ella pleaded. She had to physically restrain Axel so he would listen and not run away.
“ngah!!Then why are you strangling me!!!??bafgh??fine!!then what do you people want?who are you after?me?”
Ella let go of Axel when he finally began to calm down and sighed before continuing to speak.
“The peacekeepers that are being presented to you and the rest of the world are not actually peacekeepers. They are imposters that have set out to give us a bad name. A ploy which has succeeded. We actual peacekeepers are exactly what the name suggest, we are those superhumans which want to bring peace to the world. The ones that are out there causing havoc, such as yesterday's incident, are like us but from an enemy group. They also possess the same power we do known as the Soul of Shadows”
As Axel heard her spill all that mumbo jumbo, he smirked.
“Haha, that name doesn't roll off the tongue at all.”
“don't tell me that. I'm not the creator. Anyways, I can go more in depth about our power later but for now I have more important things to talk to you about.”
Ella turned and pulled up a chair that was next to Axel's bed. She sat on it and crossed her slender arms and legs.
"Now then, I'm sure you've been told how the world turned on the superhumans, correct? Well, I can confidently tell you that that is true, however that's not the full story. My predecessors did not wish to wage war with the world, it went against our very reason for living, to protect life. So they chose to hide in hopes that our pacifistic protest would be heard but even to this day it seemls like it was all for naught. We have lost so many along the way and yet we still seem to have gotten nowhere." Ella clenched her fists as she spoke and seemed to struggle with continuing but did so anyway.
"What's worse, during the early stages of the war against superhumans an internal supernatural conflict arose. The peacekeepers brought it upon themselves to quickly collect certain objects that if left in the wrong hands could spell doom for not only mankind but the entire universe itself... Due to the nature of such circumstances, the world leaders had no idea of what was going on, but they knew, and it was all the more reason to ignore the world and focus on them.."
“Who's them?what are these objects??”
Ella could tell that Axel was very lost by the way he looked. She understood him. This was sudden after all, and this was only the tip of the iceberg. But unfortunately, she didn't have time to go into detail.
“I'm sorry but that's as much as I'm going to tell you right now. In the meantime, there's something else we have to discuss.”
She adjusted herself in her chair before going on.
"Somewhere along the way, the peacekeepers were blessed with a mysterious power that helped in many different combat situations. It was a power that no ordinary superhuman could be born with.”
“What? You had an avatar or something?” Axel mocked.
“Let's keep your face the only funny thing here, okay? Now, as I was saying, this ability came to be known as Power Magnet because of its peculiar features. What's more, the ability itself chooses who gets to wield it.”
“Wait wait....somehow I get the feeling that this is a bad thing....”
Axel looked tense and hugged himself already dreading her response.
“Anybody could still use it but not to its full potential. If the ability finds a worthy wielder while being used by someone else, it switches to said person. IF it does switch forcefully then that would mean that the chosen person would then become the permanent wielder of power magnet until death...... or so the legend goes”
Axel held his breath for a moment and felt his pupils dilate.
“Are you saying?.....”
Ella exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment before bringing down the bomb on him, forever changing his life..
“You guessed it! I was the one holding on to Power Magnet up until I shook your hand. Congratulations "Avatar", You've been chosen!" She said holding up jazz hands and a smile, but it was only her because Axel Ison was most certainly NOT laughing....