The two silhouettes of the footsteps turned into a violet haired man in an S.P.A lab coat and a white haired boy by his side.
“What…. what are you…. doing here?” Axel said wiping away his tears.
“I am here to fulfil a promise” O’Brian said taking a look at the white haired boy beside him.
“Through the power of science and observation, I-” he said, clearing his throat. “I am going to attempt to awaken your powers.”
Axel’s eyes grew wide. He began to approach O’Brian in a skeptical tone. Was the universe playing tricks on him? Or was this a dream too?
“Who… who are you guys and why do you want to help me!? And why is he staring at me all the time?" Axel said pointing a finger at 619.
619’s glowing blue eyes came to a cease leaving behind a sad and solemn look on his face as he took a step back from Axel. He took a deep sigh and stared down at the ground as his droopy white hair covered his expression.
“What's wrong?” said O’Brian sinisterly.
“Are we not worthy of your trust?”
In a flash of brilliance, a bolt of lightning went off in the distance garnishing the scene in a vibrant white light. The flash illuminated O’Brian’s glasses displaying an ominous glare that flared up his spectacles.
Beside him, also revealed by the light, 619’s hair had become wet and droopy and now drooped over the tips of his eyes like he was a caveman.
With the resounding sound of thunder that followed, they seemed like two sinister villains that had come to take advantage of Axel in his moment of disparity.
As Axel admired the two he hopelessly gazed at the ground, bearing a strong look of apathy in his expression.
“Make no mistake” O’Brian began “This is no voluntary act. We will attempt to awaken your powers, here and now. The only say you have is in the effort you provide us.”
Axel drew his hands to his head squeezing it tight, trying to sustain his sanity. He buried his head into his lap below the sulking tree as O’Brian slowly crept forward.
“Axel” 619 said in a low voice. “I know I don't know you….. And….. I know you don't know me but you have to trust me! I know what you’re going through!”
“Do you?” Axel said as he began to cry” “What kind of Shifter is born without powers?”
“Enough of this!” O’Brian bellowed in frustration.
“This childish sobbing has gone on long enough!” O’Brian said, grabbing Axel by the hand forcing him on his feet.
“You really think you have it bad? You honestly think that you have it the worse?”
“Stop!” said Axel trying to free himself from O’Brian’s unyielding grasp.
“Take a look at this!” O’Brian said forcing Axels head into the ground.
In front of him lay the rock monument he had seen earlier. Fleetwood memorial it read.
“Read the names engraved here.” Obrian instructed
Axel squinted trying to make out the names of the etched out engravings in the stone.
“Those are the names of the people of this town who were killed by violence and decadence. In their attempts to flee the badlands through these woods they were hunted down and killed by the savages who followed them here. The few survivors left, set up this town here, far away from their reach and began a small community with the assistance of S.P.A, hence the name Fleetwood. Do you see any names that look familiar”?
Axel tried his best to find any name of resemblance but after staring for a minute or two couldn't find anyone he recognized.
“No” Axel said scratching his head
“Well, how about any last names?”
Axel took a second look at the memorial this time only going down this list of last names.
“Bedford...Brigham...Brown?” “Jonah Brown?”
“That's right Jonah Brown, PB’s biological father was murdered in cold blood before his very eyes”
O’Brian let go of Axel's head and began to pace around the memorial as he lectured him.
“In this world by your age many have seen friends and family killed before their very eyes.
“But you” O’Brian said angrily, throwing him to the ground.
“What is your reason for depression? No one has forced you to come to this school? There's nothing or no one who depends on you! You’re just a selfish brat who cares only for himself with no real responsibilities!”
Axel covered his ears trying to block out O’Brian’s spiteful rant.
“You sleep during class, slack in your grades and make no attempt to improve your physical strength! These are the luxuries no one in their respective positions can afford to do! From their positions, you deserve what you get!”
“SO what am I supposed to do? I’m weak I have no powers!” Axel cried
“NO NO NO!” O’Brian said shaking his head. “The question isn't I have no powers what am I supposed to do!? The question is I have no powers, so what am I going to do about it!”
“I…..I don't know” said Axel, collapsing in the dirt again.
“Well lucky enough for you I have a plan or rather a bet. It's a 50 50 shot really.”
“A 50/50?” Axel asked.
“Whether you give us your permission or not we will begin. Now I am going to ask you this one time and one time only.
“You’re weak….You’re a coward...But…”
“Are you willing to do something about it!?” O’Brian asked.
Axel stood up drying his tears, and shook his head slowly. What other choice did he have?
“Good”, O’Brian said smiling “Then we'll begin without delay! 619 now that you have a closer look at him what do you see?”
The white haired boy crept out from the shade of the tree.
“Vision”, chanted the boy.
Within a second the boys eyes began to illuminate with blue light. The light was accompanied by a faint gas emanating from his eyes. It was like his eyes were lighting up and were burning from the flame of his soul.
After taking a few steps towards Axel and examining him, the boy turned to O’Brian with a confused look on his face.
“Well?” said O’Brian.
“It’s like I said earlier, he seems to have the blue lines that every shifter has. But instead of spreading out and emanating from different parts of his body. The blue lines are all channeling into his head, and then branching off.
“Excellent! That make per-” O’Brian began
“That’s not the only thing!” the boy interjected.
“What else is there?” O’Brian asked curiously.
“The lines from his head… They’re not branching into the air the ground or anything physical. To be honest I can't even see where they lead…. they go on for miles.
O’Brian paused for a moment scratching his chin.
“Sir some of the lines….”
“Yes?”
“Some of them are connecting to you and me”
O’Brian eyes spread open wide with excitement, and for a moment a slight twitch was observable in his right hand.
“Hmmm I see now” he said nodding his head.
“What is going on?” Yelled axel
For a moment there was a pause as O’Brian and the 619 exchanged expressions. It seemed a lot more was going on with Axels powers than he realized.
“Without confusing you too much. It seems your ether is channeling through your mind as well as the minds of others rather than throughout your body.”
“What?’ Asked Axel confused
O’Brian sighed, placing his hand on his head. He had forgotten the little knowledge Shifter’s in this area knew of their powers.
“This is a total breach of protocol…….but a promise is a promise” he said looking back at 619. “Listen closely boy, I won't repeat all of this.’ He said raising his finger
O’Brian approached the Fleetwood memorial monument and sat on its slanted surface. Letting out a deep sigh, he began to channel electric current through his hands and fingers. He slowly began sculpting people, a city, and other images in the electricity as he began his explanation.
“In this world there is a power, a power that transcends time itself, one that has created the foundations of our universe. That power or energy is called... Ether.”
“Ether is the physical manifestation of dark energy, the mysterious energy found 200 years ago causing the great shift. In other words, if dark energy is the elections existing within every atom. Ether is the flow of this energy or the electricity. And much like voltage or current can be measured in many ways.”
“There are three different species on this planet that are all capable of fathoming and using Ether.”
“First of all there are the humans, the first inhabitants of the planet. They use machines and computation to control the ether. They cannot produce or manipulate it, however they use it as an energy source for the world we live in. You are just a boy from the badlands who’s never experienced anything, but as you travel. You will see the power of humans, and the influence of their might.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Second there are the Alchemists. They are the ancient scientists who use devices called totems to control ether. They can freely manipulate the ether and even create some to an extent. However they are biologically humans, and are powerless without their rituals and totems. If you encounter an alchemist even once you are either a very lucky man, or a very unfortunate one. They are an extreme rarity to see. You see they live on an isolated continent far away known as Antarctica, they are also called the Antarcticans. They are known to be the most violent of killers and are currently the biggest threat known to the world. There are few to come across them and fewer that come across them and ever survive to talk about it.
“Wait did you just say Antarctica? And Alchemists? What are you talking about? Those all perished in the great shift! And the wars that followed!” Axel exclaimed.
“... So that’s what they’re teaching you in class. I suppose all knowledge of history beyond the city-state is a crime as well” O’Brian said chuckling. “I'm getting too carried away”
“What are you-?”
“Anyway, finally there is our kind, Shifters. Yes Shifters, Altered biologically by the great shift of 2030, we are born harnessing the power of ether. Our magnificent biology is one not capable of understanding by current technology. In order to read or understand ether one has to connect to it consciously, but I won't go into that.
As a Shifter your body absorbed dark energy and creates ether emitting it in a fixed frequency. There are billions of frequencies and each Shifter has their own unique frequency that they omit. In nature, all things emit a vibrational frequency as well. A shifters ability is determined by that overlap. For example a Shifter that controls fire has a frequency that correlates with that emitted by a flame. A Shifter that controls size has a frequency that is linked to their cells. Although a Shifters frequency is determined at birth, the capabilities of their powers are not determined by that. A Shifter with a frequency matching that of their cells could find themselves becoming immortal, or capable of multiplying themselves depending on how they develop their powers.
So, what does this all have to do with you? Well powers are then used by emitting ether onto or into the object of the matched frequency. In other words in order to manipulate a flame a Shifters ether must go into the flame. In other words if the Shifter is out of ether, or the flame is out of reach of the Shifter’s ether, the flame will not be manipulated. As you will see as you develop your powers, size, distance, and amount of ether a Shifter possess, all come into play in terms of battle capabilities. I'm sure you have encountered Shifters that have very powerful capabilities but the range and effectiveness of these abilities are limited.
“Like Pb, or Reggie” thought Axel
“In a normal circumstance, a Shifters ether should be flourishing, going in and out of the body from various angles, positions and vertices.”
“However”, O’Brian’s said, adjusting his glasses.
“In your case they all seem to be moving in one direction toward your head. This is usually what you see when a Shifters tries to use a certain move like turning their head into a horn or as 619 is doing by flowing it into his eyes.”
“But even then, there is still a good portion moving about the perimeter of their body. Even stranger is the fact that your ether is spreading out in multiple directions and ending up depositing itself in what I believe to be other people's minds. It’s truly remarkable I have never seen anything like it.”
“Wait! If only someone like him can see the lines how can you know what a normal person would look like?” Axel asked
“Although we cannot see it. We can still measure it. There are things that disrupt the flow of a Shifters ether and this disruption can be measured and calculated in terms of distance direction and can be mapped by a computer.”
“But back to your strange ether. Its strange movement is causing you to be unable to use your powers as you currently are. In order for your powers to regain. You need to have a steady flow throughout, not a singular flow within.”
“I don’t get it” said Axel “Where is my power or my ether going exactly?”
“Again you are asking the wrong question!”
“I have already told you I believe your ether is depositing itself in other people's minds.”
“The question is how… how is this possible? And why is this happening?”
O’Brian drew out a virtual notebook and scrolled through some of his research notes before stopping on a page.
After spending some time reading the pages and saying “Hmmmm. I see” he closed the notebook and went back to Axel.
“Have you ever felt like you have had an elevated consciousness or response to other people?”
“Well kind of” Axel replied, “Sometimes I can almost feel other people's emotions, and I don't know if it is related but I also have some rather strange dreams”.
“Hmmm. Have you ever awoken from these dreams sweaty or out of breath?” O’Brian asked.
“Yes” said Axel, admitting.
“Tell me!” O’Brian asked enthusiastically. “In these dreams are you always yourself? Or have you been other people as well?”
“Usually I’m me but other times I have been other people…. I don’t know it’s hard to tell.”
“When do you usually have these dreams?” O’Brian asked. “Are they late at night? During the day? Even better, do you even remember when they start?”
“No” Axel admitted, “Sometimes it feels like when I wake up an entire week or so has gone by, actually I think I just had one when PB flung me from that cliff”
O’Brian eyes glistened as he took a walk over to the cliff. After looking over the edge he turned around with a wide grin on his face, like he had just made a scientific discovery.
“OK!” He said grinning “Axel pay very close attention to my hands”
O’Brian began to open his hands and build up current in each of them. As the current built up a flood of electricity began to ebb out from his fingertips.
“Now tell me boy, are you sleeping or awake right now.”
“I’m awake”
“Are you sure?” O’Brian smiled gracefully.
“Yeh I mean I think-”
In an instant O’Brian unleashed a furious current whipping around Axel causing a thunderous boom. Axel began falling to the ground in the fetal position covering his face.
Crack!
As Axel came too he found himself pinned against the floor with a man’s big black boot pressing hard on his chest.
He seemed to be in front of a mansion pressed against the ground with a frightened boy beside, him screaming out to him.
“Axel!” He heard the boy cry out in a muffled yell. The words of the boy as well as his attacker seemed filtered by something, almost as if his ears were filled with water.
Everything was blurry. He couldn't make out the man stepping on him or the boy beside him but the voice he heard he had definitely heard before.
“AX! Get out of here, don't do this! Please” the boy cried.
As Axels vision began to clear up he could see the boy screaming beside him was Lance. The boys look and sound became clear and distinct while his attacker seemed foggy and hard to make out.
“In an act of desperation, you cry out in agony”
Crack!
“AHAHAHHAAAAA”
Axel cried as the man stomped on Axel’s chest snapping one of his ribs.
“But none can hear you, the cries of the birds drown out your sorrow!”
Crack!
“Ahhh”
“STOOPPP!!! PLEASE!! “You’ll kill him!” Lance yelled
“One by one I will break free the cartilage of your thoracic cage setting your heart free across a river of blood”
Crack!!
“AAAAAHHH’ Axel cried
Axel looked up at the man. His image was too blurry to make out but he could see he was a large man shrouded in dark purple robes.
“Choose now boy, and hear me clearly.”
“Your life or his, choose wisely one of you will pay dearly...”
Axel looked at Lance with tears coming down his eyes.
“Axel….” Lance said as tears poured out of his eyes. “I meant it… you’re my friend... Now please…. stop this… you can't die here…. You’re going to save the badlands remember...? You’re going to save the world! Everyone's waiting for you… so please just leave me here”, Lance said hopelessly.
“You idiot” Axel said as he coughed up blood.
“They’re not waiting for me… There waiting for “us”” he said chuckling.
“I’d gladly choose an eternity of rest rather than a lifetime of nightmare.”
“Because If I don't do this… I will relive this moment for the rest of my life.”
“Axel…” Lance said as a tear came to his eye.
“I’m not sad at all… I'm actually happy... Before I met you and the others.... I had nothing to live for… But now… I have not only found that… I have found something to die for as well.”
“Axelll NOO-”
“I…”Axel said coughing. “Will… forfeit my life for his”
“Very well” The man side grabbing Axel throat
“Axel!!! NOOOOO”
“Show me your conviction are you truly willing to die?”
“Answer me boy!”
“Answer me”
“ANSWER ME!”
Axel awoke with O’Brian’s hands cuffed around his shirt,
“619 are you sure?”
“Yes O’Brian” He answered.
“For the duration of that trance his body was freely flowing. One line came out from his head and became very thick and the flow of ether in his body was in fact restored.
“No” said Axel, “impossible I was awake”. Axel’s heart slowly began race and the room began to spin. I felt pain… agonizing pain… it was terrible... Lance He was there… he was screaming and-
“Keep composure boy!” said O’Brian yelling at him.
Once again Obrain became normal and standing straight back at him.
“What’s happening” Asked Axel.
“Repose,” O’Brian answered
“What?”
“Repose, a state in which a Shifters ether supply is dormant. Normally whenever a shifters life is in danger, the body causes a strong flow of ether to try to protect the shifter, however in your case. It’s just triggering these dreams. As I said before, your body is desperately trying to create flow through your body, but it’s only coming out of one point. When that happens the flow of your ether is so strong you gain the ability I'm going to call the dream state. It seems that your body and your mind are out of touch and while you sleep the other comes awake.
“The way a normal body works is the five senses allow you to intake data and then the mind interprets it as it likes.”
“But I have already told you Shifters are different. Our interpretation comes from the vibrational frequency of things. If one is unable to feel these differences one cannot successfully interpret the world. That is why your dreams are so vivid! You are experiencing a fully immersed vibrational interaction, something you cannot experience awake right now. I assume to you those dreams feel more real than us talking right now!”
“Why, why is this happening to me?” Axel asked
“Something happened to you long ago something that made your powers shut down. It put your powers in a permanent state of dormancy. In order to awaken your powers. You must awaken your senses. Awaken yourself to what is being compressed, that is the answer. It’s almost as if your pores that usually emit either are blocked up, and need to be forced open.
“Then, how exactly do we do that?”
“That” O’Brian said with a smirk “Is where the 50 50 comes into play”.
“50 50?” Axel said questioning.
“Come with me boy” O’Brian said motioning him to the edge of the cliff. Axel slowly resisted as he was shoved to the edge of the 600 ft. drop.
“Wait what are you doing?” he said as Axel came within a few feet of the ledge. He stood with his back towards the edge in the same position he had been with PB.
“I am now going to push you off this ledge.” O’Brian stated firmly.
“Wait… What?” Axel cried.
“You are roughly 600 ft. off the ground. At this distance, in order to save you, your powers will have to awaken to shield you from the fall, and if not you will die, hence the 50 50.” O’Brian said shrugging his shoulders.
“However, I have no idea what type of power you have or your ethers potential, so your chances could very well be much lower than that. Add in the fact that they did not awaken earlier when you practically almost died, and it could be more like a 90 10 chance given careful consideration. Annndd... make no mistake, I won't be pulling you back up, unfortunately as we saw earlier your powers are very deeply repressed, in fact we may have to try this a few times before-”
“WawWait … there's got to be some other way hold on a sec, what if I can only dream! How will that save me?” Axel pleaded.
“That's not your only power…If my assumption is correct... you seemed to have picked it up somehow… think of it as a second power.”
“You’re assuming! Well what if you’re wrong!”
“Then…..” O’Brian said scratching his chin “You’ll probably die”
“How can you just say that? Is my life just a game to you?”
O’Brian took of his glasses. His deep violet eyes stared back at Axel. There was so much in his eyes that his glasses held back. Axel could see pain, chaos, and wisdom in them as he stared at Axel with a vividly candid expression.
“Your still young boy,” O’Brian said grimly.
“You are still peering through the world through the focal point of a superimposed lens. You have yet to see what this world has to offer.”
“What?” Axel said, confused.
“Remember this boy, Dying…. isn't the worst thing that can happen to you in life.”
[https://i.imgur.com/ATQ1Qyj.jpg]
And with that O’Brian pushed Axel off the cliff sending him back into the spiraling abyss.
As he fell Axel once again saw the darkness of the sea and started to fall back into the dark pit he had previously fell.
He continued to fall after entering the pit of darkness accelerating through the dark with no concept of direction. All of a sudden Axel’s descent came to a stop leaving him levitating gin air in a dark abyss. In all directions he looked he saw nothing but darkness surrounding him with no trace of his entrance.
“What is going….-”
“Axel began to feel a slight nudge at his belly button yanking grim backwards.
“Woahhh Whaaaaaa”
As the force became stronger he began to realize he was falling horizontally towards a small flickering flame in the distance. As he closed in on the flame its image revealed to be a candle in a darkened hallway with Taliyah once again. As he flew towards the candle she was facing two black doors emerged at the end of the hallway that he smashed into.
Blasting through the doors he continued his sideways fall through the town square where he saw an agent fighting Gille as he flew across the battlefield. Once again at the edge of the square two black doors emerged that he slammed into.
Moving at an extreme speed now Axle’s surroundings began to blur as he continued to fly past all of his previous dreams like some kind of ghost using dimensional travel.
Last he came into a darkened place where he saw many of his friends underneath lights in different parts of the dark room. It was like he was flying down the hallways of a prison and in each cell was one of his friends in some kind of alternate reality.
He saw Reggie, B, 619, Lance, and then two others he didn’t recognize each in their own dreamlike scenario in a sector of the room. Above him was a large door with a clock reading the time 3:33. Its large bell rang filling his head with the sound of a thousand chiming clocks. As the sound of the clock filled his head opened the door leading to a place of light. He tried to maintain his footing but quickly passed out on the floor before he could make out where he was.
“UAAAAHHH” Axel said as he woke up sitting in a chair
“I knew it” he said reassuring himself
“It was all a dream.”
“I wouldn't be so sure” said a voice
[https://i.imgur.com/kMJIeZV.png]