Multi-Color: Book 1: Freaks

Chapter 3: Eyes Opened, Trust Tested

We both stood there in silence, for what felt like ages. Time had frozen, and each worry was not as big as this one. I tried to think of an excuse, but there was nothing that could save this. Axel did nothing, and neither did I. Would I have to run again? Leave him to fight this beast while I found another place to go? I thought about it, and finally made up my mind. I needed to leave, no matter how much I didn't want to. Right as I got ready to take off, he pulled me back, as I became close to his face.
"You're... you're a Multi-Color?"
I looked at him quizzically, trying to reply.
"Um.... y-yes?" I stuttered.
He froze once more, but then took off his hood. It was now my turn to be in shock. In front of me now was two different colored eyes, blackhair, and a quiet expression. Once I connected all the dots, there was only one thing known: He was a Multi-Color, just like me.
Everything was completely shaken now. For years, I believed I was the only with this power, the only one with this pain, but that had all shifted. Thoughts raced in my head. How did he get this? Where did he get this? Is he good, or bad? And most importantly, how was there someone else like me? I couldn't think, or feel anything right now. I felt lifeless. Axel began to speak.
"I didn't think I'd find someone like me. But, how did this happen to you? Are you fake? You're fake, aren't you." He raised his voice. After a few moments of silence, he inched his sword closer to me.
"Well? Are you?"
I cautiously stepped back before speaking, but then became wary of him.
"Well, what if I am? How do I know you're not a fake too?"
He stepped back, growing annoyed.
"What-" He began, "--why would I be a fake? That makes no sense! I have nothing to gain!"
I relaxed a bit, seeing his softer side. The seriousness of him had faded, and I chuckled at the fact that he had just contradicted himself.
"You realize what you just did, right?"
I spoke, and he raised his eyebrow.
"You just proved my point. If I was fake, what would I have to gain? We just showed that we're not fake."
He blushed a bit at the embarrassment, and clenched his fists.
"W-well that's not enough evidence! If you're real, then show me your powers!"
I laughed, and placed my hand on my hips.
"If I'm gonna show you my powers, then you show me yours!"
He stepped back, darting his eyes downward.
"If I show you them, you'll be scared. You're not the first person I've shown these to."
I smirked, growing confident.
"I won't get scared; I've escaped from a forest on fire, nearly got run over by cars, and been hit more times than I can count in two days. I think I can handle this."
He paused, but then looked up, noticing the large monster. He immediately punched me on the side of my face, holding me up by my hoodie.
"You idiot! Why didn't you tell me this monster was here?!" As I fell, he gasped, realizing the move he made. As he saved me from my fall, we stared at each other. I wanted to let go, but for some reason he wouldn't. He stared intently into my face, our breath getting closer. A blush formed again, and then I yelled.
"Hey! Put me down now!"
He immediately jumped back into action and dropped me. He waved his hands in front of himself, trying to apologize.
"I-I don't know what came over me! I shouldn't have punched you, but I r-really shouldn't have held you, and-"
He trailed off. I tensed down, realizing it wasn't worth it to be so angry. Still, the fact that he had a soft side amazed me.
"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it. What we should be worried about," I pointed at the shadow, "is that thing."
He sighed, going back to his monotone and too cool for school attitude.
"Well, this is as good a time as any to show off our powers." He said. "You ready?"
I smiled, giving him a thumbs up.
"You bet."
We both nodded, and I noticed as his right eye lit up blue. That had settled it. He was for sure a Multi-Color, like me. It didn't have the same initial shock as before though, so I was content knowing that what he said was true. After this, he stared at me, making hand signs. I was puzzled at them. He frowned.
"Uh, hello? I showed you I'm a Multi-Color for real now. You do the sparkly eye thing whatever. I don't know, how does your transformation go? Do you summon sparkly unicorns to activate it? I mean, most girls like unicorns."
I grew annoyed at his thought of girls only liking girly things. At the daycare, I enjoyed rock music, and even tried to tackle some kids, but the teachers frowned on that. I had my right eye lit up, and his jaw dropped.
"You're... you're..."
I grew even more annoyed. He should've already known I was a Multi-Color by now.
"Yes, yes, no need to repeat the last hundred seconds. I go zap, you go zap, it's nothing new. We're not learning anything here!"
He paused, then grew serious.
"Whatever."
After this commotion, we rushed towards the shadow. It noticed us, and reared its large hand towards us. Axel put his hand out, and opened his right eye. His hand turned into a dark fist, almost like the shadow we were fighting. He punched it in the face, his large fist booming. The dark shadow angered, and grabbed Axel by the throat, beginning to tear that out. Axel managed to punch the monster once again, freeing himself and getting another hit in. He then shouted out in pain from his strength, it backfiring. He didn't care about this, though, and made both of his hands dark fists. He landed a blow in it's eye with one fist, and sent his other straight into its leg. Out of nowhere, his attacks became absorbed, preventing him from moving. It slowly dragged him in, as he struggled to be released. But I wasn't about to see him be taken captive. I rushed towards the shadow and using my newfound powers jumped into the air, moving faster than the speed of light and releasing a power blast. Right as it hit the shadow, it was absorbed. Realizing this wouldn't work, I knew my best bet was to get absorbed inside along with Axel. I reached out my hand and made it in. The entire inside was, just like the outside, completely black and lifeless. I walked towards Axel, who stared at the inside as well. He looked a tad disappointed.
"Darn it... I wasn't strong enough to take it on..."
I placed my hand on his shoulder, and he leaned towards me.
"Hey, it's alright. We can beat it's butt together, Multi-Color style!"
He smiled, and got back up, ready for action.
"Alright then. I'll have my shadows scan this creature. Like everything, it must have a weakness. So, if we can find the core in this thing and shut it down, it's done for good."
I smirked, and was ready for battle. We walked towards the empty hallway for quite some time, everything feeling endless. As we moved, Axel occasionally bumped into me, given the darkness. It didn't hurt, per say, but I grew annoyed. I eventually distanced myself, and he looked back at me.
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
I frowned.
"Well, you keep bumping into me."
He got frustrated.
"Well, I wouldn't be if this place wasn't so dark. If you wanna blame someone, blame that man."
We eventually got a signal from his shadows, and headed towards the core. Upon arrival, it was a massive red sphere. The weak spot was obvious, so I charged at it.
Axel called out to me to wait, but it was too late. Massive energy orbs charged towards me in a flash of light. When I tried to hit them, my moves deflected. It rushed towards me and sent me crashing into a nearby wall. As more moved towards me, Axel stepped in to defend. He looked at me.
"You handle the core! I've got these things!"
I hesitated. If I had failed, what could he do?
He looked at me more closely.
"Don't worry about me. My shadows can trap just about anything."
Feeling reassured, I shot him an understanding look and ran towards the core. I jumped into the sky and sped across walls. Once I made it to the sphere, it began rotating, and then burst upwards. Surprised by this sudden shift, I clumsily grabbed onto it, barely managing to get my fingers to stick. As I tried to climb, it next moved rapidly at a 360° degree angle. As it spun so fast, I grew dizzy. I tried to keep my focus, but it slowly faded. Everything spinned, and my fingers started slipping. I couldn't see where the sphere was anymore, and my hands nearly came off. I positioned my legs so that I could hold it through them. Managing to do this, I banged my head against it quickly, realizing I'd have to defeat it before it moved again. My head cut open and blood moved down my face, but that was the least of my worries. As I continued headbutting, I soon realized I barely had made a dent in it. I headbutted harder this time, hoping some result would come. Out of nowhere, it screamed down into the sinking darkness below. I tried to get on top of it, but it kept me from doing this. And as I moved closer in a downward spiral, I felt a burst of energy echo through me. I couldn't explain it, or even identify it, but I felt stronger, in a way. Once I looked, I saw Axel with his right eye open, giving me energy. He became weary, but I had just enough energy now to stop this thing once and for all. I smirked at him and gathered the strength to climb on top of it. I found myself suddenly in control of it, almost like a bowling ball. Using this to my advantage, I steered it across the room, making several blows to it in the process. Of course, I had never driven before, so I was naturally a klutz at it. I almost rammed into Axel, but I drove up just in time. As a side effect of this, everything was now upside down.
"Crap!" I muttered.
I tried to get a grip on the new physics, but it felt impossible to do this. I suddenly moved my eyes towards the energy orbs Axel continually battled. If I could get it to collide with them, the core should go bam! I looked at the nearly cracked core and charged towards the energy orbs with a battle cry. Axel was in shock, and I succeeded in the task. When all was complete, there lay the broken pieces of a core and 100 energy orbs destroyed. I wiped the sweat off my face and collapsed onto the platform Axel stayed on. He walked towards me questionably and concerned.
"That was insanely reckless of you, y'know."
I smiled, blood dripping down my mouth.
"Aw, who cares? I beat up something. That's good enough for me."
Axel sighed and lay his hand on my forehead. He gasped.
"You're running a fever. You're too weak to get out of here in this state. Do you mind if I carry you?"
I nodded, though being somewhat drowsy. As Axel lifted me up, he suddenly picked up speed. I was confused as to what was going on, but then remembered that by destroying the core the whole shadow would collapse. Light began to peek through as the monster was slowly destroyed. Axel suddenly jumped out of it seconds later, the entire thing exploding. After this, I slowly closed my eyes, eventually being ready to sleep. I saw Axel look at me, and then I fell asleep.
.
.
.
.
"Hey? Hey, wake up!"
As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw Axel in front of me, holding an Icecube and a drink labeled "Icee". Once I sat back up, he smiled.
"Well, looks like you're finally awake, sleepyhead."
He handed me the drink, and I was in awe of it. Before drinking, though, I looked back up at him.
"What happened?"
He frowned.
"Well, you destroyed the core, and then you got a fever and were knocked out."
While it was a good answer, I still had one more question.
"Wait." I said. "How did you manage to get not only an ice pack but also this super cool drink?"
I suddenly paused, realizing what I had just said. The guy was an expert thief, trained in the freaking arts of it himself. Why couldn't he steal it?
He smirked.
"Well, I just invaded a few stores, and nearly got tazed by the police. Since I had to carry you, it looked like a kidnapping."
I laughed at the statement, then slurped my Icee. And then again. And again. It had such an amazing, cherry taste. I suddenly drank so fast that all thoughts exited. Axel gasped and reached out his hand.
"Uh, you might not wanna drink that so fast--"
Immediately shooting pain burst through my brain. Everything was chilling, and I felt like I was gonna explode. I fell to the ground and held my head, trying to get the feeling to go away. It eventually passed, and I pouted at Axel.
"Why would you give me something so chilling?"
He lowered his eyelids.
"Well, Exhibit A: You had a blazing hot fever. Exhibit B: It would make you feel better, and Exhibit C: If you don't drink it so fast, that won't happen!"
I turned my head away and slurped at it again. A few more brain freezes happened along the way, but I eventually finished it. When Axel checked my forehead, it was better and the fever passed. After this, Axel looked at me and waved goodbye, but I stopped him. The night sky turned purple, only lit up by the passing stars. I held onto to his arm, and he looked at me.
"Where are you going?" I said.
He frowned.
"Well, I've gotta get back to thieving."
I suddenly widened my eyes, and grew angry.
"But-- But you just found another Multi-Color! We could build a team!"
He turned away from me, clenching his fists.
"Look, I appreciated meeting you, you're nice and all, but this is my job."
I turned him towards me.
"Well, it doesn't have to be! Stealing things, that's wrong! You shouldn't be doing that!"
He now became more serious, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"I've done a lot of wrong things in my life. And that's what us Multi-Color are cursed with. We don't get the same privileges as anyone else. That's just how we were designed. And, a team? That's ridiculous. We might be strong, but against a police force or heck, anyone like that man? We're as good as dead."
I grew even more angry.
"Okay, so what? You just give up, and let them win? Where's the brave Axel I knew, who rushed into action to save me, nearly dying in the process? If you thieve, then..." I paused, "you're no better than the ones you hate!"
He suddenly removed his hand and shouted at me.
"Shut your mouth! You think I'm brave? No, I'm not! If I was brave, I could've saved my family!"
I grew concerned, but stayed in the heat of battle. I put my hand on my chest.
"I know what it's like to be in pain. But we don't have to be in it any longer! Think about it; if I found you as a Multi-Color, then who's to say they're aren't any others out there? I promise you, you'll be a lot less hurt if you're with a team who understands you!"
He paused, and froze where he stood. The wind blew, with each of our hair moving. The decision was up to him. Would he leave and pursue a path of hatred, or stay with me? After a moment, he became serious.
"Fine. I'll join, but only temporarily. Deal?"
I smiled, happy he would stay a little longer.
"Deal." I said, and shook his hand. We didn't talk for the rest of the time walking down the stairs of the building rooftop. Once we made it to the ground, we quickly surveyed if there were any guards around. Once there was confirmed none, we moved into the city streets. I sighed, and continued moving. I suddenly perked up, as I noticed a wanted poster on the side of the wall. I pointed to it, and me and Axel faced it. It read:
"Lia and Wave Light.
Wanted for powers identified as 'Multi-Color'.
Gender: Female
Family Tree: Sisters
Ages: 14 and 16
Location: North Pole
Bring them back and obtain $100,000,000 dollars. Must be captured alive."
I looked it over, and smiled smugly at Axel. He frowned.
"Looks like I was right after all.