Multi-Color: Book 1 -- Freaks

Chapter 12: Blood Moon

Hope POV

I slowly awoke, yawning as I was suddenly pulled into a hug by Axel. I blushed a bit, feeling confused.
"Hope! You're awake!"
I rubbed my eyes, and Axel swatted my hand away.
"Your eyes are burned badly. Take it easy."
As I tried to take in everything, Axel set me down on the couch, and I began to understand as Ian, Wave, and Lia all had a solemn expression on their face, Axel as well. He began to speak.
"Hope... Blaze has betrayed us."
I gasped, sitting up.
"What? No, he was just training us! I'm sure he wasn't--"
Axel interrupted, "He's going to harness energy from the moon, and completely wipe out of all of planet earth." Axel said.
I got up quickly at this news.
"Use the power of the moon? No way, that's gotta be made up!"
Axel sighed.
"If it were any other circumstance, I'd agree. But he says that every 100 years, the moon turns red, and energy rushes into the moon. If these were just words with no back up for them, then we'd consider this as nothing but a bluff. But we already have solid evidence. Look."
He pointed outside, and I widened my eyes as the moon's normal grayish color was fading away, and lighting a small, faintly noticeable red tint. Axel then spun me towards a small whiteboard, with battle plans fully written out.
"I call it 'The Blood Moon Battle. Since this energy rush begins in one day, I've devised a battle strategy that we'll use on this day. Here's the run down: Lia will get us high enough in the air for Ian to teleport, and once we get on the moon we'll send a fight towards Blaze. Should all go well, the moon will return normal, and Blaze will be destroyed."
I slumped into my chair, and lay against the pillow.
"Come on... first he lights me on fire and now this? I'm starting to get real fed up with this guy."
Axel grew suprised.
"Hm. You seem calmer than I thought."
I rubbed my head nervously.
"What can I say? I've been wanting to kick his butt since he showed up to our doorstep.
Axel chuckled.
"Good. Keep that anger and we'll take him out for good when we get there. For now let's calm down and rest up. We'll need it for tomorrow."
I nodded, following his orders. I walked over to Lia, who seemed sad. As I tried to speak to her, Wave spoke.
"She's not in a good train of thought right now. Just... leave her be for now, okay?"
I agreed, though a bit confused, and went on my way. But curiosity got the better of me, and I eavesdropped on their conversation later that day.
"Lia... about yesterday..."
"Just forget it." Lia interrupted. "It's whatever."
Wave spoke anxiously.
"Sis, it's not just whatever! I'm your older sister, so--"
"Shut up!"
Wave gasped, and I heard Lia crying.
"I'm just a useless monster who's caused you suffering. So quit worrying about me and just, live your life! A good life, without me!"
Wave sighed, beginning to cry, and she held her sister in for a warm embrace.
"Sis, you are not a monster. Wanna know why I've healed you almost every night? Because I love you. You're not useless, and nothing you've done has ever changed my love for you--"
I heard a loud slap sound emit from the room. Lia began screaming, her voice breaking down.
"I don't care if you're my 'older sister' or whatever kinda crap that is! I don't wanna talk about this anymore! This creates an even bigger burden! You want to cause trouble to yourself?!"
As Wave attempted to speak, there was suddenly a massive and insane explosion bursting throughout the house, glass shattering in mere seconds and walls being destroyed with no mercy. I burst open the door to where Lia and Wave were and grabbed them quick, as flames engulfed the entire apartment, this time alerting every smoke detector in the house and smoke clouding the house. My oxygen levels were lowering, as I tried to avoid the smoke. I coughed out wildly, gasping for air from the smoke only a few seconds later. In this time Axel pulled all three of us out of the way from millions of sparks. It destroyed the entire upstairs in one brutal blow, shattering what was once an architectural marvel. I gasped as I realized Ian wasn't with us. I got up quick, and Axel shouted.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Axel yelled out.
"I'm going to save Ian!" I shouted back.
"He said he was going off to find the person who detonated the explosion! Don't make trouble for yourself!"
I ignored his warning and jumped up onto the remaining pieces of rooftop, and sure enough, Ian was there, teleporting all around. I widened my eyes as I found the culprit: Blaze. I charged at him, releasing a power blast straight at his eye. He avoided it with ease, smirking and sending fire straight onto my back.
"Hmph. Looks like you're a fighter after all."
As I looked behind me, Ian telported, with a failed attempt of a kick backfiring as Blaze twisted his leg with no mercy 20 times, slamming him hard into the ground with a puddle of blood rushing out. Blaze slammed me on the ground as well, stomping his foot hard on my stomach and laughing.
"It's a shame, really. I was hoping you'd get to live in this perfect society with me. Oh, well." He glared straight at me, like he was looking into my soul.
"Someone's always gotta mess things up for everybody, don't they?"
His terrifying voice echoed through my body as he lit up another detonation, this one completely destroying the balcony. I collapsed to the ground below. Axel lunged at him, but he was held by his throat and sent flying down to the ground before he had a chance to do anything. He mustered out a few, small measly words.
"You... you said we had two days..."
He started out with a chuckle, then a laugh, then the laugh turning into hysteria, and then pure on maniacal laughter, sending chills down each of our spines. We all widened our eyes back as far as they could go, our bodies coming to a still and our breathing slowed in pure terror, as thunder dark as blood boomed throughout the world, with the moon's color becoming blood red, with no light emitting from it whatsoever. And this red stained the sky as well, the screams of civilians rushing out of the hotel piercing through our bodies. Blaze finally spoke.
"You, you actually thought I'd tell the truth and let you know my exact plans? I lied. You only had 12 hours before the moon turned red, and once it starts to turn red, it only takes about 1 hour to be fully engulfed! And once it only gets 1/4 of the way ready, but the time you look back up it's too late! Here I thought all Multi-Color had atleast a somewhat functioning brain!"
He snapped, and with just this single snap pure fear, no, absolute blood curdling terror was sent through each and every one as we watched Blaze jump out of the hotel and scaling buidlings, finally using his fire to blast up straight to the devastating moon. Axel slammed his fist on the ground.
"That monster! He played us all for fools!"
I clenched my fists. No way was I about to fail after coming this far. No way was I gonna even think of accepting the end. I got up, reaching my hand out. Axel looked up at me.
"Well, there's still time! Let's prove that we're not fools!" I said warmly.
Axel looked at me, then sighed, grabbing my hand.
"You're positivity is seriously at a bad time."
I chuckled, and Axel looked at everybody.
"Okay! Ready to initiate the Blood Moon plan?"
Everyone nodded.
As on cue, Axel commanded all of us, and the plan was set into motion. Lia rushed in the air, holding us close as she jumped across probably 100 buildings, each one taller than the last. As she did this, Blaze saw us immediately, and sent out bursts of flames at Lia. I gasped as she suddenly stopped, as if accepting death. The fire inched closer. And closer. Axel shouted at her.
"What are you doing?!"
Wave suddenly held her sister close.
"You've got this. I'm here for you, no matter what."
Lia suddenly snapped back into action, continuing the plan. More fireballs came down.
"Right!" Wave shouted. "Left!" Wave shouted. As in a rhythm, Lia avoided each and every fireball. She continued rushing forth, but stopped when the biggest fireball thus far rushed down, nearly as big as the sun. She muttered out dozens of swear words, but Ian teleported just in time, making it onto the cold, red, barren moon. It seemed like it went on for an eternity, and millions of skulls were lying on it. The middle of the moon was completely open an destroyed, exposing a core. This was where I assumed the energy would be. I pondered the fact that we still had weight and could breathe despite being in space, but the likely scenario was that our powers had an effect on our bodies. I wasn't sure of the exact answer, but there was no time to think about it any more than I already had. Blaze charged straight at Axel, wasting no time. Axel blocked each of his kicks and punches, then sent out one of his own, but Blaze engulfed Axel's fist in flames, blood brutally coming out with burns covering Axel. I charged at him, jumping into the air and sending out power blast after power blast, aiming at his head. He leapt back and kept evading, but I managed to strike him once. Still, he sent a flame straight at me fast, and it striked me hard in the chest, and my pain increased exponentially as I was punched hard straight in the gut, blood gushing out, fading into the moon's reddish shade as my body was sent collapsing back hard onto the ground, with Blaze twisting my arms hard with no remorse. Wave stepped in to attack, sending a screeching sound. Blaze payed no attention to the attack, not even deflecting it like last time, showing his overconfidence. He wiped the dust of his clothing as she gasped when he punched Lia hard in the face.
"Not even a dent."
He held Lia in the air twisting her legs and arms in a flurry rush. Wave screamed.
"Let her go!"
He slammed Lia on the ground millions of times, firmly planting his foot on her chest and kicking her face, blood now raining from the air. Wave screamed even louder, this time her voice breaking.
"Let her go!"
He held her by the throat and did so tightly, oxygen slowly escaping her body. Wave screamed, Axel cried out, and Ian rushed towards him. I was frozen. He suddenly pulled a knife and began to cut though Lia's right arm. Wave yelled out loud as she could now, as if the entire world could hear her.
"Let her go you monster! Don't you dare lay another finger on her!"
This time Wave rushed for her sister, but she was kicked back right where she came. The knife slowly went up faster. I had to move. But my body wouldn't move. It was like it had been destroyed, with no life coming through it. The knife was about to cut through. Blood covered Lia's entire body. I suddenly gasped, gaining my conscience and realizing what was at stake. I activated my speed, power blasts, everything-- in a single second, because if I didn't, if I failed to save her, then I couldn't dare call myself a hero. And right as I reached my arm out, the power blast practically absorbing though Blaze's body... the knife sharpened, and it dropped on the ground cold. I widened my eyes in terror as I collapsed on my knees. Her arm was completely destroyed. Gone. Just like that. Blood gushed out insanely, covering Blaze and each and every one of us. But Blaze didn't stop there. As he got ready to cut the knife through her chest once again, Axel got up and punched him straight in the face, his fist engulfed by shadows. He breathed out heavily.
"You... you monster. You're gonna pay!"
Axel suddenly engulfed his entire body into a shadow and began punching insanely fast, each one stronger than the last. It pummeled Blaze hard, blood staining each of them with every passing attack. Blaze struggled, sending his fire out to clash with the shadows. He shouted at Axel.
"Give up! Your friend's just lost an arm, and I can make it a whole lot worse for you!"
Axel chuckled.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take."
The punches absorbed one another, but in the end Axel kept his balance and striked Blaze hard through in the chest, blood rushing out once again. But Blaze retaliated right after, fire rushing through Axel's entire body. He collapsed to the ground, and Blaze sent fire into the sky, and it rushed down insanely quickly, and in milliseconds it would be over. Lia, mustering the last of her strength, rescued us all in time. We all gasped as the flames destroyed nearly 1/4 of the moon in one fierce explosion. We needed to jump into the core, otherwise we didn't stand a chance. As we jumped in, Blaze followed us promptly, and a fight in the air was set into motion. As we fell, a brutal fist fight between Blaze and I begun. He sent a flurry rush of monstrous attacks my way, and I managed to block every single one, just barely. I sent kicks and everything I could think of at him, and finished with a punch at his face. He chuckled, then punched me hard in the gut, grabbing my throat and slamming me down into the ground. He rushed off, setting a trail of fire ablaze, beginning to break off millions of tiny rubble from the ceiling. Lia grabbed us again.
"Let's go!" She yelled out.
She raced through, the rubble falling behind us, each piece bigger than the last. We made a narrow escape, but we were safe. We took a breather, then continued forward. We had to make it to the energy, and quick. Even though she had lost an arm, Lia looked more determined than ever. The energy was drawing closer, as we could feel it pulse through our bodies. But right as we turned the corner, a shadow appeared, in the silhouette of Blaze. It wasn't long before it came to life, emerging into a figure. I looked at Axel.
"Quit playing around! We've got work to do!"
Axel looked around puzzled.
"This isn't me."
I gasped, as the shadow suddenly charged at me, delivering kicks and punches in milliseconds. It was a miracle I even avoided a single one, but I was sent collapsing back, and I got back on my feet swiftly. The shadow gave me no time to counterattack though, as it's dark flames pierced my body. Axel summoned his shadows, but this only made the situation grow worse, as the two shadows combined and absorbed one another, only feeding the shadow Blaze more power. It laughed mockingly, and I charged at it again, this time grabbing a piece of the moon's wall and furiously swinging it around hastily. The shadow continued laughing, then punched me square in the face. Lia caught me, then raced around the ceiling faster than the light, gradually building up her speed until she was satisfied, then delivered a brutal and monstrous kick in no time at all, destroying the shadow. It faded away, and we took a moment to thank Lia. But then we were all warped away from each other in a flash of light. I looked around the new room I had been stationed in. It was dark and lit an Azure color. None of the other Multi-Color were with me, so I deduced that they had been taken somewhere else. I needed to get out of this room if I wanted to find them again. But there were no exits. Suddenly, a TV screen lit up, revealing the room to be a laboratory of some sort, with beakers and chemicals spilled on the ground. A lady appeared on the TV screen. Her eyes were lush brown. She wasn't a Multi-Color, though I probably shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. She spoke frantically and panicked.
"If you're seeing this, it means you've found my base, and the moon has become the color of blood. I made this base years ago to prepare. The energy in the core-- it's unstable, too unstable. If this energy is activated, it will no doubt destroy the user, and in that time the whole word could be destroyed if the power erupts to drastically. I'm going to make a sacrifice that will kill me, but it'll keep the world safe. The only way to stop the energy, is to let it flow through your veins. It'll kill you, but the energy will implode, and take you out. Either way--you'll have to die. Goodbye--" the message cut out, and right as it did, the lights went on in the room. Dark red lights-- they were definitely only working because of the blood moon. As they turned on, I looked over and gasped, pure adrenaline rushing through my body. The lady was on the floor, a puddle of blood gushing out from her body, blood staining the entire walls and floor, her hands and legs completely torn off and on the ground, and her head on the floor. Everything on her body was covered in blood. As I approached and touched her, a burst of darkness suddenly broke through her back, a shadow of her, just like the one with Blaze. Only this one was able to speak. It was incomprehensible and clustered.
"Must... must eat... must eat... more energy!"
It charged at me, gripping a sharp tranquilizer and attempting to inject me with it. I let my guard down for just a second, and it injected it into me. Immediately, blood was sent bursting and gushing out of me, practically stopping my oxygen and freezing my body. I collapsed to the ground, managing to just slightly hold my knees. I felt sick to my stomach. Then the shadow began to speak more comprehensively.
"Blood loss... poision... ideals..."
I then realized the true motive of the serum was to make my blood loss so significant I'd pass out, and the poison would be the final seal." I had to take this thing out, and quick. But I didn't stand a chance. My eyes began to shut, as my lungs gave out, and the last drop of blood burst out. I was losing consciousness.
Darn it... not after how far I've come... not after everything...
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