My head feels groggy, but as I peel myself off the cliffside's stone ground, I look out into the clearing underneath us. The forest is completely burnt, and right in the middle of it all is a strange glow; it's almost white. I nudge Ariella. She wakes up, her eyes squinting. The sun glares down upon us. It's morning. Ariella points towards the white glow in confusion. As I get up, I offer my hand out to help her off the ground. She accepts it.
"What is that, Khalil?"
"I don't know, but let's find out," I remark, pursing my lips.
We climb down the cliff, eventually landing in what once was a clearing. Our feet trudge through the burnt forest until we walk upon a crater. There's a girl in its center, huddling for warmth. The white glow comes from her. The girl's hair is an ivory color, matching her pale complexion. As she shivers, Ariella runs towards her. She places her jacket on top of the girl, and picks the girl up. The white glow starts to fade.
As we lay this (what I assume to be) metahuman on the ground, Ariella sits on the dirty terrain and faces the girl, asking her,
"Who are you? Are you okay, little one? I hope you wake up." She whispers that last part. The concern in her voice makes my heart crack, but I also don't know what to feel. I still can't get over Jennifer, but I don't want Ariella to be a rebound. She deserves better.
After some waiting in silence, the girl's eyes flutter open. Her eyes are white.
"Is this heaven?" she asks.
"More like hell," I chortle. Ariella gives me an exasperated look, rolling her eyes.
"Wait, I'm not in a holding chamber anymore. Am I free?" the pale child asks us. Ariella and I exchange worried glances, but we still give the girl a nod.
"What's your name, little one?" Ariella asks.
"I'm Diaspro, and I certainly am not a little one," she states. We watch as Diaspro turns into a transparent mass of white energy.
"I've seen this before," I trail on. "You are nuclear energy, aren't you?" I ask. Diaspro nods, shifting herself into a much older form of human through a molecular rearrangement–though to others, this just looks like white mist or fire shifting into a human. This time she looks more our age.
"Yes, I travel in the forms of radiation and nuclear energy. I was an experiment gone wrong."
"Well how would you like to stick it to the people that experimented on you?" Ariella asks, honing a devious grin. Diaspro smirks and responds,
"Very much."
"Then welcome to Freeland's metahuman team," Ariella chuckles. I release a laugh.
"There's more of us?" Diaspro asks, completely shocked.
"I don't know where they kept you, but in Freeland there's a whole community of metas. There's even a boarding school. I think you should come back home with us." Diaspro nods upon hearing my offer.
-
After a long road trip with Ariella and me introducing ourselves, a familiarity is developed with Diaspro. She seems nice, but I still feel wary towards her entrance.
Everything is going well, until Tobias Whale walks into the middle of the street we are driving down. I slam down on the brakes, and the car screeches as we abruptly halt. Before I can get out of the car, the passenger door is opened and Ariella gets dragged out by one of Tobias' men. She fights them off with blasts of water when I step out of the car.
"Diaspro," I state with a deep tone. "Help us out here. Do you think you can distract these goons?" I ask. Ariella is using her voice as much as possible in the background, grunting and shouting while beating the henchmen off one by one.
"See, I would. But I am a daddy's girl," she smirks, punching me in the face.
I get knocked out cold.
-
It's not long until I wake up, tied down on a chair with what look like metal chains.
"Dad, what do you want me to do with him?" Diaspro asks. Dad? This makes sense, that's why Diaspro is so pale. She's an albino chick--which also makes her Tobias' daughter. Tobias grins, revealing his ugly teeth. Seriously, this guy has enough money to purchase all of Freeland. Why can't he just buy himself a dental care plan?
"The real question is what don't I plan on doing?" Tobias observes, letting out a maniacal laugh. "Bring the redhead in," Tobias orders. Ariella gets dragged into the room, her hands bound with handcuffs that nullify metahuman powers.
"I wonder just how long you can last watching the girl get beat down," Tobias chuckles. He steps closer to me, and whispers into my ear, "I told you I'd make you suffer. Khalil, you won't be getting off easy." His breath is hot. I shudder.
"May I?" Diaspro asks, pulling out a brass knuckle.
"Don't touch her," I growl.
"She's all yours," Tobias affirms. Ariella is thrown onto the ground, falling like a ragdoll; she can barely hold her head up from the previous beating. The bruises on her face cause me to boil with anger. Diaspro releases a punch at Ariella's already bruised face, causing her to let out a cry of pain.
"Ariella!" I shout, struggling in my restraints.
"And this is just the beginning. In this teensy little warehouse, you ain't seen nothing yet. I want you to live knowing that she'll be dead within twenty-four hours, and it's all going to be your fault," Tobias spits. I feel my eyes tear up, but I do not get the chance to cry because Tobias' huge fist goes flying into my face.
For the second time that day, I black out.
Side note: I've added Diaspro's appearance to the cast section of this story in case you need a visual on what she looks like.
Please don't forget to vote if you enjoyed the chapter, and comment your thoughts.
A/N:
Hello all! I've returned to writing this story, but unfortunately I will only be posting chapters weekly because of my mental health. This is definitely better than not publishing at all, so hopefully with time I'll be able to resume the daily upload schedule. Thank you so much for reading!
I slightly rushed to publish this because I have 3 other stories I need to work on, so if there were any mistakes, let me know! I'll fix them :)
Stay safe,
– Lina ;)
Published 6/26/2020
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Jennifer Pierce and Khalil Payne: When Fate Pulls Us Apart
FanfictionMetahuman Jennifer Pierce found herself in love with Khalil Payne, except it seemed that fate did not want them together. Khalil was paralyzed by a bullet, which caused an evil man named Tobias Whale to form a deal with the striving track star. A ro...
