A few things; Phieilly came up with the title, so thank you! I will not be making promises as to when I update, because it's taken forever just to write chapter one XD. I'm not winging it as much this time around as I did in EA, I've got a good bit of stuff planned out, as well as a few future scenes and/or chapters written already.
I've also decided, once and for all, the numbers of everyone. All of those that had a B in front of the number will just be numbers after 12 because it's a lot easier that way XD. Anyways, here's the list of characters and their ages, heights, and powers (some have been altered to go along with the story line :D).
P.S. Their abilities will be told as we get to know them :)
001- John, 22 years old, male
002- Nora, 18 years old, female
003- Polly, 18 years old, female
004- Brittany, 25 years old, female
005- Mackenzie (Mack), 14 years old, female
006- Shawn, 20 years old, male
007- CeCe, 14 years old, female
008- Kali, 19 years old, female
009- Axel, 15 years old, male
010- Andi, 15 years old, female
013- Tannern, 15 years old, male
014- Catherine, 14 years old, female
015- Ender, 16, female
I hope you all like the first chapter!
Wednesday, March 12, 1986
Mike was silent as he walked between Kali and Shawn, vaguely aware of the argument taking place behind them between Mack and Axel.
Do they ever shut up? He thought.
"Do they ever shut up?" He asked quietly. Shawn snorted and Kali chuckled.
"Rarely, no. Axel's only quiet when he sleeps."
"Psh, no he's not, he snores." Mack called.
"You sound like a dying pig in your sleep, shut the hell up." Axel shoved her.
"I will freeze you again, don't mess with me." She glared at him. He rolled his eyes but continued walking.
"Hey Mike?" He asked.
"Hm?"
"If she freezes me will you unfreeze me?" Mike just shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Are we walking all the way to Chicago or what?" Mike asked, ten minutes later. He kept his mind blank, trying not to think about his, most likely, crying girlfriend and family.
"No, we've got a van out on an old back road." Kali told him. He nodded.
"Thank God we do, because I wouldn't be able to handle Axel whining anymore." Shawn muttered.
"You've dealt with me all year, you can deal with me longer." Mike sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it and be able to block him out in no time." Kali told him. He just nodded again.
"Hey kid, do you ever smile?" Mack asked.
"I'm older than you."
"I don't care."
"I used to." He said, finally. She stayed quiet after that, and so did Axel. The only sound they heard were the leaves and twigs snapping under their feet. When they got to the van, Kali said,
"Axel, you sit in the front with Shawn." Axel grumbled but did as he was told, hopping in the passenger seat as Kali, Mike, and Mack got in the back. It didn't have seats, but it did have a mountain of blankets and pillows for them to sit on. Mike settled in the corner, sitting his bag next to him while the other two got settled as Shawn drove off.
"Why are there so many blankets?" He asked curiously, playing with a loose string.
"In case we all have to leave." Kali told him. "It's to be comfortable, for one, and it's for when it's cold. The van doesn't have the best heat."
"All of you?" He raised an eyebrow.
"We have two vans." She told him. "Each can hold seven, two in the front, five in the back." Mike nodded.
"Can I see your powers?" Mack asked him. His eyebrows furrowed, looking at Kali as if to ask for permission. She shrugged. He held his left hand up and a small flame fluttered in his palm. "That's so cool." She whispered, unable to take her eyes off the fire until he closed his hand, putting it out.
"Opposite of cool, actually. Literally and figuratively." He mumbled and she snorted.
"I know you feel terrible, Mike, but this is for the best." Kali told him.
"I know… I just, I don't want anything to happen to them, and I know it'll keep them safe, and that I can leave when it's safe, but how will I know when it's safe? If you're right, there are labs and the Projects all over the place. It could be years before we even think it's safe. It'll probably never be safe." He groaned, running a hand through his hair as he glared at his shoes.
"We know a lot more than you think, kid." Shawn told him, looking at him in the mirror. "You're right, it could be years, but one day, it will be safe, I can promise you that." Mike stared at him. "I know how much promises mean to you, and I assure you, they mean just as much to me as they do to you. I promise it, Mike, it will be safe one day." Mike eyed him for a couple more seconds before nodding, turning his attention back to the string he'd been playing with.
There's something they're not telling him, he could tell that much. They had to be up to something, considering it would never be safe when labs are involved. He wondered if they had a plan to take them down, if the only reason they wanted him to come with him was to use him as bait. He sighed quietly, shaking it off. Kali wouldn't do that, would she?
She may have broken one promise already, but that doesn't mean she'll break any others. You have to trust her, Mike. Do it for the people you love. He thought to himself. He couldn't help but feel paranoid after all that's happened, and if he asked any one of his soon to be friends, they'd tell him they felt the same way. The paranoia never goes away, no matter how safe you are.
"Why don't you try to sleep, Mike? It's a two hour ride." Kali told him. He bit his lip, and didn't respond. He just curled up into a ball, hugging his knees. He didn't think he'd fall asleep, thoughts racing through his mind, but he did. He fell into a, thankfully, dreamless sleep.
"Do you think he'll freak out?" Andi asked, twirling her hand around, creating a tiny tornado on top of her thigh.
"Who?" John asked. "Mike or Axel?" She thought for a second.
"Both?" He chuckled and shook his head, shrugging.
"I have no idea." Catherine told her from her spot on the couch.
"Mack will keep Axel straight, so he probably won't freak out too much. You know since Shawn can sense feelings, he'll be able to calm Mike down." Brittany said, running her fingers through her hair.
"How much you wanna bet Mack told Mike that she was his mortal enemy?" Polly asked, propping her feet up on the table.
"You know full well she did." Andi replied, throwing the tornado Brittany's way, causing her hair to tangle. Brittany scowled at her and got up to fix her hair, muttering under her breath. Andi snickered.
"Do you think he's cute?" Ender asked.
"Jesus Christ, is that all you think about?" John asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"It doesn't matter anyway, he's taken Ender." CeCe called.
"How do you know?" Ender called back, rolling her eyes.
"Uh, because I pay attention? If you listened to Kali when she told us who he was and his backstory, you would understand that he's got a girlfriend."
"Huh, pitty. And yes, Johnny, that is all I think about. I am a sixteen year old girl who is stuck in an underground bunker, with only books and stupid fashion magazines." John rolled his eyes, sighing and getting up, joining Tannern in their room. The bunker could hold a shit ton of people and they could all have their own room, but everyone preferred to share with someone. Well, everyone except for Shawn, who would rather have his own room, even though it was directly next to Kali's and they ended up sleeping in the same bed anyways.
"CeCe, Andi, let's go out and train." Brittany told them, walking back into the kitchen, her hair now in a ponytail. The two girls groaned but did as they were told, following her up the stairs.
"Just imagine how bad it would be if everything was normal. You know, if they were in high school." Polly said, looking at Ender, who snorted.
"I'd be in high school too, you know. I'd probably be some snarky bitch like in those magazines and books."
"You got that right." Nora muttered, walking in and plopping down in a chair.
"Like you wouldn't be one too. We'd probably be in a group together or something." Ender said, flicking her shoulder.
"Maybe Mike could tell us about school?" Catherine said, turning and facing the three girls from the living room. (The kitchen and living room only have a giant doorway separating them, so it was basically just one big room.)
"He went to school?" Tannern asked quietly, confused, as he and John came back in the living room.
"Dude, did you not pay attention either?" John asked, rolling his eyes. Tannern just shrugged.
"Mike's powers didn't show up until he was fifteen."
"Yeah, his birthday was the day before Christmas Eve." Polly added. "Kali said she started training him on Christmas Eve."
"Huh, it must suck to have a birthday so close to Christmas." Ender mumbled. John turned his attention back to Catherine.
"I'm sure that once he warms up to us, you could ask him and he might tell you all about it."
"Speaking of him warming up to us, are we positive that he won't like, go all apeshit on us and explode the entire bunker?" Nora asked.
"I highly doubt he would, Nora." Polly rolled her eyes. "Even if he wanted to, we could probably stop him."
"How could we stop him? He's practically invincible." Ender retorted.
"Uh, no, he's not." John rolled his eyes. "He's only invincible from his own powers, as in, he doesn't get burned by fire, or anything heat related I don't think."
"Oh."
"Yeah, you should start paying attention more."
Outside, CeCe, Andi, and Brittany were messing around with their powers, CeCe just flying around or appearing in random places, while Andi just created small clouds and made thunderstorms.
"I'm gonna make an earth shield, Andi, and I want to see if you can destroy it with lightning." Brittany told her. Andi raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure?" She asked. Brittany nodded. She raised her hands, lifting the earth up as she raised her arms until she was completely hidden. Andi looked at CeCe.
"Be ready to get her out of the way in case it ends badly, okay?" CeCe nodded and joined Brittany behind the shield. Andi faced it and wiggled her fingers, feeling the electricity in them. She raised her hands and lightning shot out at the shield. It hit with a loud boom and dirt went flying. It didn't destroy the shield, but it did catch on fire and quickly spread.
"Oh shit, oh shit!" Andi exclaimed, immediately creating a rain cloud and making it pour. "I knew this was a bad idea!"
"Hey, they're back!" CeCe straight up ignored the fire when she saw Kali and the others walking towards them. Kali's eyes widened and looked at Mike.
"Mike, put it-" She didn't even need to continue, as he'd waved his arm and the fire was gone.
"How in the…." Andi raised an eyebrow, confused. Brittany dropped the shield, wiping her nose. "Are you okay?" Andi asked. She nodded.
"Yeah, you?" Andi nodded.
"That was so freaking cool!" Axel exclaimed, jumping up and down like a child. Mike shrugged and wiped his nose with his sleeve.
"I thought you could only get rid of fire that you created?" Mack asked, confused. He shook his head.
"It doesn't matter where it comes from, I can put it out just like that."
"Do you know that you just saved our asses, dude?" Andi asked. "Like I didn't know that lightning hitting dry dirt like that would almost cause a fucking forest fire." He just shrugged again.
"Come on, I think we've had enough training, even though it didn't last too long."
"Yeah, I want Mike to meet everyone before we get dinner started." Shawn told them, walking forward and leaning down, opening the door.
"Just wait, they won't be afraid of Mike anymore when I tell them he saved us." Andi said, grinning as she slid down the ladder, running off as soon as her feet hit the floor. Brittany and CeCe both gave Mike a smile. Mack and Axel went on down and Kali motioned for Mike to follow, but he hesitated.
"They're all scared of me?" He asked softly, adjusting his bag on his back.
"Not necessarily no, they were just a bit freaked out by it. Majority of them down there are dramatic teenage girls, so they think everything is worse than it is." Shawn told him. He nodded and made his way down the ladder.
Goddammit, I hate ladders.
He eyed the long hallway as Kali and Shawn made their way down the ladder.
"We've got a long walk ahead of us still, kid, you want me to take your bag for you?" Mike shrugged again, he'd become even more quiet since he woke up from his nap. Shawn sighed and gently took the bag from Mike and threw it over his shoulders, walking ahead of them. Mike and Kali walked side by side, footsteps echoing around the hall.
"There's a lot of stairs to go down." Kali warned him. He nodded.
By the time they made it to the bottom, Mike felt even shittier. On top of everything else, he feels like his legs are made of noodles thanks to the stairs and he's sweaty.
"I should have done more in gym." He mumbled and Shawn snorted.
"I agree, kid, I probably wouldn't have done anything though. You're the only one who's gone to school out of all of us." Mike raised an eyebrow and Shawn nodded. "Yep, so once you guys are all warmed up to one another, they might ask you questions about it." Mike nodded.
"It's not as great as you guys probably think." He muttered. Shawn opened the door and immediately, multiple voices carried through, Axel and Andi talking animatedly and explaining to everyone who would listen, which was literally everyone.
"It was cool! Fucking badass!" Andi exclaimed. "He was just like, "She waved her arm the same way Mike did, "Whoosh! The fire was gone."
"Is that true?" Ender asked upon seeing Shawn and Kali. The two nodded, grins forming on their faces.
"We walked up on them right on time to see Britt's shield go up in flames." Kali crossed her arms and gave Andi a pointed look.
"Hey, Brittany suggested it." She said, raising her hands in surrender. Kali turned the look to Brittany, who pretended she didn't hear anything.
"Hi, I'm CeCe!" She said excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in front of Mike. She held out a hand to shake.
"Um...Mike." Mike hesitated, then shook her hand.
"I know. You're cool."
"Actually, he's the opposite of cool." Mack joked, nudging Mike and trying to get a laugh or smile out of him. It didn't work. He felt himself kind of shrinking as every set of eyes turned to look at him.
"Guys, you're freaking him out. Don't just stare at him like he's a wild animal." Catherine said, rolling her eyes and walking forward. "I'm Catherine, and my abilities are healing and ability amplifier. I'm fourteen."
"I, uh…" He coughed a little and continued, voice shaky. "I'm assuming you all know what mine are?" They all nodded in unison.
That's creepy as fuck.
"He's actually got a third ability." Axel said. "Teleportation."
"How in the fuck?" CeCe muttered. "How does that work?"
"Just like some of us have two abilities, while he's got three. Duh." Axel rolled his eyes and she flipped him off.
"He didn't know about the teleportation." Kali explained. "None of us knew, actually, until Axel saw it." Mike nodded in agreement.
"We could help you out with it." CeCe said. "Polly, Ender and I have teleportation too. I can fly and Ender has telepathy." Mike swallowed and nodded.
"That makes four with teleportation. This'll be easy." John muttered. Kali nudged him and gave him a look that clearly said, shut up!
"Um…" Mike bit his lip. "I'm not gonna like, blow up the bunker or anything." He told them. "You don't have to act like you're gonna attack me any second any more." They looked away from him and at each other instead.
"Sorry." A few muttered.
"Brittany, did you get his room ready?" Shawn asked. Brittany nodded.
"Yeah, he's gonna be sharing with Axel."
You've gotta be kidding me.
Ender snorted loudly and everyone looked at her weird. She waved them off, eyeing Mike and giggling to herself.
Right, telepathy. I'm assuming you heard that?
Damn right I did. He's not that bad once you get used to it.
He's like my friend Dustin but twenty times more energetic.
Ender snorted again but covered it with a cough.
"Is she talking to you?" Andi asked. Mike looked at her and discovered her resemblance to Max. Well, the only resemblance was the fact that she had fiery red hair like her.
Say no.
He shook his head a little and shrugged. "No."