Notice:
This is the second episode of a series. If you haven't read the first episode, be sure to read it on my profile. Thank you.
And here I am giving you Life is Strange Season 2 Episode 2: Time is Power! Probably came sooner than you expected. Anyways, enjoy this chapter and enjoy this episode as I write and keep it updated!
Previously on Life is Strange: After the Storm...
"Max, its time," said Chloe.
"Not anymore," said Max tearing the butterfly photo. Her only key to saving the townspeople of Arcadia Bay.
"Max, I'll always be with you."
"Forever."
"If we're gonna be out of town, we should probably find somewhere to stay for the night," Max suggested. "Maybe we can stay at my parents house in Seattle."
"You want us to travel that far out of the state?" Chloe asked.
"Why not. It's the only place I know where it hasn't been bombarded by a twister. Maybe we can spend the night at a motel or something incase we can't make it that far today."
"Chloe, they survived!"
"What?"
"My Mom just texted me saying they're survivors. Including your mother!"
"Really?!"
"Yes, really!"
"Shit, I better let Mom know where we are!"
"Hey, hey, Max!"
"Dad!" Max gave her Father a big hug.
"Good to see you again." Ryan then turned to Chloe seeing how much she'd changed over the past five years. "Chloe, is that you?"
"Yo," said Chloe giving Ryan the piece sign.
"Wow, so much can occur in five years," Ryan admitted giving Chloe a hug. "It's good to see you too, Chloe."
"Great seeing you again, as well, Ryan."
"Come inside. Your Mother's waiting for the both of you, Max."
Ryan let the both of them in. Max could hear her Mother's voice across the hallway.
"Is that our little girl I hear, Ryan," Vanessa called from down the hall.
"The one and only, Vanessa," replied Ryan. "And she brought an old friend along the way."
Vanessa gasped at her daughter seeing Max and Chloe both on sight. "Max, sweetheart!"
"Mom!" Max gave her Mother a hug as tight as she hugged her Father. Vanessa turned to Chloe. Seeing how much she'd changed, as well.
"Well, look at you, Chloe," said Vanessa. "How lovely to see you here."
"Right back at ya, Vaness," Chloe said to Vanessa giving her a hug.
"You sure have changed a lot since we left Arcadia."
"Mm, Max," said Chloe with her mouth full. "I've never been to such an incredible place where every fast food franchise is right in front of your face."
"I'm telling, Chloe," said Max taking a bit from her burger. "This is my treat I bring to you. The opportunity of a lifetime."
Max and Chloe swallowed their food and cleared their mouths.
"Something tells me that without you power, Max, we wouldn't have made it this far."
"No shit. And there you were giving me that photo just to throw our new relationship away."
They laughed.
When Max put on her new sweatshirt, she felt ringing in her ears and saw her nose bleeding in the mirror. Then something startled her. A shadow figure with glowing blue eyes and a glowing red hot sparkle in it's chest translucently flashed through Max's reflection. Suddenly, the lights blew out and the room went dark. Max gasped in horror. Then she was no longer in the room. No longer in her stall. No longer anywhere. She was now in a pitch dark area where her new shirt glowed purple and where she saw a tree sparking bolts of electricity. It almost reminded her of the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter.
"What the fuck is this? What's going on? Why am I here? What kind of place is this?"
The confounded photographer walked up slowly to where the tree was. In attempt to approaching the tree, she saw the spirit doe she had thought to be her spirit animal standing next to the tree. Then the blue butterfly, the same butterfly that took place of Chloe's pre-set death warrant, flew past Max flying up to the tree and landing on a branch. Out of nowhere, the shadow figure teleported behind Max with a very deep and vibrant voice.
"Max."
The voice startled Max as she swiftly turned to where it came from noticing she was back in the stall. The lights were on and she had snapped back to reality.
"Max," Chloe called from the stall next to Max's. "You okay? Something startle you?"
"I'm fine," lied Max. "It was just a spider I saw crawling on the ground."
"Max, what was that?"
"I...I don't know."
"Max, what did you just do?"
"I - I just threw that rock...and it just froze?"
Max and Chloe stared at each other briefly. Then Max picked up another rock and threw it in the air thrusting her hand in front of her to test this new power. Then the rock froze itself just like the other rock. The two of them observed the rock that stood still from a distance until it fell in the water.
"Wowser."
"Sure, Chloe," Max replied sarcastically. "I'm just fine. The fact that I just took six-hundred lives for yours, we run away to Seattle like nothing occurred, I have visions of spirit animals and shadows, and now I'm turning into a fucking X-Man who can stupefy time, I'm just A okay!"
"Max, come on. Just chill the fuck out for a moment, okay?!"
"Chill the fuck out for moment?" Max scoffed. "Is that all you got to fucking say? Huh? Is it?"
"Max, I don't know what to tell you, okay?! Shit. You know, I don't like this anymore than you do, but we can figure something out. Keep it between you and me, as always."
"Psft. I'm done keeping it between us. I didn't ask for this shit!"
"Says the girl who tore the photo that was the key to making Chloe Price the martyr of Arcadia Bay!"
"Oh, fuck you, Chloe. I didn't tear that photo just so we can live happily ever after and kiss Arcadia Bay goodbye. I did it so we could forget about my power and forget last week ever happened! Forget every fuck up I set ourselves up for ever happened!"
"Well, it has happened, Max! Live with it, okay?! You and I both know we wanted to reestablish our relationship from the very beginning. Not since the day you first saved me, but since the day you left Arcadia Bay. So how could you say you never asked for this shit?"
"I never asked for super powers, Chloe. I never asked to be a She-Marty McFly with a Flux Capacitor for a heart and a time circuit for brain. All I ever I asked for was normal life between you and I."
"I was just like you when I was your age. I had a lousy Father. A lousy childhood. No Mother, and I got into a lot of mischief as you always had. I had no sense of discipline whatsoever. Then I was enlisted into the military and started fighting in the war in Afghanistan. Then I retired from the army, married Joyce, and then you came barreling into my life as I came barreling into yours. Since then, I've always asked myself, what do I know about raising a kid?"
"Chloe," Max began. "David is offering something to make your life better. Don't push him back now.
"Listen everyone, okay?! I don't agree, alright?! In fact, I love Chloe more than I love photography!"
"Max Caulfield, think about what you just said," said Vanessa.
"Oh, I think I've thought plenty, Mom. You have no idea how emotionally twisted of a week it has been for me and her."
"Max," the voice called over to her. The voice jumped Max and gasped as she turned towards the same shadow like figure with blue glowing eyes and red-hot chest that she saw in her previous vision.
"The time has come for you to learn," said the shadow with his demonic voice.
"Wha? Who-Who are you?!" Max asked the shadow with a confused look.
"Who I am is of no importance. All that is of importance is what is about to come. Now is not the time to be puzzled, Maxine Caulfield. The end of time is coming. And when that day comes, you must be prepared. Now it begins."
"I was in this frozen forest where I saw my spirit again. Then I found myself in Portland where I saw a this humongous hole in the sky hovering over a skyscraper. Then I saw that shadow figure again and tells me that the end of time is coming. Sometime next year. Six months from now. Just tell you believe me. No matter how crazy I sound."
"Max, I'll believe whatever you say. But you have to promise me something. Promise me you'll try to suppress your obsession with your visions and get hold of your time bending, okay? Tell me, do you promise? Do you?"
"I promise."
Prologue
12 Months Earlier...
Chloe
April 19th, 2013 5:01 AM
3 days before Rachel's disappearance...
I was fast asleep in my bedroom tucked under the blankets of my bed. My bedroom door then creaks open and slowly shuts behind someone. The person sneaking in my room then creeps up to my bed and hovers over my body where I sleep. As the intruder hisses over my head, I slowly open my eyes to see someone biting me on the neck. I instantaneously wake up startled and gasped. Accidentally knocking her down on the floor.
"Jesus!" I shout. Then I see my girlfriend on the floor giggling. "Rachel?"
"Ow, Chloe," she says smiling. "I landed on my damn hip."
"The fuck are you doing here, Rachel," I ask getting off the bed. "It's five in the morning. You're gonna wake up my parents. How did you get in here?"
"I snuck in through the backyard and climbed up the window in the hallway," she explained getting back on her feet. "Didn't want to wake your parents by ringing the doorbell and using the front door anyways."
"Why are you here, Rachel? And why are up so early? Couldn't this wait 'till later?"
"Unfortunately, Chloe, it can't. Class starts in four hours and I want to do this before so."
"Is that right," I say stretching my arms and with yawn. "Well, what is that you want to do before class begins?"
"Well...let's just say I'd like to go somewhere we're not supposed to."
"Great, the last time we went somewhere we weren't supposed to, you had to leave me behind so I could get arrested for four hours."
"No, Chloe, this is different. Listen, yesterday I found this abandoned place here in Arcadia Bay. I think its some kind of fun house or whatever."
"And how do you know its a fun house? And how to you know its abandoned."
"Last time I checked, it was shut down three years ago. Duh. It's by the junkyard."
"Fine, but I'm gonna have to get changed. I'm not going out in my jammy pants."
"Whatever you say, Chloe. We can take my bike if you want. Unless you want to take your truck?"
"No, Rachel. You brought your bike, and so we take it."
"Alright, Chloe. I'll be waiting outside. Just don't let your Step-Faggot catch you on the way out."
"Hey, if either my Mom or my Step-Faggot find out that I've snuck out of the house without telling them, they will kill me."
"Neither one of them is going to find out, okay? We'll be back before six or seven-ish. They'll never know. And trust me, it'll be trouble free going to where we're going. I won't get you in trouble this time."
Chapter 1 Appointment
Max
April 11, 2014 8:09 AM
Present day...
6 months after the storm...
I had scheduled an appointment with my psychiatrist Dr. Elliot Thomas. Dr. Thomas had a PHD degree and was an expert on parapsychology. He had been helping me get through my visions and my condition effected by my powers for the past since six months as Arcadia Bay slowly rebuilt itself. Although, I have told him about my visions, I never told him about my power.
I sit across from him in front of his desk and he holds a card in front of me that had shape on it, but it was turned around so I could guess what it would be.
"Tell me what this one is," he asked.
I think hard to determine what it is. I could use my time vision, but Dr. Thomas would get suspicious.
"Its...a square," I said.
"Correct," he said turning the card over. Then he held another card. "Tell me what this one is."
I think hard.
"A...circle."
"Good," Dr. Thomas replied turning the card. "Getting better at this everyday. Now tell me what this one is."
I think harder this time. I could actually get this one wrong. But with my first gut, I go with it.
"A row of wavy lines."
"Very good, Ms. Caulfield," Dr. Thomas complemented. "I think that does it for today. So Ms. Caulfield, I may have a few questions to ask before you go. You have been taking your medication every day, have you?"
"Yes, Dr. Thomas. I have."
"Now, Ms. Caulfield. May I ask you this. These nightmares you've been having. About the end of time you say. Do you still believe time really is coming to an end?"
I sigh. Then take a deep breath.
"It's alright, Max," he said. "I know it's rough, but all I want is your honesty and a straight answer."
"Well...to be honest, I don't know what to think anymore. Every now and then I think its coming. I just don't when. All the dreams just feel so real, they have to be telling me something. I know they are."
"Mm. Have they ever told you when? When the end of time is near?"
"I've actually been doing some research about my condition. Just to try and find the answers, but could never find any."
"That's great, Ms. Caulfield. But you didn't answer my question. Have your dreams told you when the end of time would be?"
"No Dr. Thomas, they have not. That's why I've been researching on the internet about my condition. I've spent six months doing so. I take a break from doing so every now and then. I'm only trying to take matters seriously. Whether anyone believes me or not, I know the end is near. And when it comes, who knows what will happen."
Dr. Thomas looked at his watch.
"I'm afraid we're out of time, Ms. Caulfield. This is where I let you go. In the meantime, I'll call your parents about your session results and your condition so far. Just don't forget to take your meds every day. You have a wonderful day at school."
"Thanks Doc. I appreciate it."
As soon as I leave Dr. Thomas's office, I walk back into the waiting room of the psychiatry center where Chloe waits for me. Sitting down playing 'Angry Birds' on her phone. She put her phone down when she noticed me walking in.
"Well, what did he say this time," she asked.
"Same old shit. Just don't forget to take my meds is all."
"You sure he didn't say anything special?"
"Well he did ask me about my dreams and visions. As I just said, same old shit."
"And did you give him different answers?"
"Chloe, I don't want to talk about it, okay?"
"Max, stop telling me you don't want to talk about. It's not okay. I know you'd want to talk about. You're just to stubborn to talk about it."
"Somehow I'm the stubborn one now. That makes us even."
"Yeah it does. You helped me make my life easier before. Here I am returning the favor."
"How exactly are you returning the favor? All do is just tell me to let it be or to let it go and where does that get me?"
"Max, all I'm trying to do is to get you to lay off your obsession with your visions make sure your able to sustain yourself from that. Let alone keep you from exposing yourself from your powers. It's the best I can do."
"Class starts in less than forty-five minutes. You should go. I'm just gonna take the bus."
"Why?"
"I just need some time alone. I'll get back to you after class."
Note:
As you can see, Rachel was my surprise character in a flashback scene with Chloe. One of the things that Season 1 lacked was Rachel's back story or at least showing her physically with her back story. So I'm only doing what Dontnod couldn't. Expect more flashback scenes with Rachel to come in future chapters.
In the first season, Max had side effects from her power. Which was nose bleed. When she starts seeing a psychiatrist for her visions, she's given a prescription for special medication to suppress her side effects. That's the best I can explain.
As you may know, it's been six months after the disaster and Arcadia Bay has had six months to rebuild itself. The next chapter will have further details. Also I've decided to date every chapter and place certain chapters from different perspectives. Then write them in first person. Something I'm doing differently to make this episode more interesting.
BTW, I'm giving Rachel her own personal transport. That is a motorcycle. Also, I'll be going out of town for the weekend. So I might not start writing the next chapter until I'm back.
Until next time, stay tuned!
P.S. (no spoilers) They'll be another surprise to come in the future of this episode.