Rated PG-13 for language.
Note: If the characters seem out of sync to how they should act, do not be alarmed. This is my opinion of how things would go IF Max's flaw was her anger, not seizures. Please read and review.
Angered Souls: Hidden Rage
Part IV: Maxxed Out
Back inside the warehouse, I am still facing Lydecker. He gets the courage to speak, "Very impressive, Max." When he receives no response, he continues, "And I thought that Zack was the angry one."
"Sorry to disappoint you." Is all I offer. My tone is cold and hard, equaling my expression.
He then points out, "I see you cannot talk much in this state. I bet this puts a strain on you. Having to hold this anger." His next sentence goes unspoken, let it go.
I don't respond. But I know he's right. I can't talk much in my angered state. When I do, it's very little. As of now, my mind is only able to focus on one thing. Destroy. And it takes all my energy and concentration to keep from losing control.
As if he reads my mind, he offers, "I can teach you. Train you." He pauses, seeing my clenched hands at my sides, "I know you're afraid of this, Max. But with my guidance, you won't have to fear losing control." Again I hear, let it go. He moves to hold a hand out to me, but is interrupted.
"Sir!" We both turn to see a group of soldiers bring in three prisoners. "Found them snooping around outside, Sir!" The same soldier speaks.
Zack, Logan, and Detective Sung. They get tied to chairs. I am confused at the arrangement. Sung is in one chair, brought forward, while Zack and Logan are seated behind the detective, next to each other. Why don't he just send us home, I found myself wondering, looking at Zack.
I am still angry. But Lydeckers next action will change that. He approaches Zack and begins to question why he is here. Zack doesn't answer, so Lydecker angrily backhands him.
No!! "Stop it!" I command.
I am ignored. Zack's gaze returns to Lydecker and he doesn't seem to mind the blood oozing from his now broken nose. Though, Zack's bleeding irks me. Lydecker then reaches and grabs Zack by his shirt collar, and backhands him again in the same spot.
"I said stop it!!!" I shout again. Lydecker is purposely pushing my buttons. He walks over to Sung.
I watch as Lydecker whips out a pistol. All three prisoners tense up. Bang! Sungs lifeless body slumps over. I gasp and my eyes go wide. The combination of the horrid and disgusted looks on the two remaining prisoners plus Sung's death causes me to twitch. I look from Zack to Logan, and I am hit with Logans' expression: horror, terror, and hatred. Lydecker then turns the pistol toward Logan, ready to pull the trigger.
My eyes are on Logan. He looks to Lydecker and says, "Go ahead, shoot." I hear the click as Lydecker releases the safety.
Let it go.
In the blink of an eye, I have gone from standing, to pulling my clenched fists to an X across my front side, to whipping them out from my sides as I scream. Though now my scream sounds more like a cry, an angered wail of frustration.
I release and let go of what I've been holding back. The floor below us begins to tremble. Slight cracking shows, as it buckles under the pressure of my surge. Lydecker lowers his gun and gazes in awe at me. If I was angry before, I'm pissed now. Finally, he muses.
During this new transformation, Zack has managed to grip himself together and has freed himself. He then successfully frees Logan. Their gaze then falls on me.
The sight of me brings back an old memory to Zack. In the same time frame that I had learned about my anger, the scientist showed Zack about me. But I was never allowed to see what else Zack was shown. The scientist showed him a computer simulation scenario of what would happen if I lost control. "She must never be allowed to reach this state, Zack. She would become unstoppable and lose control as well. At this state, no one is spared. No one!"
"No." Zack mutters. He turns to Logan, "Get everyone out. NOW!!!"
Logan successfully carries out the command. Now it's just Zack, Lydecker and me. A tear falls down Zack's cheek as realization hits him, "I'm sorry." I failed.
It is too late. Too late for me. Too late for all of us. I am past the point of no return.
"Incredible." Lydecker breathlessly states. A supernatural golden glow surrounds me. My features twitch with rage. Lydecker has pushed me too far, and he will pay.
With slow, threatening steps, I cross the room until I am a mere foot from Lydecker. As I pass Zack, he takes a step back away from me. Suddenly, in movements way to fast for the normal eye, I have taken Lydeckers gun. His eyes dart to his now empty hands, then to me as he shrinks away. Fear has hit him. He realizes too late, that he directed my anger toward him. With another swift movement, I launch the gun behind me, sending it crashing through the windows, where it lands a few blocks away.
I watch him as he watches the gun. He then looks at me and turns pale, but tries to regain himself, "This is a strict viola-" He is stopped when I grab him by his shirt collar and pull him close to me. No more talk.
Logan has come back in by this time and joins Zack. He looks at the scene Zack is staring at and gulps, "Max?" I don't hear him. Lydecker shakes in my grasp, "Let me go, soldier." He commands. Nice try, Lydecker. I tremble with power, he trembles with fear.
Suddenly, I knee him in the gut. He crumbles over, gagging. Weak. I toss him aside and he falls to the floor, hard. The fall knocks him unconscious. Worthless.
Logan runs to my side. Zack tries to stop him, "Logan, no...."
Logan doesn't understand. He shouldn't have done this. He stands next to me now. Zack stands frozen, he's too afraid to approach me.
Logan moves to touch me. He reaches up to caress my cheek. He fails. My hand whips up and snatches his away, and I cause his arm to break. He whimpers and tries to pull away. He fails again. I reach up to caress his cheek, mocking him. With anger as my voice, I backhand him across the cheek, breaking the bone in his nose, giving him a black eye, and splitting his lip. I release him and he falls to the floor and looks up at me, holding the side of his face. I glare down at him.
Zack fills my vision, as he kneels to the fallen Logan, he looks up at me, "We have to get out of here!"
I shift my gaze toward the window, where sounds of sirens fill the air. The police. Actually, I should say the sector/military police. Zack begins to move Logan away, but I remain. I don't care, I'll take them all on.
But we never got to learn the one important thing about this stage that I have reached. The fact that I'm beyond my limit, unable to return, uses a lot of my energy at an abnormally fast rate. Laymen's terms. I can only hold this stage for so long. What does this mean? Time is up.
That's fine with me, for I have accomplished one thing....Lydecker is dead. He is no more a threat to us. We don't have to hide anymore. Actually, my time was up a while ago. I had uselessly been hanging on, for what I don't know anymore. I let go.
Zack moves to catch my collasping body. Luckily, Logan is able to help Zack. One things for sure, I'll be out for a while.
Epilogue
It's been a few days. I awaken, though I'm still majorly weak. I notice that I am in Logans 'Eyes Only' computer room. He sits, typing away. I chuckle to myself, Probably moved me into here to keep an eye on me. He turns his head to check on me and smiles when he sees me awake.
Zack isn't around. Figures. With Lydecker dead, he left to plan a surprise X5 reunion in my honor. Logan had explained everything to me. Well, everything except the reunion.
But Lydecker isn't dead. Unknowingly to us, he's in a coma. Until he awakens, Madame X is keeping him in a private section of Manticore. She was briefed on the situation. And now she wants me. She sees me as an asset to Manticore. And she plans to succeed where Lydecker has failed.
~~**++**~~
The End
Note: If the characters seem out of sync to how they should act, do not be alarmed. This is my opinion of how things would go IF Max's flaw was her anger, not seizures. Please read and review.
Angered Souls: Hidden Rage
Part IV: Maxxed Out
Back inside the warehouse, I am still facing Lydecker. He gets the courage to speak, "Very impressive, Max." When he receives no response, he continues, "And I thought that Zack was the angry one."
"Sorry to disappoint you." Is all I offer. My tone is cold and hard, equaling my expression.
He then points out, "I see you cannot talk much in this state. I bet this puts a strain on you. Having to hold this anger." His next sentence goes unspoken, let it go.
I don't respond. But I know he's right. I can't talk much in my angered state. When I do, it's very little. As of now, my mind is only able to focus on one thing. Destroy. And it takes all my energy and concentration to keep from losing control.
As if he reads my mind, he offers, "I can teach you. Train you." He pauses, seeing my clenched hands at my sides, "I know you're afraid of this, Max. But with my guidance, you won't have to fear losing control." Again I hear, let it go. He moves to hold a hand out to me, but is interrupted.
"Sir!" We both turn to see a group of soldiers bring in three prisoners. "Found them snooping around outside, Sir!" The same soldier speaks.
Zack, Logan, and Detective Sung. They get tied to chairs. I am confused at the arrangement. Sung is in one chair, brought forward, while Zack and Logan are seated behind the detective, next to each other. Why don't he just send us home, I found myself wondering, looking at Zack.
I am still angry. But Lydeckers next action will change that. He approaches Zack and begins to question why he is here. Zack doesn't answer, so Lydecker angrily backhands him.
No!! "Stop it!" I command.
I am ignored. Zack's gaze returns to Lydecker and he doesn't seem to mind the blood oozing from his now broken nose. Though, Zack's bleeding irks me. Lydecker then reaches and grabs Zack by his shirt collar, and backhands him again in the same spot.
"I said stop it!!!" I shout again. Lydecker is purposely pushing my buttons. He walks over to Sung.
I watch as Lydecker whips out a pistol. All three prisoners tense up. Bang! Sungs lifeless body slumps over. I gasp and my eyes go wide. The combination of the horrid and disgusted looks on the two remaining prisoners plus Sung's death causes me to twitch. I look from Zack to Logan, and I am hit with Logans' expression: horror, terror, and hatred. Lydecker then turns the pistol toward Logan, ready to pull the trigger.
My eyes are on Logan. He looks to Lydecker and says, "Go ahead, shoot." I hear the click as Lydecker releases the safety.
Let it go.
In the blink of an eye, I have gone from standing, to pulling my clenched fists to an X across my front side, to whipping them out from my sides as I scream. Though now my scream sounds more like a cry, an angered wail of frustration.
I release and let go of what I've been holding back. The floor below us begins to tremble. Slight cracking shows, as it buckles under the pressure of my surge. Lydecker lowers his gun and gazes in awe at me. If I was angry before, I'm pissed now. Finally, he muses.
During this new transformation, Zack has managed to grip himself together and has freed himself. He then successfully frees Logan. Their gaze then falls on me.
The sight of me brings back an old memory to Zack. In the same time frame that I had learned about my anger, the scientist showed Zack about me. But I was never allowed to see what else Zack was shown. The scientist showed him a computer simulation scenario of what would happen if I lost control. "She must never be allowed to reach this state, Zack. She would become unstoppable and lose control as well. At this state, no one is spared. No one!"
"No." Zack mutters. He turns to Logan, "Get everyone out. NOW!!!"
Logan successfully carries out the command. Now it's just Zack, Lydecker and me. A tear falls down Zack's cheek as realization hits him, "I'm sorry." I failed.
It is too late. Too late for me. Too late for all of us. I am past the point of no return.
"Incredible." Lydecker breathlessly states. A supernatural golden glow surrounds me. My features twitch with rage. Lydecker has pushed me too far, and he will pay.
With slow, threatening steps, I cross the room until I am a mere foot from Lydecker. As I pass Zack, he takes a step back away from me. Suddenly, in movements way to fast for the normal eye, I have taken Lydeckers gun. His eyes dart to his now empty hands, then to me as he shrinks away. Fear has hit him. He realizes too late, that he directed my anger toward him. With another swift movement, I launch the gun behind me, sending it crashing through the windows, where it lands a few blocks away.
I watch him as he watches the gun. He then looks at me and turns pale, but tries to regain himself, "This is a strict viola-" He is stopped when I grab him by his shirt collar and pull him close to me. No more talk.
Logan has come back in by this time and joins Zack. He looks at the scene Zack is staring at and gulps, "Max?" I don't hear him. Lydecker shakes in my grasp, "Let me go, soldier." He commands. Nice try, Lydecker. I tremble with power, he trembles with fear.
Suddenly, I knee him in the gut. He crumbles over, gagging. Weak. I toss him aside and he falls to the floor, hard. The fall knocks him unconscious. Worthless.
Logan runs to my side. Zack tries to stop him, "Logan, no...."
Logan doesn't understand. He shouldn't have done this. He stands next to me now. Zack stands frozen, he's too afraid to approach me.
Logan moves to touch me. He reaches up to caress my cheek. He fails. My hand whips up and snatches his away, and I cause his arm to break. He whimpers and tries to pull away. He fails again. I reach up to caress his cheek, mocking him. With anger as my voice, I backhand him across the cheek, breaking the bone in his nose, giving him a black eye, and splitting his lip. I release him and he falls to the floor and looks up at me, holding the side of his face. I glare down at him.
Zack fills my vision, as he kneels to the fallen Logan, he looks up at me, "We have to get out of here!"
I shift my gaze toward the window, where sounds of sirens fill the air. The police. Actually, I should say the sector/military police. Zack begins to move Logan away, but I remain. I don't care, I'll take them all on.
But we never got to learn the one important thing about this stage that I have reached. The fact that I'm beyond my limit, unable to return, uses a lot of my energy at an abnormally fast rate. Laymen's terms. I can only hold this stage for so long. What does this mean? Time is up.
That's fine with me, for I have accomplished one thing....Lydecker is dead. He is no more a threat to us. We don't have to hide anymore. Actually, my time was up a while ago. I had uselessly been hanging on, for what I don't know anymore. I let go.
Zack moves to catch my collasping body. Luckily, Logan is able to help Zack. One things for sure, I'll be out for a while.
Epilogue
It's been a few days. I awaken, though I'm still majorly weak. I notice that I am in Logans 'Eyes Only' computer room. He sits, typing away. I chuckle to myself, Probably moved me into here to keep an eye on me. He turns his head to check on me and smiles when he sees me awake.
Zack isn't around. Figures. With Lydecker dead, he left to plan a surprise X5 reunion in my honor. Logan had explained everything to me. Well, everything except the reunion.
But Lydecker isn't dead. Unknowingly to us, he's in a coma. Until he awakens, Madame X is keeping him in a private section of Manticore. She was briefed on the situation. And now she wants me. She sees me as an asset to Manticore. And she plans to succeed where Lydecker has failed.
~~**++**~~
The End
