October 2013, Arcadia Bay, Oregon
The autumn leaves reflected their color onto the world through a warm sun and a late afternoon. Birds had sung their tunes through the constant but pleasant chirps and talons as they flew around continuing their life. Squirrels roamed throughout the natural life, continuing their efforts to feed and live just as nature ascribed to them. The beauty of it all was its simplicity, it was not complex but that was what made it a beautiful sight to behold. The nature of Arcadia Bay was one of the few things to still behold in sight uncorrupted by economy or elitism.
The trees stood tall above the railroad track leading through the forest. Officially freight trains often used this route to cut through the bustling forest in order to go around urban or suburban requirements. Unofficially, the underbelly of what Arcadia Bay offered used the abandoned structures near the tracks as locations for parties, drug dealing, underground concerts, along with others. As a blue jay flies above the branches to search for a suitable location to perch, it observes two humans balancing themselves on both sides of the tracks. One was tall female with blue hair wearing a beanie that only let out strands of hair. The other was a slightly shorter female, with short brown hair, slight freckles, hoisting a bag over her shoulder and wore a slim grey sweatshirt. A doe hides behind the trees, seemingly real and calm but it strangely looked out of place. The doe looks up at the trees and witnesses the blue jay. In a sudden response, the blue jay flies away.
The two girls stop and decide to relax on the tracks. They start talking, having recently encountered a drug dealer Chloe had known for some time.
"Maximus don't worry. Besides Frank isn't as hardcore as he looks. He just fronts it. But I'm sorry" Chloe says in a relaxed tone
"He's clearly dangerous Chloe, I mean he threatened us." Max says in a cautious manner.
"I know Max, its just that crazy shit is the normal for me now. Not a day goes by when I have shit hit the fan." Chloe responds
Chloe explains her situation to Max, she needed enough money for her and Rachel Amber to leave Arcadia Bay. However, with Rachel missing for months, Chloe feels as if it would be wrong for her to leave without her. Meaning she now must deal with Frank and his dog pressuring her to pay back the 4 thousand dollars. They change subject shortly after, in order to forget about the encounter.
"God, I just realized we haven't hung out here since we were in our tweens… and its like no time has passed. I wish Rachel was here to meet you."
"You think she and I would have been good friends?" Max asked
"You two aren't that different, she had a great eye for images and art." Chloe responds fondly.
"I'm glad I came out here with you, railroad tracks always made me feel better, and I guess I know why" Chloe says, her smile lightened a little more since Max and her saw each other again from the first time. As she lies among the tracks, she realizes something.
"I never really asked how your parents were? How are they, Vanessa and Ryan?" Chloe asked.
"They good, Mom is still working for the city as an attorney while Dad is still himself. Working as an accountant and watching Soccer." Max responded.
"You forgot someone else Max." Chloe playfully asked.
"Who…Oh Aaron. Yeah he's doing alright I guess." Max said
"Alright, wow Max way to leave your baby brother dead last in the list." Chloe remarked.
"I mean he's still the same even as a 13-year-old. Still this annoying kid with the humor of a wiseass and the brains to back it up. I swear I feel like I should smother him sometimes." Max says.
Chloe laughs a little bit; she remembers how when asked to Max and her would often take their brother with them and play together. Although it was priceless when Aaron tried to argue with the two of them, even as a kid he had a lot of sass, but he also had a pure heart of gold and maybe a big brain. But deep down she loved the little boy like her own.
"Gotta admit, I miss the little one. He always made things more interesting than it usually was."
"Easy for you to say, you loved having him around so you could laugh at him sassing me all the time." Max retorted, playfully being baffled
"Oh, you still complain about that. Come on, it's not every time when an 7-8-year-old kid actually debates you and wins the argument." Chloe says fondly.
"Easy for you to say, you never really lived with him full-time! He still drives me nuts!" Max says
"Well, I sort of did. Plus, he's like a little plushies at heart. Remember when he thought the shark, I had was real. The kid felt like he was getting haunted by it all time and he doubled down on it by jumping back." Chloe reminisced. She made a genuine laugh that hadn't been done in some time.
Max smiled, her sibling pride didn't want to admit it, but she sometimes knew how Aaron even as a kid often brought some light around him.
"He still remembers those days you know." Max says
Chloe is brought to attention with that statement.
"Does he? I thought a kid like him would forget a lotta stuff about me. I mean he never saw me or got a chance to say goodbye after Dad died." Chloe acknowledged. How the memory went was that when on the day William died, Aaron was at doctor's appointment with his parents while Max stayed at the house. She never saw him after that day, she couldn't remember if his face was at the funeral.
"Mom and Dad didn't tell him for a while. Your Dad was like the cool uncle for him, for us both. When Mom and Dad found out, they knew it would devastate him and wanted Aaron's last memory of William to be happy and inspirational. They never brought him to funeral as well. They just couldn't bring themselves."
"Did he ever find out?" Chloe asked
"Eventually, He asked there and then if he could write back to you or your folks. Mom and Dad and Me just kept telling him that everyone was too busy or maybe another time." Max said
"Something else happened, Max. I can sense it" Chloe pandered.
Max sighed; this was not a fond memory for her." Last year, my brother was being annoying as usual. I was just having a bad day during the weekend cause of school and other stupid shit. Then he comes in, being his usual self and he starts nitpicking at me. He starts saying things like 'I'm guessing a picture didn't come out right?' or 'Someone made a shot at wrong side of the bed.' "Max paused for a bit.
"And…" Chloe asked
"When he dropped my camera, I thought it got broken so I lost it on him. He said stuff like 'its still works and its not that big of a deal.' But what really kicked it in was when he talked about how William would just ask me to chill in the ice, I just dropped it on him. That William was dead, and no one told him. I told him how he died too, and no one told him in like this terrible cold manner." Max said, a look of regret came upon her eyes.
"Jesus Max." Chloe said. She never thought Max could drop a bomb like that on a kid who never knew for years.
"He just shut up after that, he just stopped talking and didn't even respond. I apologized but he just went back to his room and locked the door. I couldn't hear anything but him punching the wall, and then just him crying for the rest of the afternoon." Max finished.
"Max you don't need to…"
"No, it's alright, I just want to get this out of chest. It's just, after that Mom and Dad tried talking to him for the rest of the day but he wouldn't budge. He was just quiet and dead silence. After two days or so he jumped back around and acted like his usual self again, he said it was alright and at least he knows now. But I could tell that he never forgave me, even now. How could he, it was probably one of the worst things I've done to him." Max said, her chest felt better now that she confessed.
"It's not your fault, Silent Max. I mean, its not like he hates you for eternity. He'll come around, someday." Chloe says to comfort Max. She knew how much Aaron looked up to William as an uncle to a nephew. He grew up around both families a lot. If it was devastating for herself and Max, it'll be devastating for him as well.
"Who knows, maybe when this whole shit blows over we take a visit to Seattle, visit your folks and your brother down there. Make it feel like it was yesterday." Chloe suggests.
"Maybe, who knows. Maybe we could make it three and bring Rachel along when we find her. I'm now curious to see how she holds up with Aaron's quirks." Max says with a laugh, relaxing more with this possibility.
"I wouldn't mind, besides what's going to happen back there anyway? Some supervillain like Doctor Doom tries to invade the city or something." Chloe ponders.
"Who knows Chloe, Who Knows…" Max says
" And Chloe, thanks for listening, I feel better. You have no idea how bottled up that was." Max says in gratitude.
"Anytime Maximillian" Chloe responds
The seconds pass as the two friends later see the train coming, a vision hits Max of an impending storm. Chloe gets stuck in the tracks and is later freed by her time warping friend. A near death experience is averted by drive for life. No matter how strange it can be.
A/N: That's it for this one, I wanted to finally make a chapter that included more Life is Strange characters. The purpose of these teasers were to not only set up the main story by giving background through one-shots but also make it easier for me to integrate the Life is Strange world and characters with Marvel characters and elements. I wanted the audience to be more familiarized with it when the main story finally starts. Like I said, I do not know when I can finally start posting it, but I have a newfound inspiration to continue my effort. More teasers should be coming soon when I have the time. I may involve more Spider-Man like elements while making sure it connects with elements from LIS. I hope you enjoy this chapter.