Chapter 14: Shocker! Reborn!
I wake up to the feeling of something squeezing my arm, looking over at my side. I see Alicia hugging my arm. She's still asleep but has a worried look on her face, so I try to shake her awake.
Her eyes open, "Everything alright? You were holding onto my arm pretty tight, and you looked kind of scared." I say.
She lets go of me, "Oh it was nothing. Just a bad dream. Sorry for grabbing onto you like that."
"It's fine. You want to talk about it?"
We both sat up. "It's really nothing. Those memories about the discs have been coming up more and I started getting some dreams about it. I still don't understand any of it, so it's not really worth worrying about." She says.
I put a hand on her shoulder, "I just want to make sure you're ok. Even if you don't understand it, I'll still listen."
"I'm not even sure I can. Everything in it is blurry and anything I hear is muffled. I just know that whenever I'm there, I get this feeling of dread. Like I'll be stuck there forever."
"Do you remember when it happened? Not trying to force you to remember, just trying to see if I can help."
"I know you are, and I appreciate it, really. The only time I can really think of is back in middle school. I can hear my parents' voices, so it had to have been before they left. It's weird. Whenever I think back to our last year, it feels like there are parts missing. Do you remember anything weird around then?" She says.
"I don't have the best memory, but you were acting strange back then. You were really distant. It was like a part of you had vanished. But then one day you were back to your usual self. That's it though, sorry."
"No, that's good. It helps pinpoint when this happened. I wish I knew what happened, though. If I don't even remember acting strange that year, it was all pretty normal, according to my memory." She gets up from the bed and stretches, "Well, nothing we can do if I don't remember."
I stood up. "So, anything you want to do today? It is the weekend."
She puts her hand under her chin to think before giving me a big grin. "You know, we could go on that date?"
"Right now?! I mean, if you want to. Where would we even go?"
"It doesn't have to be anything special. We could just hang out at the mall. Wait outside while I get ready."
"Oh, alright." I grab my stuff and go outside to wait for her.
I wait around twenty minutes before a familiar mechanical bird flies up to me. "I found you. Did you get the other disc?"
"Right." I pull out the green and light blue discs. "These'll work, right?"
"Those are perfect. I will get them back to you as soon as I can." He flies off.
I wait a few more minutes and turn as I hear the door open. "You ready?" I feel my entire body freeze up as she opens the door. She looks good. I try to say something, but no words come out of my mouth. Stop staring at her Chase, just say something, anything will work. "You look amazing." Not that!
She laughs as she closes the door, "Well I'd hope so, wasn't making you wait for nothing. Shall we?"
I snap back to reality. "Yeah, I don't have any helmets for the motorcycle, so we'll have to walk there."
She looks at the Cyclone. "Hold on, when'd you get a motorcycle? How come you didn't tell me?"
"It was something Otto made for me yesterday. He just gave it to me out of the blue. Something seemed weird about him as well. Can't figure out what, though."
"We should check up on him after our date. He worries me sometimes with how little he talks to people. Wait, how'd you drive here without a helmet?" She asks.
"I was transformed, so technically I had one on."
She sighs. "Seriously, it'd be easier just to bring a helmet with you. You can't exactly be transformed all day."
"I know, I know. It was just in the moment. Are we gonna go or what?"
We walked to the mall. As we talk, I think about giving those two discs to the professor. I trust him with them, obviously; he knows more about them than I do. But having only the mermaid and harpy discs will put me at a disadvantage in a fight, depending on what I'm up against. This project he's working on better be worth it. We spend the day roaming around various stores. Eventually, we both sit down on a bench inside the mall.
She rests her head on my shoulder. "This was nice. I'm still surprised I told you how I feel. Never thought I'd ever be able to do that."
"Well, I'm glad you did. I wouldn't have realized how I felt about you if you hadn't. I love you."
Her face grows bright red. "Why do you get so much confidence when we're together?" Her voice lowers to a whisper. "I love you too."
"I don't know either. Before I couldn't even speak just from seeing you walk out the door. But times like this, when it's just you and me sitting or laying together. I feel like I can say anything. You're the only person I can do that with."
We sit there in silence before hearing a loud crash by the entrance we came into the mall from. "Why now, of all times? We should go." I say.
She nods and we run over to where the noise was. The front entrance of the mall is destroyed and blocked by rubble. In front of it is Sophie, Alicia's sister, and the cloaked woman. There're groups of people frozen in place, terrified about what might happen.
Sophie sees me and speaks first. "This will be our last fight." She looks at the other two. "I'll handle this. Keep a lookout." They both nod as Sophie starts walking towards me.
"Alex, why're you doing this?! This isn't like you. What's happening?" Alicia says.
He looks away with guilt in his eyes. Sophie continues to slowly walk towards me as she presses the button on the right side of their belt.
Slow down! Slow down! My strength is unrivaled! Power up!
There are too many people around. If I transform, then my secret is out. No luck in the world could save me if that happened. But what other choice do I have? Even if Otto got here, he wouldn't get past the rubble in time. Alicia figures out what I'm thinking and runs in front of me.
Sophie stops and Alicia speaks, "You won't hurt me, will you? Why can you just say what's going on? I know you and my brother aren't bad people, so just talk to us."
She stands there in silence and something clicks inside me. You want to talk to us, don't you? There's something holding you back from talking, I can tell. If that's how it is, then I guess I have no other choice.
I step in front of Alicia. "It's alright, I get it now. If you can't talk to us, then I'll bring you back to a place you can. I won't let you run away again."
I slam the belt on my waist and put the mermaid disc in. Spinning the sides of my belt, I pose with the projection. I can hear shocked gasps from the crowd. If I can bring you back, then nothing else matters. I don't care if the world knows. Getting you back is all I care about.
"Transform!"
Water under the bridge! I am the king of the sea! Reborn~
I run at her as my suit forms around me. My scarf flows through the wind even stronger than usual. She punches at me, but I move around and wrap my whips around her arms, bringing her in.
"Don't worry, you'll be able to see mom and dad soon. I won't let you out of my sight again."
Sophie uses her strength to pull her arms down and press the left button on her belt.
Faster! Faster! Faster! I'm untouchable! Speed up!
The whips fall off her as the suit gets slimmer. The fight turns into a stalemate as Sophie dodges my whips every time I try to hit her, but she's unable to move in because of them.
"We've done this before, remember? I know your moves now, Sophie." I say.
She stops in place and grabs a whip as it slashes at her, attempting to pull me in. I let go of it and wrap my second whip around her and she gets pulled in instead. I send her flying back with a punch as she comes towards me. She gets up and presses the middle button on her belt without hesitation. I take out the harpy disc, put it in my belt, and spin both sides.
Even out! My skill needs no boost!
Fly in the face of fear! I am the aviator! Reborn~
We charge at each other. There are no more special moves or theatrics. She hits me, and I slash her back with my daggers. That's it. I can feel it, this time I can do it! This is the last we have to fight, because I'm going to win this. My slashes get faster. I dodge her attacks more and more than the fight continues. We both back away from each other, even though the mask and suit I can tell she's worn out. I look behind her and see a worried expression on the face of Alicia's brother.
"You did? Because I'd like to talk. Unless you two want to go as well," I say, looking at the two behind Sophie.
Before anyone can respond, I hear loud noises coming from the entrance of the mall. I hear running from behind and see MDF soldiers running in, coming from one of the other entrances to the mall.
Hammer steps out of the group. "All of you need to evacuate now!" As he says that, soldiers help people move.
The loud noises continue as the soldiers hold their guns up, not at the three in front of me, but at the entrance itself. I can't see through her mask, but there's a look of realization coming from Sophie's face. She dashes over and holds onto me tight as the entrance breaks open, rubble and debris shooting everywhere as the room is clouded. All I see is a figure appear in front of me and slash down, but I don't feel anything. Instead, I feel something slump down into my arms. As the debris begins to fade, I look down and see her. Her suit is gone, and I look at Sophie for the first time in years. Her body feels so cold.
The realization slowly dawns on me as I feel a gash from her back. Her weak face tells me what happened. I fall down speechless as the world around me disappears, and all I see is her. My mouth is frozen. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes.
She gives me a caring look, as if she doesn't feel the wound on her back. "You're alright. I should've known they'd break through the rubble. "
I try to block out her words, "You're fine, you're fine. We just have to get you to a hospital, that's all." The panic is my voice increases by the second.
"Chase, that won't help. What you need to do is stand up. Forget about me, okay?"
Tears run down my face. "Shut up. Please, just be quiet. I can fix this. I'm going to bring you back to mom and dad. They'll be so happy to see you."
"I know they would've, but they won't. I need you to get up, Chase. You need to stop worrying about me and stand up. Before the debris goes away." Her eyes start to close. "Whatever happens, I believe in you. You're strong, you always have been…" Her voice drifts off.
I close my eyes as I talk, "Please Sophie, you'll be alright. Just give me a chance. I won't mess up this time." There's no response, and I open my eyes to see hers now fully closed. "Sophie? You're just knocked out, right? I'm sorry for telling you to shut up. I don't want to stop talking to you. Please, you have to be okay."
The debris fully fades and everyone can see what happened. I look back at Alicia, but she doesn't even notice me. She has a terrified look at something in front of me.
"What are you doing?!" the cloaked woman yelled.
"Getting rid of defective equipment. I'll miss that belt, even if it's useless now. Such a shame. She was one of my shining achievements." I look up and see a tall man in a white coat.
Shocker? They're the reason she's like this.
"I'm impressed. That belt you have is quite the piece of tech. Although the young Maxwell already surpassed it, so I guess it doesn't matter." He says.
She's hurt because of him.
"Not very talkative." He looks over and sees Alicia. "Ms. Cohen! It's been too long. How are you doing?" Alicia walks back with a confused and panicked look on her face. "Interesting. You don't remember me, do you?"
Something snaps in me as he walks closer to her. "Get away from her!" I grab one of my daggers and try to stab him.
He moves out of the way and grabs my arm. "I was hoping I'd only need this to break through the rubble. Guess it's time for an early showcase." He pulls out a red disc and puts it into his chest.
Flaming! Lobster!
He throws me away as he transforms, his body morphs into a monster with giant claws and a carapace-like armor surrounding its body. From its back is a mane of fire. It covers almost the entirety of its back, only stopping at its legs. The flame even pours into its arms and claws. I attack it with my daggers, but it just stands there, letting the daggers bounce off it like nothing. The soldiers fire bullets into the monster to the same effect.
"I was expecting more from you. Or maybe I'm just that strong." He sends me flying with one strike from his claw, both the mermaid and harpy discs fall to the ground. I can feel my transformation vanish as I slam into a wall.
He removes the disc from his check, returning to how he was before and picking up the two discs I lost.
I pull myself up. "Why are you stopping? I'm not done yet!" I charge at him without my suit and try to punch him, only for it to be caught. He throws me to the side. "Don't think this is over. I'm not letting you go."
"Oh, but it is over. This was over the moment you decided that any of this was a good idea. You don't even realize what you're up against." He gets a sinister grin on his face. "Would you like a sneak peek?"
"It doesn't matter what you send at me, I'm not going to stop until you're gone."
"Really? Let's see then, Maxwell, it's time." The moment he says that, I see from the entrance Otto walks in.
Otto? What's going on? Why is he over there?
"We have an extensive history with the Maxwell family, that even includes your very friend. But that's not it." He points over to the cloaked woman, "pull down your cloak."
The woman pulls down the hood of her cloak. Agent Braid is underneath. "See? You were never going to get anywhere in the first place."
"You're lying." I glare at Otto. "Tell me he's lying!"
Otto gives me a defeated look. "My dad didn't give me another choice. You get it right? I can't just go against my family. If I don't listen to him, I'll just be a disappointment."
"Are you serious? You're really with him?" I feel anger surge through my body. "I thought we were friends? You let this happen, just so that your dad would be happy?!" He looks away, and it's like all my energy vanishes at once. Why? Why did you do this? I had her. She was right there. We were supposed to be partners.
"So that's why you kept disappearing, to think you of all people were working for them." Agent Hammer says to Braid.
"Cole…" She drifts off, unable to say what she wants.
The world around me starts to get fuzzy. Did I do something wrong? Why would they do this? I trusted them. There is a loud ringing in my ears. I just wanted to protect people. I start getting dizzy. I just wanted to see her again. It's their fault, if those two weren't working for Shocker than none of this would've happened. My head collapses on the ground as everything around me turns to black. I just wanted my sister back.
Small AN: As much as I hate to say this. I feel like I hit a big wall in terms of my own writing ability with this chapter. I still like how it came out, but it really feels like I could've done better if my own writing knowledge and experience were better. I don't know, but it feels like this could've been better, is what I'm trying to say.