They called it a meteorological phenomena. On that day, in 2012, days passed in minutes, items fell to the ground so fast they shattered, and the clocks speed so fast they broke, they said it was Mass Hysteria in response to strange weather conditions. They even linked it to a strange incident where a bunch of people in Florida thought they turned into snails. But that was the official explanation, that it was all just people freaking out, and yelling at the sky. It was barely noticed that a few escaped prisoners washed ashore in Florida, alongside the corpses of a Marine Biologist and a Priest, or that they had been recovered by a submersible vehicle branded with the logo of a foundation that claimed to be devoted to scientific research. But it was certainly noticed by one young man, half a continent away.
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Suddenly, with a gasp of air, Joakim Johanson was awake. Eyes wide, the young man looked wildly in all directions, panicking as he struggled to recall exactly where he was. As his rapid breathing slowed to normal, he realized he was laid in a hospital bed, although instead of sterile white lights he was surrounded by white curtains, hanging from racks on wheels. The ceiling above was canvas, and slanted like a tent. Past the curtain he could hear the groans of other men and women, but no one spoke.
"What the Hell?" Joakim mumbled in frustrated confusion. He tried to sit up, but a wave of weakness washed over him, sending him backwards again. "Where… What?" He attempted to sit up again, and managed to force himself into a sitting position, despite his head going fuzzy as he did so. "Hello? Did I get hurt?" He asked, slightly louder. If he was in a hospital or medical facility, surely someone would be nearby.
Sure enough, squeaking footsteps sounded from outside of his curtain, and within the minute another person of average height, although a head shorter than Joakim himself, had entered his curtained off room. He couldn't tell what gender the person was, as they were covered head to toe in a hazmat suit. The person retrieved the medical chart from Joakim's bed, and took a moment to read it, and turned to face him.
"Joakim Johanson? I'm Dr. Elton, and I work with the medical department of the Speedwagon Foundation." A male voice said from the suit. "I'm here to treat you, and the six other people in this tent. I'm going to ask a few questions to check for any signs of memory loss or other neurological damage, OK?"
Joakim paused for a moment, searching his mind for any familiarity with the Speedwagon Foundation. He'd heard their name before, but wasn't sure where. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, and nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. But I want to know what's going on first."
He sat down at the foot of Joakim's bed "I understand, and I promise I'm going to do my best to explain the situation, but I have to prioritize your wellness. As soon as I make sure you're properly cognizant, I'll answer anything you ask." Joakim opened his mouth to protest, but decided it'd probably be smarter to listen to the doctor. "Joakim, do you know where you are? What year is it?"
"I think I'm still in New York City, and it's 2013."
Dr. Elton nodded. "You're just outside the city, do you remember what you were doing last, before you woke up?"
"I was…" Joakim paused to think. "I was at a concert with a friend. Creed and I, we were at a Powerline Concert." He thought for another moment. "Oh God, the concert!" Realization hit like a punch to the gut. "There was someone there, a blonde guy! He-"
"Joakim, Joakim, it's ok, it's over." Dr. Elton put a hand on Joakim's shoulder. "We know what happened. We were on the scene in the aftermath." Joakim leaned back on his elbows, struggling to recall details. Powerline was on stage, when a blonde man and a woman in pink shorts walked on stage. The singer attempted to kick them off himself, as security was nowhere to be seen, but when he moved to hit the blonde man…
"Dr. Elton, what happened to the singer? His guts just… exploded. All over the stage behind him, like he just burst." Joakim asked, remembering the horror on the signer's face as he slumped over. "And the drummer, he died too…" Joakim tried to remember the details. "But it was weird. That girl stomped on his leg and it shattered like glass. Then she moved up to his head and-"
"Look, Joakim. I'm not at liberty to explain. Even if I was, I'm not sure I could. It's one of those things where you either get it, or you don't. I'm sorry." spoke carefully, trying not to insult, but Joakim still felt frustration flare. Whatever had happened he was right in front of it, but he wasn't at liberty to say?
"Joakim, one last thing. What do you remember after that happened?"
Joakim felt a chill run down his back. "The blonde guy was saying something about a gift, or something. He had a briefcase, and when he opened it, it was full of wires, and had a clock. There was something else in it too, some kind of…"
"An arrowhead." Dr. Elton finished. "It was a bomb, and when it went off, a lot of people died. A lot of them didn't have serious injuries, so there's suspicion of a chemical agent. We're going to hold you guys here until we can make sure there's no disease or poison in your systems. But you have more or less confirmed what we thought. You're going to be ok, Joakim, you're just going to have to stay here for a day or two." The Doctor stood to leave, pausing as he stepped through the curtains. He turned back as if to say something to Joakim, but said nothing as he walked away.
Joakim looked down at his hands, and scratched at the bandage on his neck, pulling some strands of his long, dark hair free of the adhesive. "Guess this is my 'minor injury'." He mumbled to himself. Whatever wound beneath was, it didn't hurt, but it did itch badly. "Hopefully it can come off soon."
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For three days, the survivors of the bombing were kept in the Medical Facility, allowed to mingle and share their experience. Joakim had learned that his friend Creed was kept in a separate tent, and that tent was allowed to leave on the second day, as the battery of tests had come back negative. Joakim also learned that the culprits were at large, and little evidence of their identity was left behind. Unfortunately the description of "Tall, Blonde man" and "Super hot chick with bright blue eyes" didn't help too much, despite the enthusiasm the teenager who supplied the description showed.
The three days were filled with examinations and blood tests, and during the procedures, Dr. Elton remained informative and kind, however he still couldn't explain the nature of the events that Joakim and the others had witnessed. Every time Joakim or another Patient asked, all he could do was shake his head and say "If you were in the know, you'd know. Otherwise you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
However Joakim and one of the women there, a barista with dark red dyed hair named Jocelyn, had pieced together a theory, that the singer had been the victim of some sort of gunshot, and the woman must have been some sort of athlete to have the strength to do that kind of damage. Neither could come up with an explanation for the lack of sound for the gunshot, or for the freezing the drummer had suffered on his leg or head. After a long day of tests and still no answers, the two had separated with an agreement to make time to hang out, after they were free. The doctor had more or less guaranteed that this was the last day they'd have to withstand such a battery.
With that happy thought in his head, Joakim went to bed for the night, ready to return to his own. His dreams were fitful, as a vision of the Blonde Man's murder replayed over and over in his head. In his dream the singer was killed by what looked to be a third arm growing from the Blonde Man's shoulder, twisting and elongating horrifically as it struck through the man's torso. The woman who killed the drummer was similarly mutated, her eyes popped from her skull, the nerves stretching and flexing as they pushed forward toward the drummer, one pressing against his leg, and one against his face. In the dream, Joakim screamed in terror, before his attention was drawn to his own hands, which had begun to melt off the bone, smoking as small flames ignited and extinguished in the melting flesh. In the strange logic inherent to such a bizarre dream, Joakim saw a connection between his ruined hands, and the disgusting display before him. There was some sort of common ground between them that evaded him entirely. It occurred to him that the terror had passed, that the condition of his hands was not abnormal to him, once again the strange dream logic was the cause. He watched the bony hands carefully in the dream, and noticed the bones shifting in his hands, moving from what he perceived as normal, to the silhouette of a hand, with the bones forming a star shaped outline where the palm should be.
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Joakim awoke with a start to the sound of a woman screaming in pain. It was a sudden, sharp noise that cut out quickly. There was whimpering from someone else in the tent, and the noise of a cart topped with metal tools being knocked over. Joakim held still, not even daring to breathe, as the familiar squeaking footsteps of grew closer. However these footsteps were not his usual, measured pace, but unevenly spaced out, as if he was limping, struggling to move closer. The doctor managed to stumble through the curtain to Joakim's space, and the sound of dripping liquid became suddenly apparent.
The doctor was clearly injured, his suit was torn and his helmet was destroyed, the top half missing in action. This was the first time Joakim had gotten a good look at the doctor's face, his light brown hair was a mess, matted with blood from a head wound, with small chunks of ice frozen in it's strands. He had one hand on a sharp shard of ice that had embedded itself in his torso, towards the bottom of his ribcage. Dr. Elton looked at Joakim with a face full of pain and frustration, before motioning for Joakim to remain silent. Further footsteps approached, lighter on their feet than . The silhouette of a woman paused outside his curtains, and her head tilted up towards the lights. watched carefully as the woman paused, and clenched his fist.
As Joakim looked back and forth at the doctor and the woman, he noticed something strange about that fist. It was almost like he was seeing double, another fist, semi transparent and almost overlaid on the doctor's own. It made his eyes hurt to look at, so he moved his gaze to the woman's shadow as it stalked away from the pair. Dr. Elton listened carefully for another moment, before finally breathing a ragged breath. "I'm so sorry, Joakim, but I needed to hide from that woman for a moment." He grunted in pain as he crouched down. "I'm assuming she's the woman from the concert? Her ability is a tough nut to crack, I"ll admit that much."
Joakim felt that strange pain in his eye again, as the double vision returned. It looked as if a second torso leaned forward from 's own, similar to his but distinct, and a second pair of hands gripped the icicle. " Doctor?" Joakim said quietly, as he squinted. "What are you doing? You look… weird? And you said something about an ability."
"Joakim, right now you and all the other patients are in incredible danger, I can't beat her in a straight fight, and she's more than willing to let you get hit in the crossfire. I need you to follow my instructions as best you can, and help me save you and everyone else."
"Doctor? I don't know if I can help. My vision is getting weird. Like I'm seeing double." Joakim tried to shake his head.
"Well Doctor? Are you going to diagnose him?" Asked a husky female voice from the curtains. They were flung aside, as a woman in pink shorts and a low cut top stepped in. Her hair was curly and blonde, and her smile was venom. Her eyes were a bright blue, and looking at them gave Joakim the same sort of pain that had. "I see you were holding out on me, Doctor." Said the woman, as she stepped into the space.
The doctor reared back, and began to cry out, "CROCODILE RO-" Before her boot crashed into his jaw, knocking him from a standing position to the floor. Without missing a beat, she turned back to Joakim, and Joakim felt the temperature quickly drop around him, going from a pleasant warmth to freezing cold within seconds. His face began to feel stiff, his eyelids refused to blink.
"Guess not, you were just hiding then. Otherwise this poor idiot would have fought back by now." The woman shrugged, and stepped over the collapsed doctor. He struggled to his knees, but seemed unable to move his legs past that position. A layer of frost had formed over his pants, the sweat and blood freezing into a thin icy film. Joakim felt the air around his nose and mouth freeze solid, an icy muzzle preventing him from breathing. The woman leaned in close, and in a husky whisper, began to speak.
"I'd apologize for your sorry luck, kid, but Tanya Adel doesn't roll that way, and neither does 「ICE QUEEN」." She gave a mocking peck on his cheek. "You were doomed the moment you bought tickets to that concert."
Joakim struggled to breathe against this strange ice mask. What had she said? Her name was Tanya, and what else? Ice Queen? Who was that, was there someone else? Was this mask the Ice Queen? His vision was starting to tunnel, his thoughts getting fuzzy, and yet he didn't feel fear. He felt cold, he was in pain, he was desperate to live, but he wasn't scared. He was angry, he felt fiery rage building in his belly, even as his vision began to turn gray. He tried to scream, but no noise came out. He tried again, and he felt the ice as it began to creak.
With a final cry of anger, the ice mask shattered from off his face, taking bits of skin from it as the shards exploded outwards. Tanya had enough time to widen her eyes in shock, before a force struck her across the face, sending her flying backwards, yelling, but not screaming, in pain and surprise. Joakim heard another curtain tear, and the metallic smashing of another tray of tools being struck by Tanya as she was sent backwards.
However Joakim was most transfixed by the vision before him. Floating before him, was a semitransparent humanoid arm from the shoulder down, apparently emerging from his mouth. The arm was a deep red, with two black rings hovering around it's forearm. On the back of the clenched fist, there was the distinct, white shape of a star.
Dr. Elton gave a painful laugh from the floor, seemingly just as shocked as Joakim, but infinitely more amused. Joakim looked at the doctor and clearly saw another humanoid shape, it overlapped the doctor, but was distinctly different from him.
"Well Joakim, looks like you're in the know. You're a stand user."
