Passage 4 of a Prologue in 6 Parts

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Bouncers and Blizzards
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"The fuck?" I hissed as a searing cold suddenly pierced a point on my neck. I swatted it away and watched a small bit of white flutter to the ground. I narrowed my eyes at it for a second, then glanced up.

The stars were gone, swallowed up by a dark wall of clouds barricading off the night sky. When had those shown up? Come to think of it, it had cooled down quite a bit too. Maybe I shouldn't have left my gloves and scarf back in the car. I stared up for a few seconds more before spotting it: another speck of white floating down. I reached out a hand to catch it so I could take a closer look.

A snowflake. A goddamn freaking snowflake. Come on, Mother Nature, work with me here. Do you even know the meaning of the word Summer?

"What, is the blizzard following us now?" I grumbled.

Elsa-

I can't. I just can't. I'm not calling her that. I don't care if it's her name, it sounds like some sort of frigging French antiperspirant. We're going back to Snow, alright? Alright.

Snow studied the flake of ice in my palm before shifting her gaze upward to the overcast sky. Then she started to say something.

I held up a finger, stopping her before the first syllable was uttered. "If the next thing out of your mouth includes either the words 'global' or 'warming,' I swear to god…"

She pressed her lips together and looked thoughtful for a moment. Then smirked and offered, "El Niño?"

I rolled my eyes and slipped the snowflake down the back of her sweater. She punched my shoulder and I snorted as she shook it out of the fabric.

We were almost to our destination. It was a popular place, making getting a parking spot nearby a zero probability, so I had left the Ferrari a couple blocks back and we were currently hoofing it the rest of the way. And where, one might wonder, was our destination? That is a fantastic question, I'm so glad you asked. We were going to a fun little place known as the Gizmo Shoppe.

Now, the name Gizmo Shoppe was sort of misleading. It did in fact have gizmos, but they were more for show, not for sale. What was for sale was alcohol, and lots of it. The place was kind of like a miniature theme park crammed into a nightclub. It had games, rides, shows, people in costumes. I shit you not, it was kind of like much smaller version of Disney World except instead of Adventure Land, they had Booze Land, and instead of Tomorrow Land, they had… Even More Booze Land.

We turned down a covered alleyway. The brick walls and arched ceiling were lit up by old-fashioned looking streetlamps with real candles in them. Lining the walls on either side of us were doors leading into stores and other businesses that had closed up for the night long ago. The only signs of life were the lights and flashes of color coming from the far end of the alley. Yup, that'd be the Gizmo Shoppe.

After listening to our footsteps echo around the tunnel for a moment, I glanced at Snow out of the corner of my eye. "Psychometry?"

She blinked at me. "What?"

"The ability to touch an object, like a watch or a wallet, and see where it's been or where it's gonna be," I explained. "Can you do that? Do the visions overwhelm you? Is that why you wear the gloves?"

Yeah, I was still going on about those stupid gloves. So sue me.

The corners of her eyes crinkled and she shook her head. "No, that's not why I wear the gloves."

I crossed my arms and gave a low hum as we walked. "Mysophobia?"

"Nope."

"Amathophobia?"

"Nu-uh."

I licked the corner of my lips. "Hypochondriac?"

"No," she sighed.

I snapped my fingers. "I got it. You're a notorious and world renowned master thief. The gloves are so you don't leave fingerprints behind at the scene of the crime."

She gasped, "Oh my god, yes! That's it!"

"Really?"

"Nope," she deadpanned.

I frowned. "Not cool."

Her head tipped to one side. "Actually, it is."

"I'm sorry?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

Snow gave me a small grin. "You could say my reason for wearing these gloves is… very cool."

My brow furrowed. "Huh." I was left to ponder that one as we had arrived at the entrance to the Gizmo Shoppe.

The cobbled walkway beneath our feet shuddered and pulsed with the thundering music coming from within. The large doorway before us was adorned with neon lights, whirring gears, fluctuating springs and more. Strobe lights all colors of the rainbow twinkled and blurred by from within the opening like dancing will o' wisps, trying to lure in any unwary travelers who happened to wander by. And I was only too happy to be lured. I began to walk inside.

I was stopped short by a firm, meaty hand the size of a tennis racket on my chest.

It belonged to a man standing beside the entrance. A very large man with very large muscles. His black hair was cut into a low fade and a thick beard covered his scowling face. He was all sorts of blinged out with rings on his fingers, an earring in one ear, and a necklace around his throat with a bullet hanging from it. He had three scars on his left cheek and was sporting a skull tattoo on one bicep.

Oh yeah. He looked like the real friendly sort. A total teddy bear.

"And just where do you think your skinny ass is going?" he growled out in a deep voice.

My face was blank as I shifted my gaze from him to the door and back. "I think my skinny ass is going into this fine establishment you have here."

He gave a derisive snort. "Not on my watch," he said, giving me a light shove that sent me stumbling back several steps. "Beat it, kid. Go home, your mama's probably worried sick about you."

I caught Snow's eye. She quirked an eyebrow and gave me a tiny, almost imperceptible smirk. I then frowned at my new pal, Mr. Teddy Bear.

Oh no he didn't. This aggression would not stand. Not in front of my new lady friend, not when my manly dignity was on the line.

I cleared my throat, squared my shoulders, and looked down my nose as much as I could at a man who had at least two inches on me. "My good sir, is that anyway to treat an upstanding, respectable, tax-paying citizen who's legally of age to enter your little club?"

I have no idea how I managed to keep a straight face through that total load of crap.

He huffed out a curt chuckle. "Well, well. Turns out the little boy's actually a big man. Tch. Just how old are you anyway? Have your balls even dropped yet, junior?"

Woah now, crude much? There was a lady present.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'll have you know I am twenty-two, thank you very much."

Minus three years.

...and thirteen months.

The bouncer eyed me up and down with a bored look. "Kid, if you're twenty-two, then I'm the Queen of England."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, your Majesty."

His eyelids drooped, his frown deepened, and somewhere crickets chirped.

Well, I thought I was funny.

His eyes shifted to look past me and he said, "You can go on in, Miss. This doesn't concern you."

Who was he talking to? I turned. It couldn't possibly be-

It was. He had been talking to Snow, who looked just as surprised as I felt. She blinked a couple times, then pointed a finger at herself in question.

"Her?" I scoffed at him. "You act like I'm some kind of toddler, but you think she's old enough to go into a bar?"

He rolled his eyes, then asked, "How old are you, Miss?"

She hesitated a second, pursing her lips to one side. Then she drew her shoulders back, lifted her chin and replied, "Thirty-seven."

Mr. Teddy Bear squinted at her, before his face broke out into a grin. "Good enough for me. Go right on ahead."

"What?!" I snapped. He was messing with me. He had to be, right? Unless… unless it was just because she was a girl. But then, I thought bouncers only did that for hot chicks. Not to say that Snow was an eyesore or anything. Actually, come to think of it, she was sort of a looker… I guess…

Aw, who am I kidding? The girl was a total knock out.

But still, double standards.

In response to my outburst, he just shrugged. "The lady says she's thirty-seven. Who am I to question it?"

I fixed him with a hard stare. "A bouncer doing your job, that's who." He just shrugged his shoulders at me again. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "You can't seriously tell me you believe she's in her late thirties."

Snow let out a dramatic gasp as a hand flew to her chest. "Are you suggesting I look older?"

She was trying to sass me again. "Shush, you old hag." Hey, I give as good as I get. She stuck her tongue out at me. I looked back at Mr. Teddy Bear. "You see that there? Does that look like a thirty-seven year old to you?"

"It's important to stay young at heart," he nodded.

"Oi," I groaned. So done. "Where's Yuffie? She knows me, she'll let me in."

The bouncer crossed the pair of tree trunks he called arms over his chest and his scowl returned. Great. Just dandy. "Yuffie's not here. Barret is. And Barret's not gonna let you in. Barret don't like you."

Barret was a tool. Barret also needed to stop referring to himself in the third person.

I shook my head and sighed, "Come on, man, work with me here. I mean, you never even asked to see my ID or anything."

He glared at me for a silent second, then held out his hand. "May I see your ID, sir?"

"Finally, now we're getting somewhere." I fished a fake ID claiming me to be of legal drinking age out of my back pocket and handed it to him. He took it and held it up close to his face for scrutiny. Then he looked at me. I grinned. He nodded.

Then he popped the card into his mouth, chewed it up and spat out the pieces in a spray. Like confetti. I blinked.

Barret was insane. Also, shit, what did he have, jaws of steel? It's a good thing that wasn't my only fake ID.

"Entry denied," Barret ground out through his teeth.

Mr. Teddy Bear got a promotion at that point. He was now Mr. Grizzly Bear. And any idiot knows you don't fuck with grizzlies.

"Alright. Got it, big guy." I threw up my hands in surrender and backed away slowly. "Let's go, Snow. We've got better places to be anyway."

"You go ahead. I'll catch up," she told me as she began to walk into the Gizmo Shoppe.

"Oh no, you don't." I dragged her away by the braid. She huffed softly and swatted my hand away, but followed me without any further protests.

Interlocking my fingers behind my head, I grumbled, "Who wanted to go to that shitty old nightclub anyway?"

A smirk tugged at her lips. "I believe you did not more than five minutes ago, Allen."

I winced. Apparently that name joke wasn't getting old anytime soon. I decided to let it slide for now.

"Nah," I shook my head. "I just thought I'd grace them with my glorious presence. I was doing them a favor, really."

"How charitable of you."

"I know, I'm a regular Mother Teresa." I reached behind my ear and retrieved my half finished cigarette, sliding it in between my teeth. With a snap of my fingers, it was lit once again.

I know, I know, smoking is an icky habit. And it doesn't take a psychic to know exactly what each and everyone of you are thinking. Why do you do that to yourself, Axel? Do you want to die of lung cancer? Don't you know you're digging yourself into an early grave? Clean up your act and get your shit together.

First of all, the sentiment is appreciated, truly. But no one asked you, so - and I mean this in the nicest way possible - shut your trap.

Second of all, the way genetics got me wired, honestly, I'm not even sure smoking can hurt me. Hell, I even taste like smoke, and that was long before I picked up the habit. Just ask any of my exes. So I figure, why fight it?

Oh my, I do believe that was another clue. So how about it, viewers at home? Have you figured out what my mutant ability is yet? Hope so, because that's the last one I'm giving you. Come on, I've be handing them out like candy, you should have figured this shit out by now. It's not like I've been particularly vague or clever with any my hints up to this point either. You shouldn't need me to spell it out for you, where would be the fun in that?

I took a deep, slow drag, holding it in as I offered the cigarette to Snow.

She eyed the butt with a wry grin. "Because that worked out so well the last time."

Releasing the smoke, I shrugged. "If at first you don't succeed?"

She snorted. "No thanks. I've learned my lesson."

"Good for you," I smirked, gripping the cigarette with my teeth once more as I slapped her on the back.

She chuckled, "Thanks, Alf."

My eyes narrowed. "Now that was just uncalled for."

We left the shelter of the covered alleyway and I stopped dead in my tracks. "The hell?" I murmured, brow furrowed as I took in our surroundings. The street, the parked cars, everything had been covered in a fresh, thin layer of crisp snow.

Okay, seriously, Mother Nature must be drunk or something. I mean, how long were we in there? Two or three minutes, five max? And this is what we return to? It's a good thing I couldn't get cold. I could be standing at the North Pole in nothing but my birthday suit and not even so much as shiver.

Oopsie. Was that another hint? And after I said I was done. Oh well, consider that one a freebie.

You're probably also wondering about the scarf and gloves I had been wearing, since I didn't technically need them. Hey, dudes like to accessorize too, ya know.

"Okay, this is seriously starting to piss me off," I muttered, gnawing on my cigarette as I glared up at the heavens.

"Sorry."

I looked down at Snow with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"

She didn't meet my eyes. "About…" she trailed off, biting her lower lip, then made a sort of weak gesture towards the blankets of white around us.

I frowned. "Why would you-" Then it clicked. "You did this. That's your power. You can manipulate the weather."

"Well, no… I mean, kind of, I guess… but not really…"

Gee, thanks for clearing that up.

She started walking in the direction of where we'd left the car. I caught up in two long strides. Wringing her hands together, she began again, "Ice. And snow. That's what I can control. Though, maybe control is not the right word, as it more just sort of… happens around me. And it's always been small, harmless stuff, like some frost or icicles or a few snowflakes. But… a blizzard… this is the first time I've ever…" she trailed off with a grimace.

"Huh." I crossed my arms. "So then, looks like I was spot on with my nickname for you. Funny... I'm not psychic. At least, I don't think I am." Drawing in on my cigarette thoughtfully, I pondered that for a second before snapping my fingers. "Think of a number between one and five."

She stared at me blankly.

I pressed a finger to my temple and scrunched up my face. Because if you're trying to read minds and aren't poking your temple or face scrunching, you're doing it wrong. "...three."

Rolling her eyes with a snort, she said, "No."

"If you'd let me finish, I was saying three is not the number you were thinking of, because that number is five." She took in a breath to respond, but I went on hastily, "Kidding. I meant two… no, one." Cut me some slack here. When's the last time you tried parting the mystical veils of the unknown to peer into and divine the inner workings of someone else's mind? This shit ain't easy. She shook her head. "Okay, got it this time, this is the real deal: four."

A grin pulled at one corner of her mouth. "Nope."

I blinked. Did I miss a number? I counted out my fingers. "What is it then?"

"Blue."

"...hate to break it to you, but blue's not a number." And here her cover story had been she was tutoring me in math. Pfft.

"I know," she shrugged. "But that wouldn't have mattered to a true psychic."

I pursed my lips. "...well played. Welp, guess that answers that."

She ran her fingers over her lips, trying to hide a small smile.

"So what happened?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"This is the first time you've ever caused a blizzard, right? I'm guessing something happened to trigger it. So what was it?"

Her face fell and she hugged herself. "It... My sister, she... There was an accident. I was careless with my powers and she was hurt."

"Shit. She okay?"

She glared down at her feet as she trudged along. "I put her in a coma." Her features softened. "Her skin... it was so cold... like ice..."

I rubbed the nape of my neck, flicking my spent cigarette into the cool powder that coat the ground. "And that's why your folks shipped you off here?"

Snow nodded with a wince. "It happened right after we rushed her to the hospital. While I was in the waiting room."

Ouch. Certainly didn't waste any time, did they? We walked in silence for a bit before I asked, "So what happened tonight?" She furrowed her brow at me. "The snow's been coming down the past few days like Jack Frost on crack. Then tonight all of sudden, it just stops." I shrugged, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Something happened."

"...my parents called. It's the first time we've spoken since I arrived here. Anna… my sister, she's come out of her coma. They told me she's doing fine." A relieved smile ghosted across her lips as she continued softly, "I suppose that's when the blizzard let up." The smile vanished almost immediately. "I asked if I could come home, but they refused. I guess… I don't really blame them. Maybe I really am a monster."

I narrowed my eyes at her before giving her braid a swift tug. "Didn't I tell you to knock that shit off?" I scowled down at her hands and realization dawned on me. "...so that's why you wear those gloves. You're afraid you'll hurt someone again. You think those will help you keep your power in check."

She blinked at me, then crossed her arms, trying to hide the items in question under her elbows. She muttered, "Are you sure you're not psychic?"

I smirked. I love it when I'm right. "Nah. I'm just freakishly intuitive." Shaking my head, I added, "I hope you know you're being ridiculous. Those gloves aren't doing squat."

"How would you know?"

"Your handy work speaks for itself," I spread my arms wide, indicating the newly minted frozen tundra around us. Then without warning, I came to an abrupt halt and stared down at the curb with a frown, before glancing around. "Huh. Well, that's not what you want."

She stopped walking a couple steps after and looked back at me. "What?"

"See this spot here?" I gestured to the empty space of road next to me between two parked cars.

Snow looked where I pointed, then met my gaze once more with one eyebrow quirked. "Yeah, what about it?"

"That's where we left the Ferrari."

"Oh," she replied flatly, eyeing it once more, face blank. "Where is it?"

"Good question."

Author's Note: Special thanks to Amarxlen, Arisa Kiryuu, and SoraKairiRikuNamine for being so generous as to take some time to leave their reviews! Thank you so so sooooo much for reading, I super duper appreciate it! If you have any comments or friendly feedback, please make my day and leave a review! Catch you at the next update, lovelies! Much love, peace out, word to your mothers, and other such phrases that shouldn't be coming out of the likes of lil ol' me!