Part 1

“berserk?” he said.

Ella nodded and andrew spoke.

“Yes that's right. When someone with abnormal abilities like ourselves go out of control we usually turn into that….” he said pointing at the girl who was still screaming in agony.

“It happens when someone’s mental stability is suddenly thrown of course or their emotions in general go out of control. But it's so rare. This is my first time seeing it! Their powers go out of control and devours the person. They turn into something completely opposite of what they once were. That is why they're called “Berserk”. An opposite version of themselves..”

Axel couldn't believe what he was hearing.

So, what happened to take her turn into this? She was just standing there not even a couple seconds ago…

“You mentioned to her something about being a ramoji or something? Why did that affect her?what even is that?”

“It's hard to say…” said ella.

“is there a way to fix this, blonde guy?!” said axel.

Said guy nodded.

“The name’s andrew. yes, but it's going to be very difficult if we can't get near her….all we have to do is stabilize her mind. she'll snap out of it if we manage to do that. The problem is we don't know what pushed her this far…”

Axel nodded while gulping.

“in other words, we need to have her think about something else? Like making her forget her anger or something?”

Ella nodded.

“yes that is the theory at least.”

An explosion overhead caused them all to jump. When they looked up, they could see that rays of energy were swirling through the air and causing destruction at every turn. If this kept up, the entire city could be destroyed.

Though almost everyone was gone now, he knew that there were still some people nearby like that girl from earlier. They had to do something….

“This girl, she's human right?”

The guy named andrew nodded.

“She should be, yes”

Axel thought for a second longer and shook his head free of all doubts.

“I can handle her.” he suddenly said.

“Yeah, and I own a bunny farm back home” andrew said sarcastically.

“I was serious!!” axel said with comical tears gushing out of his eyes.

Ella and Andrew, including the girls, looked up at him shocked.

“You realize what you're saying, right?” ella said. Andrew nodded completely agreeing with her.

“You'll be killed for sure! You're just a glass cannon right now! You have to focus on getting everyone who still might be around here out to safety!”

“She's right axel! We have to leave now!” casey protested. But yet axel shook his head.

“Trust me on this. I think i know what I'm doing. Just please, let me try and save her. I'm not just a vessel for an ability!”

Ella tried to shoot down his gaze but for once it went the other way around. He seemed so determined.

“Damn it, what the hell. Let's hear it, what are you going to do?”

Axel nodded and leaned in closer. After a couple of moments, andrew and ella looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Sounds stupid”

“Agreed”

“Thanks for the motivation guys, really!!”

Ella chuckled and looked at him. She sighed and gave him a thumbs up. Andrew crossed his arms as if not believing his eyes.

Axel exhaled and closed his eyes.

“sounds easy enough……” he said nervously while clenching his fist.

He was more afraid of his own power than anything…

Ella must've read his thoughts.

“A word of advice. Don't use a super amount of strength. Your body is still getting used to an ability and super strength isn't being nice to it. Use whatever else you have.”

“So, then how were you able to use that without your body breaking?”

It didn't make sense how she could use super strength, but not him.

“I don’t even know where that ability came from. Perhaps a secret ability within power magnet? I don’t know but don’t use it anymore unless you wanna end up a pile of bones.….”

It was just one mystery after the other with this thing. It was dangerously powerful so he decided to use it as a last resort, but he was sure he wouldn’t need to.

Another explosion was heard causing the floor to shake.

“there is no more time! Let's move before she destroys the city!!” andrew yelled out to axel.

“we're counting on you!” said ella pushing him forward.

He nodded in confirmation.

He opened and closed his right hand again.

Someone spoke behind him.

It was casey.

“what about us?”

“wait casey...we can't do anything…” said a nervous natsumi.

“maybe not you, but i can!”

She opened her hand and a ball of flame appeared there.

“Casey….” he said.

He was totally surprised to see her fully use her power. He always knew she was really hot headed. Fire suited her.

But, he could not let her get involved.

“I appreciate it but, i don't want you getting hurt so please stay here. I'll be back before you know it….”

“wait!!you idiot!!”

Axel didn't give her a chance to respond and he took off.

The girl had been surrounded by a black substance but now, she was totally engulfed in it. A pitch black sphere was there. the sphere floated up, electric black sparks spurting out of it here and there. The black sphere started to become clearer and clearer. They could see inside. The girl who was once wearing casual winter clothes now had the exact same clothes on but colored pitch black. Her lifeless irises were just as black.

The rain fell upon her as if symbolizing her hatred to the world.

Axel stood tall. He would do his absolute best to free her from this suffering. This was apart of his promise to protect anyone and everyone. No matter how intimidating she looked…

“Alright, i think it’s time we stop playing games you!!!!”

The girl rested her dark and bottomless eyes on him and took a step forward.

“You…...I thought you were just some nice pedestrian…...but you turn out to be with the bad guys….you….have to die…..” she said in a voice that made it sound like speaking was taking too much out of her.

“Wow! You can speak!? I have to be honest here, i thought you were a mindless zombie at this point.”

The girl furrowed her brow and shot forward faster than he had ever seen anyone or anything for that matter ever move.

Within seconds she stood in front of him with her eyes staring him down to the death. In one motion she swung her hand toward his neck. Out of pure instinct, he raised his hand to protect himself and jumped back. However, the girl released the same substance around her and tried to capture him. Afraid to touch it, axel grabbed a rock and threw at her head. She caught it and crushed it as if it was merely made of sand.

She looked back at axel but he was nowhere to be found. Inspecting the area, she finally found him making a run for it. Seemingly amused, she smiled and followed him. She casually threw waves of energy at him but he somehow managed to dodge more than one of them. He took some damage here and there but he still would not go down. What seemed odd to her was that he was not showing any signs of an ability. What was he thinking?

Her constant thoughts led her to bump into a wall. She rubbed her head and watched as the world blurred in and out of focus.

“What’s the matter?!Can’t keep up!”

She heard him say this which drove her mad. She scowled and raised her hand. The dark energy around her shot at the boy. It was a direct hit. Or at least it should’ve been.

“What the?....” she whispered.

“You made one mistake today.”

She held her head and looked around. Her head spun and she struggled to focus. When she did, she found the boy…...two boys?...Three? More than a dozen!?

“You bumped into me today, and from then on your defeat was already at hand”

The girl rubbed her eyes and watched as the many same looking boys disappeared and reappeared. She didn’t know which was the real one!

“What are you….talking about!?” she demanded.

“You can thank your buddy. earlier today after he assaulted my friend, i heard him say ‘Jessica will have no problem dealing with you’. At the time, i didn’t really know what he was talking about but when i ran into you it all became clear.”

The many figures of axel all spoke at once. She attacked each and every single one of them in an attempt to shut him up but her attacks were in vain. None were making actual contact.

“They made the mistake of putting that name tag on you that clearly read ‘Jessica’. Or perhaps they didn’t foresee us bumping into each other and me putting two and two together. I of course had the thought, ‘what if this girl is just a regular girl?’ in that case i had nothing to worry about. However, you were exhausted and ready to fall at any moment, and when you did, you reacted like i had never seen anyone react. You parried my arm as if it was a deadly blow and jumped back. No regular girl could just up and do that. So, i took action.”

The girl, named jessica, looked around and spoke into the room.

“Come out and say it already!!!” she said as her eyelids fell against her will like doors struggling against the wind.

“Oh man, weren’t you ever taught to not accept things from complete strangers?”

Suddenly, her eyes shot open once she came to a cold realization.

“That bottle!? What the hell did you do to…...it!?” she said as her consciousness dimmed and holding her throat as if wanting to rip it out.

“Sleeping pills. The kind that dissolve in water. Enough to take out a horse. Since you were so tired, i figured you wouldn’t notice. Now i know what you’re thinking, how could i possibly do that to a stranger? Well, i thought that one of two things could happen. One, a totally innocent girl would be out for a couple of hours at home, or number two, my possible enemy would have trouble staying awake and thus trouble controlling her power. I placed my money on the latter. But you yourself gave me the final piece of evidence i needed. I told you about the danger of the shadowhunters and you agreed as if knowing all about them when in reality no normal person has been told of the shadowhunters. They only know of the peacekeepers!”

Jessica suddenly dropped to her knees without wanting to do so and struggled to maintain regular breaths. She hyperventilated and tried to laugh it off.

“So…..What? That doesn’t mean you can win…”

Axel chuckled and waved his finger.

“Do you know what happens when the brain is fatigued? It’ll begin to take matters into its hands and forcibly shut down in a desperate attempt to rest. Why, you’re not even aware of the precious seconds you just blanked out allowing me to set up the final pieces to my plan.”

Jessica gasped. Had she really passed out for a couple of seconds without knowing? She looked around and tried to locate the boy. Whatever it took, she could not be defeated here!

“After more of your own protest, you will begin to hallucinate. I mean, you can’t even see where i’m really at judging from all your blind attacks. But i know that trying to put you to sleep won’t be enough. No, i’m going for a more explosive conclusion here. Just take a look around.”

She quickly lifted her head and coughed. There was dust floating around the area and making it real hard to see. She did not know what the dust was but she refused to breathe anymore in. she raised her hand once more.

“Ah, i wouldn’t do that.”

“!?”

“You see, what you’re standing in is one giant and deadly bomb and all it needs to ignite is a source of heat. Judging from these wounds you gave me, your ability is pretty damn hot.” he said raising his arm that was covered in black. It was a spot that jessica had hit earlier.

(Did he...let himself get hit?)

“So, you’ve heard of a dust explosion, yeah? They're infamous in baking factories or anywhere that uses flour or substances similar to it, such as the building behind me where i poured flour all over the air vents earlier. Though, it’s more effective in enclosed spaces, so i had my friend ella manipulate the wind around us creating a small bubble of air and enclosing the flour floating in the air.”

Jessica quickly thought of a way out. This guy was crazy! Surely he was bluffing! No way did he plan to blow them up! But wait, as long as she didn’t use her ability she would not set off a blast. Even if she couldn’t use it, she could still find him and stop him! She had to focus! Focus on the real one!

“So now you know. But come on, you didn’t think i’d let you alone have the detonator did you?”

He raised his finger tips and prepared to snap, but before he could she had located him! She lunged at him and grabbed hold of his little neck only to watch as her fingers slipped right through him.

“Hallucinations!!!” she heard him yell from above

She turned and saw him falling from the sky rapidly closing in on her. There was nothing she could do. It was game over… but no matter how she thought of it, this was very impressive. Who would’ve known that the boy would’ve thought this far ahead. Just……

She saw the boy flying down toward her with an expression that almost made her laugh. The damn idiot was about ready to cry with a fierce look in his eye. And yet, there he was.

(Who…...are you?.....) she thought this as she finally rested her eyes and prepared for the inevitable.

With a snap of his fingers, fire momentarily lighted up his face and next the entire room creating a huge explosion in the process.

Part 2

The power of the explosion was contained in the small area and no further damage was done to the rest of the city. Ella and andrew stood by as they watched axel foolishly commit suicide. Andrew shook his head while ella fought back the urge to go find him.

As for the girls, they were both passed out behind them, unable to comprehend the fact that axel had blown himself up.

After what seemed like hours, the ball of flames finally died out leaving behind nothing but rubble and two corpses. Ella released the air bubble and felt a scorching heat hit her despite it still raining.

She jumped down along with andrew and walked over to where axel lay.

He was on his back staring up at the sky, surprisingly still alive and even awake. His entire body was covered in burns and he had a smile on his face.

“I’m…...Pretty sure i just died but the same explosion brought me back to life…..” he said.

Ella couldn’t help but sigh in relief. She could not believe what was going on. What he had just done.

She knelt down and put her hand on his shoulder. He grimaced but she did not care. With a chuckle, she slightly lifted her shoulders and tilted her head to let loose a bright smile causing axel to gawk at her.

“I’m glad you’re okay” she said.

“I-...”

However, her happiness did not stop her from punching him square in the face slamming his head back onto the ground.

“But that was far too reckless, don’t ever do it again.”

“Yes….sir..”

“Well i’ll be damned. He actually did it. She’s unconscious and out for the count.”

Andrew applauded his success and lifted the girl jessica from the ground. She hung limply. She was just as badly burned as axel but seemed to be sleeping peacefully. If he didn’t know any better, it looked like she had fallen asleep seconds before the explosion occurred. He doubted she even felt any pain. She probably would as soon as she woke up with all those blisters on her. Regardless, his plan did indeed work. Her clothes were no longer pitch black, they were back to their formal color.

But, where would she be taken? There was much more to her than just what they witnessed today. He hated to think that she would be taken and punished for her deeds! He quickly sat up despite his body protesting causing him to yell and fall right back down.

“Don't worry. She will be ok. We just have to make sure she's stabilized and that she's okay. We will return her once we are done. We won't hurt her.”

She smiled softly and reassuringly.

He felt himself be placed at ease. This meant that he’d see her again someday. He relaxed and took a deep breath.

“I’ve got a question though. Why on earth would you drug a girl you wasn’t sure was even a threat.” ella said remembering what axel had said to jessica. No matter how one looked at it, his actions seemed rather barbaric and quite extreme. What if things went completely wrong and she died of overdose? Did he not think those scenarios over thoroughly enough?

Contrary to her expectations, axel laughed.

“Oh, haha, that. Simple, i lied.”

Ella and andrew put on blank faces. He what?

“Let me explain, have you ever seen those prank videos where people are led to believe they’re getting drunk when really they’re drinking nothing but water? It’s kind of like that. By fooling the mind, one is able to change the way another person acts so long as they believe it to be true. In this case, I made her think that i drugged her and that the side effects were starting to take effect when in reality it was just her own fatigue that she herself multiplied by believing that she drank some sleeping drug. I made her think back to a moment where she wasn’t really paying attention which made her mind accept my words as true and that it had actually happened! In a way, i rewrote her memories using psychology. The fact that she was already tired was what really gave me the advantage here, though i can’t imagine why she was so sleepy. But anyway, it worked like a charm. It was a gamble but luck was on my side this time.”

Ella unintentionally laughed. She could not believe her ears. Andrew also shook his head and laughed.

“What’s so funny? I was being serious!!!” he said as tears once again welled up in his eyes.

“Stop crying so much!!! It’s just that…..i didn’t know you were capable of this…..it’s amazing..not to mention that you planned this scenario ahead of time and perfectly executed it….”

“Indeed…...i take back every doubt i had of you…” andrew agreed.

Axel blushed slightly and relaxed his head.

“Well, i’m glad you were around otherwise i probably wouldn’t be able to contain the blast. I was just lucky…..”

After another second of fame, axel stopped and frowned.

“Now what?....” he said looking around.

The city was almost destroyed. Their battle ripped apart most of the city and Hazard Boulevard was completely gone.

“The city is going to have to clean this up unfortunately….. We would help but we don't get along with the higher ups you see…."

He remembered that the peacekeepers were wanted by the entire world. As much they wanted to, they couldn’t help clean up due to fear of being captured and killed.

“sooo, are you guys leaving?”

Andrew nodded.

“Yes, we have to leave before anyone else sees us here. Or worse, the police. You should get going too…”

(You're worrying about the police after all this??) He thought.

Axel simply nodded and staggered to his pain filled feet.

Ella smiled.

“We will be seeing each other again soon. We have much to do now…”

Despite all of his injuries, He managed to cross his arms to form an X.

“no way! I said i wasn't going to join you!!”

Ella was taken back.

“but-” she said in confusion.

Axel cut her off by raising his still functioning fingers.

“But i will help anyone who needs help. So let me know if you ever need any help…”

He said with a thumbs up and a grin.

Ella smiled softly once more.

A gust of wind came over them and spun around her and andrew.

“sure thing….” she said before the wind totally engulfed them and they disappeared.

Axel was now alone.

(It's over…..) he thought.

This week was completely crazy.

He turned and walked toward his house, body entirely feeling like it was on fire.

(They could've at least dropped me off at my house or better yet heal me…) he thought feeling somewhat disappointed.

He at least thought that things couldn't get any worse. With peace of the city restored he hoped to just get home and rest before actually going to a hospital.

But,

“Axel!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

His heart dropped. He had totally forgotten about something. Someone.

Two of them.

He turned and saw Casey running at full speed toward him with flames encircling her. Natsumi followed suit slowly. Keeping her distance from the flames.

“C-casey?!”

“how dare you scare me like that!!!???” she said with tears gushing out of her eyes.

“Wait, hold on!!! My body!!!!!!” he said trying to run away.

Casey did not stop. She jumped at him and dropped him on the ground with a powerful hug.

Axel simply accepted his fate and smiled. Even before he hit the ground he was already out like a candle in the wind.

This day, this week, was truly a crazy one for the boy named axel…..

Part 3

Axel was walking down a route home one evening while he enjoyed the fresh cool air.. He had a sling around his left arm and bandages on his other. He had bandages on his legs and around his entire body under his clothes.

He heard construction noises all around him.

Two weeks had passed since the incident with the robot snakes and Jessica. The city told the people that they were attacked by an act of terrorism committed by the peacekeepers.

(Bunch of liars..) he thought.

He finally saw that ella had told the truth. The higher ups were liars.

After the attack they immediately began reconstruction. The debris of the metallic snakes was picked up and gotten rid of. Axel was dragged to a hospital unconscious by a steaming Casey and a nervous Natsumi.

School was cancelled for now for everyone so they visited him often. Natsumi was always fidgeting and Casey was as hot headed as always. She left every time he mentioned jessica.

He at least got to ask about how she could all of a sudden control flames.

She said,

“I'm not sure. When i saw you falling i just… asked for my power to actually do something useful and my body moved on its own. Afterwards using it felt almost natural….”

That seemed strange to axel but he had no other explanation. After all, he had practically done the same with his own powers.

He had also received flowers from an anonymous person.

Thanks to power magnet, it looks like he had healed pretty fast. Well, he guessed it was because of power magnet. Even the doctors were left completely stunned.

He sighed.

“My life is officially upside down….” he said looking at the sky.

He sat at a bus stop. His house was pretty far from the hospital so he had to take a bus there.

He shut his eyes to relax. He didn’t have much time to evaluate what had gone on and was really too busy enjoying his newly regained freedom. It felt great being able to sit up and walk without the nurses freaking out over it.

He hadn’t used power magnet at all and nor had it spoken to him again. Sometimes at night he’d try to talk to it but it would not respond. He almost started to believe that he was actually hit in the head the day the building fell down and he was in a coma since which meant that he dreamt everything up. As tempting as it sounded to believe that, the construction around him could not be justified. Nor his burns all over his body.

As he thought this, he felt someone lightly sit beside him.

“hm?”

He opened his eyes and looked directly next to him. He saw a girl.

Long golden brown hair and smooth looking beige skin. Chocolate brown eyes and a white dress with frills on the bottom edges of it. She looked to be about 19.

He recognized her.

“Oh! You're that girl from 2 weeks ago!how are you doing?.”

Unlike before, her white dress was now clean but still torn. She was in the middle of the fray and was actually the one that served as his motivation to activate power magnet. He may of have saved her life but really it felt the other way around.

She just stared at him blankly.

There was a long silence.

“um, is something wro-”

She cut him off.

“why did you save me? I was going to die. The world would've been better off without me! Why did you come? Nobody wants me anyways!” she said with an air of negativity.

Her voice cracked and tears filled her eyes out of the blue.

Axel was taken back by her sudden outburst and started to nervously panick..

“what are you saying? I don't see why i need a reason to save someone! Everyone deserves to live and your life isn’t something to just throw away!!…”

Her eyes widened. She expected to hear that he had wanted her to see him as some kind of hero or that he just did it as some extreme way at getting at her but that was not the case.

“you…?”

He continued,

“You're also wrong if you think the world would be better off without you. I don't know how you value your life but, it's valuable to me. So please, live on. It's like i once told someone, there is always a rainbow right after a storm..”

He said it. He said the one phrase that had given her some hope...

She hugged herself and looked down. She had no way of knowing before who it was that told her those words but she knew now. She was certain of it. It was him.

But,

“do you want to know something? I am a 17 year old girl who is pregnant. How despicable is that?”

She did not believe it. People only say that so as to not reveal their dark side. If she were to open her heart out to him, he would betray her like everyone else.

Any moment now. Any moment now and he would yell out in disgust and curse her away. Just like everyone else.

But instead, he said the words that she had wanted to hear for the longest amount of time. Nobody had told her this. Not once since her pregnancy.

He smiled softly and said,

“I don’t see how the gift of life is despicable. Congratulations.”

Time went slower for her. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Tears of pure joy and happiness.

“All the more reason why you should value your life. You’re obviously not alone-hey?are you okay?!”

He said this after seeing her tears.

She shook her head. She really did not know what to say.

Shortly after, the bus arrived and the boy got up to leave.

“okay well, i have to go...good luck and congrats again…”

He turned to get on the bus but, something wrapped around his waist.

He looked down to see two slender arms wrapped around him. He looked back and saw the girl in a white dress.

“hey?what are you-?!”

“please!”she pleaded.

“everyone has left me! Everyone told me that i was a disgrace! Please, I've lost hope in this pitch black sea!! Please don't leave me all alone to get consumed!!”

She started to talk really fast. Axel didn't really understand but he could tell that she was hurting. She cried onto his back begging for him to not leave her alone.

Axel's face got beet red. People were starting to stare…

He scratched his head…

“hey kid, come on! I don't have all day!”

The bus driver yelled at him to hurry while showing clear anger.

He scratched his head once more and realized that the girl was not going to let go.

Part 4

He sighed.

He was on his way back home on the bus now. He adjusted his shoulder.

“mmmmm….quit moving so much….ZzZz” Said a girl in her sleep.

He looked over at the weight that was pressing up against him, sleeping peacefully.

Axel ended up taking the girl in a white dress with him and when they sat down he tried to ask what she was talking about but, she grabbed onto his arm and fell asleep.

Just like that. He did not know how to react but, he didn't want to wake her up. She seemed to be truly exhausted since she fell asleep so fast.

Her words replayed in his mind.

“...don't leave me all alone to get consumed!!!...”

(What did she mean?.....)

He did not know what she was talking about but she said she was pregnant. She also said her family had called her a disgrace. By the looks of her, she didn't look pregnant at all. Which meant, this incident had only just happened to her recently. Either that or she was full of it.

“what exactly did you go through huh?” He whispered at her.

She shuffled around a little and continued to sleep.

Well, he decided to let her sleep for now. He would ask her whenever she woke up.

After 20 minutes or so, the bus finally arrived at his destination,in front of an ice cream shop. From here, his house was right down the block.

He lightly shook the girl next to him. She slowly opened her eyes and yawned.

“Come on, this is my stop. I have to get off now….”

The girl sleepily nodded. Axel got up and she followed him.

After they were both off and the bus had left, axel began to walk home with the girl following close behind.

“So, why are you following me?”

The girl’s expression turned a bit grim.

“i have nowhere else to go….. after i found out i was pregnant, i told my parents and they kicked me out with nothing but the clothes on my back….i went to my ex boyfriend who is also the fath-”

She stopped there while biting her lip.

“Well, he's just a sperm donor.”

“what?”

“i went to him but things only got worse. He completely denied his child and literally kicked me out. He slapped me and dragged me by my hai-’

She stopped talking because she bumped into him. He had stopped walking.

“hey?What's the matter?”

“are you serious?”

She heard him ask.

She nodded…

“what a terrible person…..i hope i never meet him.”

“why?” she asked out of curiosity.

“because I'm afraid i won't be able to hold myself back from beating some sense into him….hmm, maybe that's not a bad idea…”

Without wanting to, she smiled.

He turned back to look at her. Then he continued walking.

She did as well and continued speaking.

“after that, i went to see if my friends would help but, they turned out to be two faced jerks…”

“what is wrong with this world…” he said while looking up at the orange sky.

“So, it's been about 3 weeks since then. I've barely slept and eaten since then...hmmm….”

She trailed off in wonder.

She saw axel finally stop in front of a house.

“what's the matter?” she said.

He smiled and turned to her.

“My name is Axel, Axel Ison. Nice to meet you! And you are?..”

He introduced himself and requested to know her name while extending his hand out to her.

She stood in silence for a moment,taken back by the sudden introduction, and then blushed a little while smiling. She shook his hand.

“My name is Maria. Just Maria...although, I wouldn't mind taking your last name….”

She muttered the last part to herself.

“What?”

“Nothing” she said feeling delighted.

“Well,maria,this is my house. Please come on in! I bet you're hungry!” he said in a happy tone.

He grabbed her hand and led her inside.

“? O-Okay then!” she said while being pulled.

She had not felt this amount of joy in a very long time. She felt that with him, she would be safe. She had only just met him but she felt like she'd known him forever.

his house wasn't much. It was a one story beige colored house that was surrounded by a gate. A flower garden of roses surrounded the edges of the house.

The inside was just as nice as the outside. The living room was nice and clean and smelled like cinnamon.

“It's not much but, it's home..have a seat in the kitchen. I'll make you something to eat since you say you say haven't eaten much..”

For her, it was still all so unreal. The sudden kindness of this boy thawed out her frozen heart..

At the boy's insistence, she sat in his kitchen. He started to pull out a bunch of ingredients from the fridge and started to cook. Meanwhile, she stared at his back.

(I have only just met him and yet…..i feel right at home already…..why couldn't i of have met you sooner?.....)she wondered while touching her belly.

But,

“So, what was it that happened that night?why did all that crazy stuff happen all of a sudden?.....and, are you even human?..”

It wasn't like she could forget the events that took place on that fateful night. Nobody could. It was too unreal! Something out of a Hollywood movie.

Not to mention she saw him come in from out of nowhere and use an enormous amount of strength that took out 7 of those metallic looking snakes in order to save her. Then a girl caught him with fire. It was all too much for her to grasp.

“....”

It seemed like he didn't know what to say.

“Honestly, that was all really sudden. Even i still can't fully get what went on. When i saved you that was only ever the second time I've ever used my power. And that was my first time using such an insane amount of strength, which i hope i never use again. It nearly ripped my limbs off.” he said while patting his left arm.

“3 weeks ago, i was a regular high school boy. Now, i have a foreign power that i didn't want in the first place. I'm still pretty skeptical about it….. because of it, the city was targeted. Just so some wild enemy group can get their hands on it..”

Maria listened to his every word. She was sort of starting to understand…

“It's called power magnet. Apparently it was scientifically developed. Well, not entirely scientific. One of the girl's you saw yesterday? With the twin tails? She had it. Apparently, this power can choose who wields it, and it just so happened to choose me. It only chooses those who are pure of heart and have special talent. Which doesn't make any sense to me. I have none of those….”

She puffed her cheeks.

(This boy must be pretty dense…)

“So, have you heard about some strange organization with supernatural abilities running amuck?”

She nodded.

“well, it turns out they're the good guys. Called peace keepers or something. The metallic snakes we encountered that day? Those guys are the real enemy. They're supposedly from some organization called shadowhunters..That day they tried to destroy the city and kidnap me for Power Magnet…..That's really all i know…..The city is trying to say the peacekeepers did it in an act of terrorism but that's not the case, i can assure you of that..”

She nodded while trying to come to terms with his alleged explanation.

Up to now, axel was cooking in front of the stove but he turned to the cupboards and took out a plate and a cup. He put some food on it and poured juice into the cup.

He walked over to her with the plate of food in his left hand and placed it in front of her.

“Chicken stir fry! Not my best dish but, I'm sorta low on food…haven’t been in here for weeks, you know?..i’m still pleasantly surprised that this place is still standing...”

He grabbed the cup of juice and gave it to her.

“Thank you…..” she said timidly.

“not at all…” he said while smiling.

She smiled and began to eat.

“So then, who was that girl? The one in the black clothes. Was she apart of those shadow hunters or whatever?”

She said that recalling the wailing girl that tried to attack her out of nowhere.

Axel seemed to be in deep thought before speaking,

“She was just a regular girl when we first saw her… her name is Jessica. She apparently didn't even know where she was until she transformed into that being you saw…. The form is called ‘berserk’. Or at least that's what they told me. It happens when someone goes into a deep amount of rage or their emotions go out of control…..don't worry though it only happens to people with abilities!..”

He said the last part after seeing the girl seem a bit frightened.

She was just thinking that maybe she could've turned into that had she been a bit more sad or angry…

But she relaxed when axel told her to.

“in order to stop her, we needed to stabilize her mental state. Something which i was in charge of…”

The girl frowned all of a sudden.

“so where is she now?”

Axel looked out the window.

“She was taken to be investigated on but, they promised they'd bring her back to me.”

Maria was drinking her juice but all of a sudden spit it out.

“wah?! Why did you do that?!” he said looking at the mess on the floor.

Maria ignored him

“You're not planning on dating her are you?!” she said in a worried tone.

“What is this? Some cheesy love story? Of course i’m not. I just want to know more about her and what led her to fall in a situation like this.

“O-oh… sorry…”

Axel looked down at her plate. She was done. He picked it up and her cup and placed it in the sink. He took a mop and cleaned up the mess she made by spitting out the juice.

She just watched him. Silently…

After he saw that the spot was nice and clean, he put the mop back and put his hands on his hips.

“okay! Come on, we're going shopping!”

She looked outside. The sun had already set. It was night out.

“right now? Isn't it a bit late to go run some errands?”

The boy laughed.

“Hahaha! Nonsense! Besides, it's not for me. It's for you.”

She widened her eyes in pure surprise.

“W-what are you saying?” she said.

The boy smiled softly.

“you said that you were only allowed to take the clothes on your back. You have nothing. I remember seeing you wear that same white dress 3 weeks ago. Although it's clean now. I'm going to take you to get something more adequate for this weather! Tomorrow seems so far! Why not do it today?!”

She truly did not know what to say.

“but, didn't you just get out of the hospital? Don't you want to rest?...” she said sounding confused.

“yes, but this is more important! How did you know that though?”

She bit her lip.

“i described you to a lot of people. I finally found a familiar looking blonde girl with a red ribbon that told me who you were. She told me where you were and i sent you flowers every now and then…. When i heard of your discharge date, i sat outside waiting for you…”

Axel remembered the flowers he had received from an anonymous person. She was the anonymous sender.

“maria…” he said.

She barely ate. Which meant she barely had any money. Which meant she must've spent the money she had on flowers for him.

She shook her head.

“But that's okay! Don't worry about it.”

He smiled again

“i won't. Because i am about to pay you back. 10 fold! Come on, the night is young.”

He said to her. She smiled and walked out the door with him.

They walked all the way to a nearby shopping area that hadn't been destroyed by the battle 3 weeks ago.

Lights from billboards shone down on them. Snow lightly fell upon sonic city. She was walking right beside axel. He breathed out and saw his own breath. He looked at maria who only had a dress on. He took off the scarf he had on and the sweater he had and gave it to her.

She looked at him with curious looking eyes.

“but, aren't you cold?” she said.

He shook his head.

“please, you've endured this enough…”

The thought of her suffering out in the cold merely broke his heart.

She smiled. By now, she was overfilled with joy.

The first place they went to was a regular clothing store. She bought many shirts and shorts and sweaters and scarfs and many more! All the while, axel stood next to her. She wondered how he had so much money.

She voiced her thoughts.

“I've been saving up money on my bank account for rainy days. I'm using it now.” was his response.

She felt embarrassed and bowed her head.

He must've read her thoughts.

He patted her shoulder.

“Don't worry about it. I don't mind at all.”

She looked up at him. He was still smiling. She got a familiar sensation of butterflies in her stomach. She looked away.

(This feels like…..)

She remembered these feelings. She had them not that long ago when she went out with jason.

Axel continued to walk with a bunch of bags in his hands.

She looked at his hand. She reached out to grab it but he turned a corner before she could.

By the time they were done, axel had spent well over a thousand dollars on her. Just her.

When she told him that she didn't need much he shook his head and turned away.

She got a familiar butterfly feeling again while Axel had really turned away and cried in his heart.

(My precious money!!)

He still did not really mind though. Helping this girl meant the world to him even if his bank account was begging for mercy.

Axel had his hands full of bags and boxes now. Both of them! Which seemed crazy to maria because just a while ago, his arm was in a sling.

“because of power magnet i seem to be healing faster. Well, at least i think it's because of power magnet….but my arm still is a bit sore…” he said to maria when she asked why his arm was okay now.

They were on their way home now.

“But, where am i supposed to put these things in? I don't have a home..” she said remembering her homeless state.

He bowed his head.

“about that, i was thinking. Why don't you just stay with me? My house has 3 vacant rooms and my parents don't live here anyways so, i wouldn't mind.”

Her heart beated fast. Joy manifested themselves into tears.

She looked at him and nodded.

“Sure! I accept!” she said without as much as a second thought.

Axel looked up and smiled.

“Great then it's settled.”

After a really long walk, they finally arrived home. They placed all of Maria's new stuff in the living room. Axel pointed down the hallway.

“there are 3 rooms there. One of them is mine. Go ahead and pick one. There are beds there already so don't worry about that…”

She nodded happily and looked back at him.

She was now really overjoyed. She could not believe how lucky she was. How lucky to have gone to that church that day. To be saved by this boy and to be able to meet him.

But,

What if he turned on her one of these days? What if, his kindness was only initial and one day he would abuse her? What if-

Before her mind spiraled out of control, she tripped on of the boxes and fell forward. However, instead of the ground, she fell into his arms.

She looked up to see his nervous face.

“You’ve got to be more careful! Please don’t tell me you’re naturally clumsy!? If you fall when your stomach is much bigger that could mean bad news!!!”

She listened to his many different scenarios and gibberish and smiled.

(what was i thinking? How could this soft boy ever bare stealing candy from a baby.)

She stood up and laughed.

“Don’t worry, that was just an accident”

“Oh good. Well, i’m officially worn out. I gotta hit the hay. Remember my house is your house so you can go ahead and freshen up properly and what not. I’ll see you in the morning….” he said to her walking into his room and slumping down on his bed.

She sat on the sofa and smiled in total awe.

(This must be the rainbow you promised we would see together….) She thought remembering his words.

And so, for the first time in ever, maria fell asleep with the pieces of her heart slowly returning to their former positions….

Part 5

Once again in a far away place, away from sonic city, sat a man. His facial features and body were covered in darkness.

He sat in his usual throne like chair. He sat in anger and irritation.

Just 3 weeks before, his last trump card to destroy sonic city was defeated in battle. Berserker Specimen Jessica was neutralized and taken by the peacekeepers. She wasn't even worth retrieving at this point.

He clenched his fist. Berserker Specimen Jessica was supposed to be his last ace in the hole for the 1st invasion, but it failed.

However,

(That was just round 1…..i have plenty more tricks up my sleeve….)

The sonic city invasion operation was only the 1st one. This man had plenty more to go but, he decided not to focus on the magnet boy any longer. He would get to that soon enough…

But now,

A man spoke behind him.

“Sir? We have confirmed the location of the White stone ramoji. We will be ready to attack at your command very soon…”

It was one of his henchmen.

Currently, the ramoji with the white stone crystal had been found. The ramoji were more important and dire to his plan than power magnet was.

He grinned.

“Good, tell Kevin the 3rd to prepare to head out.”

The henchman shook.

“B-but sir?! Allowing one of the top 3 members of the 6 paths is-!!”

“silence!” said the man cutting off his henchman. The henchman shook once more.

“i know all too well how dangerous it is to allow one of the top 3 to handle some of the dirty work but, our opponent is just as dangerous…… now leave. It's bad enough that you've made me explain myself. Do as you're told , or do you want to end up like ryan?” the man said in a menacing tone.

The man nervously shook his head and quickly walked away.

The man let out a puff of air.

Letting ryan the 6th go out was a dangerous thing to do, he should've been enough to destroy sonic city. However, it seemed to him that ryan didn't even use his ability. He got too full of himself believing he could take on members of the peace keepers himself. Now, letting the 3rd go was asking for the destruction of an entire nation. Very dangerous indeed.

He grinned wickedly once more.

Luckily, this man was not one to take the safety of others into consideration. No, this man was pure evil. He did not care. Especially since his target was none other than the white stone holder. The first of all the other stone's.

(Soon…..very soon, and the world,no, the entire universe itself! Will be all mine…..)

He chuckled to himself amidst the darkness.

On the screen of his projector showed an image of a girl and some info on her. The girl had long black hair that was tied into two short twintails. She had ice blue eyes and smooth pale skin. Her age was displayed. It said 17.

The girl was smiling happily, not knowing that soon her life would completely change more than it already had.

{{{{Next time}}}}

Ella was sitting in a laboratory room with one of her colleagues,andrew, and a girl who was about 18. She had long black hair and crimson red eyes. She was jessica. The girl who went berserk just 3 weeks ago.

She sat on a bed wearing a hospital gown.

“mmmmm, so when am i supposed to go back to see him?” she said sounding impatient.

She was referring to the boy that had defeated her in combat. Ever since she awoke, she voiced her eagerness to meet him again.

“a second less than last time you asked that's for sure.. “

The girl pouted in anger.

Ella sighed.

Andrew was typing on a computer when suddenly he turned to ella.

“Listen up! We've just found the location of a ramoji!”

Ella turned to him in surprise.

“No way?! What is it? Have you gotten any info on what color the stone is?”

Andrew nodded.

“so far we know the stone has a wielder. Also, the stone color has been confirmed as white.”

Ella was visibly surprised.

“Now way….the 1st stone huh?.....”

Andrew nodded once more.

“it also looks like we will be needing Power Magnet to help us just in case things don't go our way. Especially because if we have found her, you know who must've already found her as well….”

“It looks like we don't have a choice…So then, where are we going?”

Andrew looked at his screen and sighed.

“ Off the coast of Miami,Florida. The savant island….”

Ella was speechless.

“argh….damn. i have to deal with more immature power users……”

Andrew chuckled.

“what?” she said.

“you're probably younger than they are.”

A dull thump was heard.

Jessica spoke up after a while.

“so will i be going too? I assume that boy has this ‘Power Magnet’ you speak of? So i want to go!”

She said this to ella with a powerful gleam in her eye.

“Yes yes fine! You can go….”

“yay!” the girl lit up and hugged her knees.

Andrew rubbed a bump on his head.

“You sure we should take him?” Andrew said referring to axel.

Ella hesitantly nodded. Then she looked out the window of the laboratory.

“we'll need all the help we can get….”

(Prepare yourself axel, the real battle is just about to begin…)