Part 1

Morning entered axel ison’s room.

He was still sleeping due to school being cancelled. Yes, almost a month ago there was a fierce battle between him and the enemy group called the Shadow Hunters. The damage was pretty bad due to giant metallic snake looking things. Half the town was almost destroyed. His house was still somehow intact except for some of his neighbor’s who ended up with holes in their roofs. His school also took some damage and the entire first quadrant was almost wiped out by a falling flying robo snake. Lucky freshman….. Despite this, school for just about the entire school was cancelled for some time until further notice.

He sleepily opened his eyelids and adjusted in his bed. He raised his hand to grab his pillow and shifted to his side.

“.....?”

For some reason, his pillow felt softer and warmer than usual. In fact, it didn't feel like a pillow at all.

“hmm?...”

He opened his eyes to see what he had grabbed. His arm froze. It was a girl. A girl…….a girl?

“wha-!?”

He jerked his hand back and fell off his bed, hitting his head on the floor. He groaned in pain and sat back up. He looked at the girl who was laying on his bed.

He took a deep breath.

The girl looked to be around 19. Except she was really 17. She had long golden brown hair and smooth looking beige skin. She had a white sleeping gown on.

She was Maria.

Yes, this girl had apparently been abandoned by her family and everyone else she knew. The cause of that was in her stomach. She was pregnant.

Out of pure kindness, he decided to take her in and buy her new clothes but axel began to think that his kindness may have flowed through her a little too deeply. He realized this every time she had a nightmare because she would come straight to his room, Usually without waking him up. He's had to wake up to her there a lot in the past month they've been living together. He didn’t really know what to do. He can’t just push her off, He’s not an animal. She’d probably be absolutely crushed and he’d hate to see her sad. So, he did nothing since he just didn’t know what to tell her.

She laid there sleeping peacefully without a care in the world. He didn’t know how she was so easily woken when she slept by herself, she was practically dead whenever she was around him. She didn’t even hear him scream and groan in pain when he fell. One time when they were in the living room, she had fallen asleep and axel tried to wake her up but it was no good. She didn’t rise til the next morning.

Axel sighed and smiled. Girls were just too much. He got up to take a shower.

Although it looked sort of normal now, his life was definitely not normal at all. One month ago, he accidentally received a foreign power named power magnet by shaking the hand of a girl he had met. This power had apparently chosen him to be it's wielder much to axel's dismay.

There was no way he could get rid of it. He had tried many times. He even prayed to God to take it away and the next morning he tried to see if he could jump up on to the roof of his house and instead slammed into his wall. It didn't activate but the scratch he had gotten on his cheek stung and disappeared, which meant power magnet was still there. His neighbors stared at him confused as to why he had just slammed himself against the wall all of a sudden. He just nervously ran back inside his house..

So yes, there was no way. Now he has to help some organization with supernatural abilities fend off evil. It all seemed so cliche to him. Something out of one of those Japanese Manga. Up to now though, nothing had really happened which was great.

After he finished taking a shower and getting dressed, he prepared to go grocery shopping. He had just bought food the other day but it was no exaggeration to say that the seemingly light girl in his room ate like a cow. He had no idea what it was but that girl was craving every little thing. Not to mention that her mood was off the charts. She would be upset one moment and then totally fine the next. It felt like she was drunk most of the time. However, he found it difficult to get mad at her. She just looked so……...cute? There was no real way to explain it. It was kind of like not being able to get mad at his little sister’s since they just looked so adorable no matter what they did.

He checked on maria before he left, who was still sleeping. He smiled softly and walked out his front door, grabbing his keychain that was given to him by his grandfather. It gave off its usual unnatural glow as he put it in his pocket.

It was snowing outside. Not everything outside was covered in white yet. It was more like there were small specks of snow on the ground here and there. It was cold but he happened to like the cold. He adjusted the scarf he had on and took one step out onto his frozen lawn. Seemingly normal………...and then it wasn't.

Swish

“waaaaaaaahhh? W-w-w-where am i?!”

“ah, so you've finally come out of your house..good..” he heard a familiar female voice say to him.

One second he was outside his door and the next he was suddenly teleported into some strange laboratory looking place. It was so bizarre and unlike anything he had ever seen before, or felt for that matter.

He looked around and saw a girl sitting on a chair with long jet black hair that was tied into two twin tails. Her large green emerald eyes were fixed on him with a peculiar look.

She was ella. She was apart of the strange organization named the peace keepers. A month ago, she had helped axel protect the city from the shadow hunters. Well, to be more precise, he helped her. The only real thing he did was stop jessica who hadn't really done much.

She playfully twirled one of her twin tails and crossed one of her slender legs.

“you?!” he shouted while pointing at her.

“me.”

“what on earth am i doing here? What is going on? Where am i?!”

Ella sighed.

“come on now. Haven't you learned anything? Asking too many questions isn't going to fly with me.”

Axel crossed his arms in irritation and took many steps back eventually coming in contact with a cold metal wall.

“Good. Now, you are currently inside one of our air crafts. It is designed for battle and travel at the same time. We call it Thor….”she said sounding bored.

“You are coming with me to meet my leader.”

Axel chuckled in an attempt to calm his own nerves.

“ohoho? Next you're gonna tell me that we have to rebel against the empire using laser swords?” he said mockingly.

A moment later a book slammed right into the center of his face.

“gah?!what was that for!?!” he shouted in fury with tears already flooding his eyes.

Ella smirked, clearly amused.

“just trying to knock the idiot out of you. Now, our leader has requested that you come see him and the rest of our team.”

“!!The jedi!!??”

Moments later, Another book mercilessly found its way to axel's poor stupid face

Axel rubbed the center of his aching forehead and fought back the urge to fight back.

“so, I'm in a plane? How far is this place we're going to?” he asked leaning against the wall.

“not too far. We'll be there in about 30 minutes. Until then, I've been authorized to give you some more information…”

Ella grew serious. Noticing the change of atmosphere, axel also grew silent and listened carefully. It was about time he knew what was really going on...

“what do you mean?..” he said.

“you remember me telling you about our group being too busy searching for objects that posed a threat to the world? It's about that. Put simply, The objects we are looking for are actually a special type of stones.”

“stones?”

Ella nodded.

“yes,but not no ordinary stones, no. These stones are powerful stones that were once formed by a powerful magician. They weren't originally stones. It was something much more dangerous. It happened a long long time ago back when the Soul of Shadows ability barely started to manifest into people. The stones were once put together to form something called God's Scepter…”

Axel moved his head back a bit in confusion.

“God's scepter? Magicians?What in the world are talking about?”

“Magic was something that appeared alongside superpowers. Back in those days, it was something everybody could do but it eventually died off just as soon as it came. No one knows much about it anymore. These days, there are no more magic users around since no one has been able to learn how to properly use it. It is said that everything there was to know about magic was burned in a fire way back when and was forbidden from being rewritten by anyone. Anyone who tried had a nasty curse placed on them which led to death. They weren’t even allowed to teach it to their offspring! So, once the last magic user died so did magic and what not. As for God's scepter, it was a powerful object that was able to bend and rip through time and space itself. Luckily, it wasn't in the wrong hands at the time. But soon, people started to try and come for the magician who created God's scepter for the power it wielded. It was believed that the scepter could grant any wish so people went crazy looking for it. Seeing the danger that could happen if the scepter fell into the wrong hands, the magician decided to get rid of it.

“so then, how were these stones or whatever formed?”

“the scepter could not be destroyed. No matter what he tried it would just repair itself. So he did what he could and separated the scepter into multiple stones using his power. Each stone glowed with a different color. He couldn't completely make the scepter’s power disappear but he at least greatly diminished it. However, he found that the scepter would form together again if all the stones were put together so, he scattered the stones across the world to places even he didn't know of.”

Axel sat back processing what he was hearing.

“So? Why are you looking for them? If it’s so dangerous, why don’t just let it remain hidden?”

“If only we could.The stones did remain hidden for a very long time but eventually ordinary people found them. By that time, no ordinary person knew what God’s scepter was anymore so they must’ve thought that they stumbled across a rare diamond. If only they knew that it was something far worse…. As soon as they made contact with it, the stones somehow merged with them and it….changed them…”

“changed them how?”

“the stones gave the people that found them power. Well, back then, it was just one small boy that was unfortunate enough to find one of the stones. It gave him a piece of the power that was once held in the sceptor itself. Around this time was the time that the world powers started to hunt and kill the peacekeepers. However, the stones started to really cause a problem. If more of the stones were found, the scepter could be re-made and who knows what would happen then. Worst part is that only the peacekeepers knew of this..”

She paused for a moment and then continued…

“so, they started searching for the stones and to do that they sought out the boy that held a stone within him. Amongst their own though, there were many arguments on whether or not to keep the stones locked up or to keep the stones and form the scepter again to eradicate evil. You can probably tell what they chose though….of course they went with just sealing up the stones instead of controlling the world by force. That just seemed like the most logical and humane thing to do at the time. Unfortunately, not everyone saw eye to eye.The group that was against them moved on their own behind the scenes and searched for the stones themselves. When the peacekeepers actually found the boy, they learned that he actually had no memory of holding a stone at all. It seemed strange to the peacekeepers there but, Before they could think of their next move, the group that worked on their own showed up and attacked the boy. The good guys of course helped to defend the boy but they ended up losing. The people there witnessed first hand the leader of that rebel group extract the stone from the boy forcefully, even though at the time there was no known way for us to extract the stone from a living being, and in doing so they killed the boy…..”

Ella bowed her head and looked off to the side in deep thought. Axel clenched his fist. How could they do such a thing? That wasn’t exactly peaceful.

“but…..what then?...”

“the group declared their independence then and there and named themselves the shadow hunters. They said that they would take the stones and one day rule over everything and bring about peace in their own way….That is how the shadow hunters were formed. Now, ever since then we have been searching for the stones, hoping that they don't have a host. For many years, most of the stones remained hidden and we had trouble finding any. However, quite recently we have been finding more and more energy signals similar to the ones a stone would release. Unfortunately, we can’t exactly pinpoint the location of a stone. We can only narrow it down to a certain location, and that’s only if the stone’s power is used enough to send out a powerful signal that our radars can pick up. Sometimes the stone’s randomly send out energy, sometimes their wielder does. It’s usually a wild goose chase. In honor of the boy who was sacrificed, we named people who are the host of a stone after him. His name was Ramon Jio and so, we called them Ramoji.”

After sitting there and listening to all of the interesting things ella was speaking of, Something clicked in axel's mind.

“wait a minute! Does that mean jessica is?...”

Ella nodded and confirmed his assumptions.

“that's right. Jessica is a ramoji and she currently holds the black stone.”

He remembered what andrew suddenly yelled when they first encountered jessica. He asked if she was a ramoji. Now he knew why, but that meant..

Axel slammed his fist down on the wall and brought his eyebrows closer in anger.

“you tricked me?! don't tell me you've confined her!! Where is she?!” he yelled.

He had fought jessica a month ago when she had gone berserk and after they successfully defeated her, she was taken by ella and andrew. Ella promised she would return her after they checked to see if jessica was stabilized, but if what she was saying was true then they must’ve taken her and locked her away.

Ella sighed and scratched her head.

“relax. We try and keep the peace remember? We are not some prison. She is fine and is actually anxious to see you again..”

Feeling reassured but still somewhat skeptical, Axel unintentionally blushed and crossed his arms once more.

“Now then, that day i found you i was looking for the red stone ramoji, Flames. We found a reading of the flame ramoji around sonic city but I never actually found this person. But we did find jessica! Which is just as great..”

Axel scratched his head. This seemed a little more easier to understand and made that day seem much less stranger. He was glad that jessica was in better care now. Though he had to wonder just who in sonic city was this flame ramoji?.....

A moment later he felt the plane shake and he staggered forward.

“oh? We're here. Let's go.” she said beckoning to axel. Axel followed her out toward a hallway.

(Wait?was this plane empty the entire time) he said looking around the huge aircraft. There seemed to be nothing around. Not even in the room he was just in.

Ella stopped at a door. It had a turning wheel on it.

Then axel noticed something, The plane had only jerked forward. He didn't feel it descend or anything. He knew the feeling had to be similar to a descending elevator but unless he missed it he hadn’t felt anything. He took a step back with his heart beating a few ticks faster.

“ummm ella? Are we still in the air?!” he nervously said absolutely dreading the answer.

Ella looked back at him from the corner of her eye and devilishly smiled.

“We need to get you to control your power at will. I can’t have you forming stupid and idiotic plans all the time otherwise you’re useless. As such, you're going to have to start training...your first challenge will be this.”

Axel did not think twice. He booked it toward where he came from and attempted to take cover but he was too late.

She spun the wheel on the door and it flung open. Immediately as she did so, the wind sucked everything out like a vacuum as she somehow avoided the power of the wind. Axel tried to escape but the wind grabbed hold of him and threw him out to the vacant sky.

“Wait!!! You monster!!!!!!!!!!” he shouted while falling thousands of feet in the air.

Seeing the squirming axel,and what looked like a couple of his tears floating back up, Ella shook her head and jumped down too. Unlike axel, she could control her ability so she did so and sped up toward where axel was falling.

“gaaaaaaaaaaahhaaaaaaaahh!!!!???” he shouted while his face was blown back by the wind.

“Control it!! Seek for your power as if it was just another part of you! Do it as unconsciously and easily as breathing!!”

Given the situation, there was no way he could think properly. He didn’t know of anyone that could in a situation like this. This being the case, it took him some time to gather his thoughts together and understand what she was saying. He shut his eyes and desperately searched for the power within him…. He called for it…..he felt something cold in the middle of his torso and….he grabbed that power and…..Then he lost it. It escaped from his grasp.

“gnnnnnaaaaah!!!??? I caaaaaaaaan’t!!!!!!!”

His heart began to beat so fast that he was starting to believe that it was not beating at all.The ground was getting closer….and closer….and closer…he slowly lost feeling in his arms and legs and his lips began to shake and lose color....He shut his eyes and said his prayers.

“you idiot!!”he heard ella shout.

Just before he hit the ground, he felt an arm wrap around him and the feeling of weightlessness slowly left his body. His descent rapidly decreased and soon he was suspended in mid air. He looked up to see ella frowning down on him.

“y-you saved me? Oh….i thought i was a goner…I could’ve sworn you were so much more cold hearted…....”

Ella sighed and let axel drop to the ground that was now a couple feet below. The fall still hurt axel.

“ow! Hey watch it!!” he yelled at ella who lightly landed next to him holding her skirt she had on down.

“quiet, we are here…” she said.

“huh?”

He looked around the place that was surrounded by a thick set of trees. He saw a place filled with old looking tents. The place looked totally poor. He saw steam flowing from a couple of the tents and many pots and pans hanging outside many other tents. There were people dressed in what could only be described as rags and a couple stands offering what he assumed was food.

“this is it? This is the Headquarters of some superpowered organization? This looks like a base camp…”

Ella looked at him angrily and placed her hands on her hips.

“well sorry we don't have luxury houses! But in case you haven't noticed, we are wanted people! And i would make myself comfortable if i were you, you can be living here pretty soon too.”

“no thanks!” he said absolutely sure that he would never end up here.

She just grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.

“just come on! He's waiting for you.”

“he?”

“my leader.”

He walked through the many tents and saw the people that lived there. They looked like regular people. He felt like he was walking through a real poor neighborhood as opposed to a superpowered society. It was for that very reason that he could not let his guard down. The people here were probably just as strong as ella and andrew. They were trained in combat and knew what it was to fight to survive. He avoided making any type of eye contact with them. Even so, he could feel all different types of gazes from every direction press up against him making him sweat profusely.

He saw ella walk up to a large boulder and stop right in front of it. She knocked 3 times on the rock as if expecting something to happen. Axel began to think that she’d gone crazy.

(She's lost it….) He said to himself completely regretting getting out of bed this morning. At this point, he preferred dealing with maria. Thinking back now, why would he ever complain about her!

A moment later the boulder shook and the front of it opened revealing an elevator. Axel's jaw fell. Ella stepped inside it and looked at axel.

“what are you waiting for? Let's go” she said.

After lifting his jaw back in place, Axel got inside. The elevator closed and it started to descend. A voice that sounded like a robot spoke as a light scanned them.

“Analyzing…..Identified: Captain Ella and Axel Ison, Power magnet host….”

“You’re a captain?this machine knows me?....” he said.

“Yes, it took me just about forever to rise up in the ranks. I lead a company sized unit with Andrew as my principal NCO assistant. I may be young but I’m way more intelligent than I look. Also, Word is getting out about the new power magnet holder so practically everyone knows. That would explain all the stares you got on your way over here…”

Axel felt more nervousness enter his being. Was he actually being led to some military base? No one outside even saluted her. You’d think they would… Well, he didn’t know much of anything regarding those matters. When the elevator finally stopped, ella and axel stepped out.

“woah…..”

He saw a room that was filled with monitors and computers and people working on desks and other gadgets. The whole place resembled a NASA facility. All the guys wore suits and some wore strange combat attire consisting of black cargo pants and white jackets with many weapons and gadgets inside them. Most were armed. Girls wore black and white sailor uniforms. Some with skirts and others with pants. They were just as heavily armed. He guessed that their team colors were black and white...

“this way,..” said ella who pulled him out of his daydreams.

She led him down a hallway toward two large double doors. She opened it and they slowly opened. She pushed him inside with her elbow making him almost trip. Inside was a long table in a dark room that had many chairs around it. A huge screen was at the front of the room.

Many people were sitting at the table wearing formal clothing. Among them he saw Andrew. The blonde guy simply nodded toward axel, Axel nodded back. One man was shown on the screen. He looked to be around 50 or 60 years old. He wore a uniform that resembled an army general's without all the badges. He had short gray hair and a short gray beard. His eyes were brown and filled with wisdom.

The entire room of people including the old man turned to look at axel. The old man spoke first with an old but soft voice.

“ahh....Axel Ison is it? We have been expecting you. Come on in and have a seat”

Part 2

Axel felt a little strange. Everyone, including ella who was wearing the same sailor looking uniform with a skirt as the girls, wore formal clothing. He just had on regular jeans on and a black sweater.

(At least i took a shower…) he told himself while taking a seat at the long table. Ella stood behind him.

The old man nodded.

“Now then, we can begin… Mr.Ison, I am the commander of the Peacekeeper force. General Richard Styson. It is a pleasure.”

Axel nervously shook his head. Being talked to in such a formal way felt very strange..

“uh, no no..it's my honor…..”

“Thank you,..now then, I have given Captain Ella behind you the thumbs up in telling you what our main goal is and I'm sure you've told him already have you not?” he said asking ella.

She nodded,

“Yes I have General. He knows about the Ramoji and the stone crystals. Including the shadow hunters….”

“Good good….now then my boy, I am sure that this must be a lot for you to process and it may all be happening so sudden but i am here to tell you that everything will be alright as long as you cooperate with us. I have heard from ella that you wish not to be apart of us but still wish to help in your own way?....”

Axel nervously shook his head again, unable to speak..

“Well, i and the committee of our organization have come to an agreement. We shall respect your decision however, we expect you to hold your promise and help whenever the situation calls for it..”

That was more than axel could ask for. He was relieved to hear that they would not push him into joining their forces although, he would still have to help them. That was what axel wanted to do anyways. Remembering Jessica's rampage made him sure of his decision. It sounded like the same thing but it wasn’t. If he joined, he was dead sure that they would make him live here and enter as a soldier. This way, he would practically be working as a stand in every now and then. Not like he had much of a choice...

He reached into his pocket and squeezed his test tube shaped keychain. He was deep in thought. He was no soldier to begin with. He hated war and fights and dreaded the thought of leaving home….

The general snapped him out of his thought process.

“well young man? Will you agree?”

Only then did axel realize that he did not answer the general's question before.

“oh! Sorry...yes, i agree….”

The general nodded.

“very well. As such, i have something very important to discuss with you…”

Axel focused more on the general and nodded.

“As you know, we are in a search for the ramoji stones and the ramoji themselves. We were recently able to acquire the black stoned ramoji thanks to your help….”

He must've been talking about jessica. The black substance that she controlled must've been the color of the stone that she held.

“Now, we have recently confirmed the location of another stone, and this one has a host.. a girl.. We have to act quickly before the enemy has a chance to attack her because we know that if we have found her then the shadow hunters have as well….”

Axel recalled the mess that just one of those shadow hunters caused. The destruction and chaos was unlike anything axel's ever seen before. He clenched his fist. He did not want this girl to get mixed up with that. He wouldn’t want anyone to get mixed up with that.

“I understand….but are we supposed to just approach her and ask her to come with us quietly? Or are we supposed to do what cops do nowadays and slam her to the ground because we suspect her?”

The general held his chin and seemed to hold back a chuckle from axel’s comment. Axel mostly said it as a way to relax his own nerves...

“No harm should be brought to the ramoji. As of now, we have no way of extracting the stones from them. Because of this, it is better to win over the ramoji’s friendship instead. We can watch over them this way…”

That actually relieved axel a little bit. He thought he may of had to fight the ramoji and force them to join them, But he still had some doubt..

“But what if they refuse? What if they pick a fight?...”

“Then you must do what must be done. As much as I hate to say it, you'd have to fight and restrain said person….”

He clenched his keychain once more and told himself that he would never do that to a ramoji. If it ever turned out like that, he wouldn't know what to do….

“You must be careful though...this ramoji has been confirmed to be the white stoned ramoji...the strongest of all the other stones so be on your guard…”

Axel looked up at the screen and shook his head.

“Well, that’s really all i have for you right now. As you can imagine, i am a busy man. Before I leave, are there any questions you have for me?”

Axel sat up and nodded. There was actually something he was kind of curious to know. Who better to ask then the man himself?

“Uhhh, yes! There actually is. I was wondering if you could tell me how the peacekeepers came to be?”

Ella hadn’t told him. He pretty much knew when they were first hunted down and what they did but how they were created was still a mystery to him. Ella and everyone else turned to him with curious looking eyes. The General smiled and obliged.

“Of course. Long ago in ancient times a couple hundred years ago, there was a young man who grew up with war all around him. He grew up as a soldier and was also an orphan at the young age of 3. He hated war and wanted to put a stop to it, and so he would. He possessed what not many others did. The ‘Soul of Shadows’ ability manifested inside him which gave him the motivation to fight hard and move up in his ranks. Soul of Shadows was an ability widely known in this time and users were often drafted into wars in order to tip the scales no matter what age you were. Anyhow, when this young man was discharged, he and a couple of his colleagues formed together what came to be known as the Peacekeepers. For many centuries, this independent force would fight on the side of justice and help to put an end to most wars. This went on until our force was deemed a threat and almost killed off. This puts us where we are today. Most schools have us look like the bad guys but there really isn’t anything we can do. So, there you have it. Unfortunately, i don’t have much time to give you a detailed story.”

“No, no, that was fine thank you. In history class, we have the option of learning about the peacekeepers or not. I chose not to so I was only taught the gist of the situation since history still played out fine with or without them. I was kind of curious now as to what i was missing out on. I didn’t even bother to remember your organization's name until ella told me….”

The general laughed and waved his hand.

“No worries. Now then, i will leave you to get to work. one of the faculty members will give you a picture and some information on this ramoji....”

A moment later one of the people sitting at the table stood up and handed him a file. He nervously accepted it and looked inside. It had a picture of a girl inside. She had ice blue eyes, pale skin, and short jet black twin tails. It said she was 17.

“hold on a second. Is this ramoji in sonic city?. I've never seen this person before.”

The general chuckled.

“No my friend, she is not in sonic city. Your destination is set to be off the coast of Miami, Florida!”

Axel stiffened his shoulders.

“................Florida?!”

Part 3

A dull morning. Nothing went on this day so far,Nothing. A girl sat in the kitchen of a boy's house eating her favorite cereal, froot loops. This wasn't really her home. It belonged to a certain boy that had saved her from being homeless, killed, and from darkness. She was eternally grateful to him for that. More than that…

She also owed him the life of her unborn child.

She was maria. The time now was 11:30 am. When she had woken up, she looked around for axel but found no sign of him. She had sneaked into his bed in the middle of the night in hopes to be able to make her move on him when he woke up but, he was gone! She angrily got out of bed and took a shower. She wore a long brown coat and had brown boots. A red scarf was wrapped around her neck and a white fluffy ribbon held her hair this day.

She had favored the color white by now. It reminded her of the cold days she spent out in the streets alone wearing a white dress. It also reminded her of the day she met the man that changed her life.

“there may be a rainstorm now but there is always a rainbow right after…”

She remembered the phrase he told her that she started to live by. It comforted her. It was snowing that day.

As such, her favorite color was now white.

“So where did you go huh?.....” She said into the vacant kitchen. Or at least she thought it was vacant.

“I don't think you wanna know. Heck, i sorta wish i didn't step out either….”

A familiar voice nearly made her jump out of her own skin. She turned to see who it was.

Sure enough, she saw axel.

The boy was wearing casual winter clothing with bits of snow on his hair and scarf. He looked tired even though it was still morning.

“Huh?! Where have you been?! I was so worried!”

Axel shook his head causing some of the white snow flakes to fall out.

“Don't worry..I'm okay, see?” he said smiling.

Maria sighed and scratched her head.Axel nodded and went toward the living room. She heard him fall onto the couch.Maria hurriedly put away the cereal she was eating and went into the living room.

She found axel talking on the phone with someone.

“...Yeah yeah, i get it…..What? You accidentally set your bed on fire?! That's awesome!! Oh, i mean...you have to learn to control your power Ms.Hot tamale….”

She heard him joke around with someone. The person on the other end was screaming something…. She heard the person, a girl, say that she had set her bed on fire. That could only mean that that girl axel was talking with was Casey, A.k.a, Axel's childhood friend.

“...so school is still going for ya? Hah, good luck. School doesn't start here until next week. Ahh….. i see. Well then, thanks for the heads up! Okay, see you…” and then axel hung up.

Axel slumped his head back on the couch and shut his eyes. Then he asked Maria a question.

“Hey? Are you going anywhere?..” He said noticing that maria was dressed as if she were going out. Maria shook her head somewhat bashfully.

“n-no! I just got ready in case we actually ended up going anywhere…..”

Axel opened one of his eyes and eyed her.

“ah, i see….”

Then he shut his eye and relaxed his shoulders. Maria held her chest.

(This is my chance…..) she said to herself.

She planned to redeem herself for this morning.

She nodded and closed in on axel. She walked closer and closer to where he was sitting….she could see his chest slowly rise and fall. He was likely falling asleep. She had tried for about a month now but always seemed to fail to warm up to axel. One way or another, something would happen and get her in her way. That wouldn't happen now! No way!

She lightly sat next to him and brought herself closer to the point she could feel his own body heat. Just when she was about to make her next move,however,the door swung open causing axel to jump up and maria to flinch.

“Hello,Axel? Are you okay!? I came to see if you were-”

The girl with a peculiar name that had long golden hair stood at the door confused as to what she had walked in on.

Her name was natsumi.

Part 4

After he got told where the location of the ramoji he was after was, he got told to go back home and prepare to leave before evening. He got dropped off by ella, she threw him out of the plane again….,and was so tired he fell asleep on his couch. When he came to, he saw natsumi standing at the door and maria sitting closely next to him.

This was yet another uncomfortable situation…..

The two had already met before when natsumi had barged in just like she had just done. When they did, they seemed rather polite, or at least natsumi did. Maria acted like she had forgotten her manners and almost refused to speak at all. Now, it was difficult to say just how well they got along.

“Anyways, Axel i just came here to check up on you. I've been trying to get a hold of you but you haven't answered….” natsumi said fixing her hair on his couch.

Axel looked at his phone. He navigated it and saw his messages had been full of texts from natsumi.

“ah yeah. Sorry about that….but I'm okay so you don't have to worry….. also, I'm going to be taking off for a couple days so, don't stop by during those days cause i won't be here. Just maria..”

Maria exclaimed when she heard axel say he was leaving for a while and natsumi raised her eyebrows.

“you're leaving? Where are you going?”said natsumi

“I'm going to go visit my parents out in san diego. They've been wanting to visit me for a while since the day jessica went berserk. So i thought now was as good a time as any…”

Axel tried to say that as earnestly as possible however, he felt that these girls just may have picked up on his bluff on their radar. Although, it was true that his mother had been calling him almost every single day since the attack on sonic city.

The girls frowned and stared at him. Axel awkwardly smiled. Then he felt a vibration in his hand. It was his phone. He checked it and saw he had a message. It said ‘meet me at the park near Rosemary Boulevard. We have to get you to use your power’

He guessed that it must've been from ella.

(How did she get my number?....... is that park really still in tact?....) as he thought this, he got up to leave.

“sorry, something just came up. Make yourself at home though…”

He waved bye to them and headed for the door.

“Wait! Axel? I'll go too!” he heard maria say.

He shook his head.

“No that's okay. Just stay here and keep natsumi company will ya?...”

“but….” she said.

Axel walked out the door leaving natsumi and maria all alone.

Natsumi shook her head and sighed.

“so? We're following him right?” she said mischievously.

Maria nodded.

“of course we are!”

___________

Axel had been walking for a while now. He hated to turn down maria but, he just didn't want her to see him use abnormal abilities anymore. He couldn't explain the feeling.

So, he walked toward the park near Rosemary Boulevard to meet ella. He looked up to the still cloudy gray sky. Snow slowly rained down.

Remembering a couple weeks ago, he thought of the time when he first used power magnet. When he saved crystal and her children along with all those other people there,and maria and her unborn child. The sensation that spread throughout his body was one that he could never forget. Strangely enough, the power he held only showed up when he was in a crisis. Whenever he tried to use it just to use it, it wouldn't activate.

The strangest part of it all was that the voice that spoke to him that day no longer made an appearance. He couldn't fathom why.

After a really long walk, axel made it to the familiar looking abandoned park near Rosemary Boulevard. He found ella sitting on a tree branch twirling one of her twin tails. She wasn't wearing her sailor looking uniform anymore, instead she wore proper winter attire. A bright green coat and black boots. She had bright green ear muffs on as well.

(This is?....)

Axel recognized this park. It was the park where he met a girl who seemed sad. He had tried to give her some words of advice then but the girl never spoke back. He wondered how she was doing. Since he had his back to her, he didn't get to see how she looked like.

Axel shook his head and walked over to ella. She noticed him and jumped down from where she was.

“so you were able to make it. I have to admit, i thought you would bring the girl,Maria, with you.”

Axel shook his head and laughed. Even ella who hadn’t spoken to maria before knew how she acted. Wait a minute, had he ever even told her about maria? He only just met ella again a couple hours ago…

“She almost did come, but how do you know about maria? I didn’t mention her to you.”

Ella’s eyebrows twitched as if she had forgotten something and she suddenly started acting flustered.

“Anyway! That’s beside the point!”

Axel narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He was pretty sure that ella had been stalking him. Who’s to say he wasn’t always being watched? After seeing first hand all the gadgets and gizmos they had, that possibility didn’t seem all that far off. He wouldn’t pry about it. Sometimes, somethings are better off not known.

“yeah,okay.....so how are you going to help me use my power more willingly?...”

Ella smiled and the red on her cheeks began to fade. Soon, it was back to the regular pink shade caused by the cold.

“ah yes, that's simple. So! What i want you to do is easy..”

She turned and walked over to the tree she was sitting on. Behind it,she pulled out a bucket filled with baseballs. She grabbed one out of the bunch.

“i want you to throw one as far as I can…”

“that's it? Seems easy enough…” he said and chuckled.

Ella smirked. She cocked back her hand and, with a huge gust of wind, she launched the ball up toward the sky almost blowing axel back from the shock wave.

“wah!???!!?” said axel totally stunned.

The ball ripped through the clouds in the sky and then axel lost sight of it.

“I-I-I-I-I Can't do that!!!!!” he said with his wide opened eyes staring at the hole in the gray clouds.

Ella laughed and patted his back.

“what? Of course you can! If i remember correctly, you defeated 7 metallic snakes with just one punch! All i did was use my wind ability to give my throw a little more oomph. You can do it using your ability too!”

Axel shook his head.

“but i don't know how!! Every time i try it doesn't work!”

Ella shrugged her shoulders.

“well sounds like you have a lot of work to do! I'd hurry up and start learning how if i were you! There is a tournament being held in the island we're going to and we've signed you up! That way you'll get some more battle experience!”

Axel widened his eyes in shock and held his head.

“Are you guys crazy!? Why would you guys sign me up for something like that without my permission?! And isn't it dangerous to use my ability against other people?!” he yelled.

Ella's expression grew a little serious after he said that. He half expected to get hit by her again.

“about that, we aren't going to any regular place with regular human beings. We are going to a place that is filled with people like you and me. The tournament will have plenty of strong people so get ready..”

Axel brought his eyebrows closer as he suddenly grew nervous. His eyebrows were positioned in a “/” type way. They worked as a slide for his coming sweat.

“no way…”

Ella nodded and thus causing his sweat to amplify.

“I have to prepare the ship for our trip, I'll be back in a couple hours. You stay here and work on what I've told you. Don't worry about being seen either, This place is close to where the attack happened so nobody is around here, I've checked. Good luck..”

She turned and walked off. He stayed where he was just watching the small form of ella slowly disappear. He hoped that along with her, his anxiety would disappear as well but that was just wishful thinking.

“Oh? Alright then i guess….” he said grabbing one of the balls from the bucket.

He looked at it intensely, He tried to focus in on his ability. He tried to remember the feeling he got when he first used power magnet…..It was a hot and intense feeling that he could only imagine was like nitrous pumping through an engine. As if everything in his arm had received one huge upgrade. It was mixed with a feeling that made his arm feel heavier, similar to the feeling he got whenever his arm fell asleep...

He threw back his hand, he could do this…..If this power really was inside him, then he would force it to comply with him!!! He concentrated and used everything in his power to make that power course through him while bringing his arm forward,

and…..

The ball flew a couple feet,Nothing special, A normal throw. He gritted his teeth and picked up another ball to try again..

Part 5

Maria and Natsumi held their breath. They were hiding behind a bush in an abandoned park. They had secretly followed axel all the way to this park out of curiosity to see where he was going.

They didn't really expect to hear what they heard.

“An island!? Did she say they were going to an island?!” said natsumi nervously.

Maria clenched her fist and slammed it on the soft grass ground.

“he lied! Why would he keep this from me?....” she said in fury.

She looked over the bush at the boy who was throwing baseballs at an average distance. She started to fear that the boy would leave her. What if he never came back? What if he left her for someone else? Was God really threatening to take her one true joy away?

No, that couldn't be...right?

She had to make sure. As such, she had an idea.

“That ella girl said she was going to prepare a ship? Let's follow her and see if we can sneak on!” she whispered loudly.

Natsumi shook her head.

“what are you? nuts?! We can't sneak into a ship that is probably guarded by people like them!”

Maria stood up. Both maria and natsumi knew nothing of the girl named ella but her name. The last time she saw her was during that chaotic day at the church. If anything, this was also a good a time as any to learn more about her. She was directly involved with the strange organization known as the peacekeepers, the apparent real good guys. If not now, then when? No way would she remain clueless forever!

“get down! He'll see you!” exclaimed natsumi tugging at the sleeves of maria.

“i don't care! If i don't this, I'll never know what he's up too! I must know!” maria said.

She then took off in a sprint toward the direction ella went toward making sure axel didn't catch her.

Natsumi let out a groan and followed Maria's lead. When she caught up,which took some time, maria was already on the tail of the girl with twintails. However, maria was hiding behind a mailbox presumably to avoid being found by ella.

“is that her?” said natsumi.

“ssshhh!” exclaimed maria peeking over the mailbox.

Natsumi sighed and just started casually following ella. Maria was clearly taken back by this action. Exclamation marks practically appeared all over her head.

“Hey!? Where are you going??.”

“let's try and not make it obvious that we're following her shall we?” Natsumi said half mockingly. She seriously doubted ella remembered either of them.

Maria shook her head and followed Natsumi’s lead while holding her hands up to her chest and fidgeting every steps or so. Ella was turning a lot of corners but keeping up with her wasn't very difficult anymore since maria had stopped hiding behind things.

After a very long walk filled with many turns and panicking whenever they lost sight of ella or when she turned back, ella came to a halt in a very vacant place. It was a very narrow alley that had many balconies coming out of the walls. Ella used one of the fire escape’s staircases from one of the balconies and climbed up to the top.

Natsumi and Maria hid behind a trash can in order to not be seen. They decided to wait until ella got all the way up so they could climb up without worrying about ella looking down.

They wondered why ella would even go up there in the first place. Would a ship really be out in plain view for all to see? Of course not. They could see up there and there was clearly no ship. So then, what was she doing? They immediately got their answer.

When ella reached the top, she placed her hand in front of her and grabbed what looked like nothing, but it was something. The outline of a rope appeared in her hand. It was a faint outline but enough to where they could see it. Maria and Natsumi followed it up and saw the outline of a massive ship shaped plane. It was practically invisible but they could vaguely see the outline.

“!!!”

“N-no way….” they exclaimed.

They saw ella climb the rope and push some kind of a button on the ship and a door opened. Ella got inside of it and when the door closed, she disappeared. After taking a moment to gather their thoughts, they stood up.

“This is our chance! We have to get up there quickly!” said maria filled with determination.

“wah?! You're joking! I barely passed the rope climbing test in p.e class! And that was while wearing gloves!!”

Maria did not stay to listen. She went over to the staircase ella used and she quickly started to climb up with outstanding agility. Natsumi cursed her fate but this was the only way to know what axel was going to do wherever it was he was going. She had to know.

So, she took off after maria despite her legs already trembling. Call it cheesy, but she was really that determined.

When they both reached the top, out of breath, maria quickly started to look for the rope. She found it pretty quickly. The outline of the rope and ship was once again made visible to their eyes as soon as her hand made contact with that rope. From up close, the distance up was really high…..

“Well, it's now or never! Please allow me to get up there safely baby….” she said softly while rubbing her belly.

As Natsumi said her prayers, Maria grabbed on tight to the rope and pulled herself up.

“Glad i learned something in p.e class!”

Natsumi bit her nails. After a moment's hesitation, she too grabbed onto the rope and pulled herself up. Her muscles were already shaking.

(I…..have to ….get up there!!) She thought motivating herself.

Almost like a monkey, maria had already made it to the top within a minute. With one hand, she searched the exterior of the ship for a button or lever to open the door like ella did. She didn't search long. Her cold hand touched a smooth round object on the rough exterior of the ship. She pushed it and a door opened up.

“Aha! I've found it!” she said before quickly covering her mouth in fear that someone inside would hear her.

“I….can't hold on much…..longer…..hurry!!..”

She heard natsumi say that through her teeth from below her. Maria looked down at the shivering natsumi. She nodded and grabbed onto the frame of the doorway and peeked inside. No one was around the hallway looking place from what she could see. She then quickly got inside and helped a shaking natsumi up. Maria closed the door that had a wheel on it and exhaled.

“Oh God….i never want to do something like that ever again!” said natsumi not paying attention to the volume of her voice.

Maria grinned and looked around the hallway. It was white and wide. It resembled a lab room. At the end of the hallway were more doors. Maria guessed that the front of the ship was on the left, meaning the back was on the right. Maria nodded and headed for the doors on the right. She looked back at natsumi who wasn't moving. She was still pretty scared, it seemed.

“oh geez, come on you….”

She grabbed Natsumi’s hand and led her to the back of the ship where she was sure ella wasn't….

Natsumi shivered and tears filled her eyes.

“never again…..” she said with a shaking voice.

Maria chuckled.

Part 6

“hiiyaaaaah!!!!!” yelled axel while throwing yet another ball at an average distance.

“ahhhhh…..haaaaaa….….why can't i do it?....” he said gasping for air.

He looked around the park he was in. Countless baseballs were around the area he was in, scattered mere feet from him. He had been trying to throw it up as far as ella could but, he could not do it. He was at it for quite a long time already. It must've been afternoon by now. Every Time the bucket ran out of baseballs, he had to go pick up the one's he threw.

“This is starting to irritate me….” said axel feeling his face heat up while picking up baseballs off the ground.

“You know the secret to your power, or any power for that matter, is actually pretty simple.” said a familiar voice.

Axel turned to see andrew standing there with a serious expression, His blonde hair moving to the movement of the wind. He had on casual winter attire now as opposed to his earlier formal attire.

“oh, it's you.. you make it sound easy..”

Andrew knelt down and picked up a baseball while axel observed him.

“That's because it is easy. This entire time, I've gotten the feeling that you've been thinking about power magnet as something foreign to your body. Well, you have to start thinking that it isn't foreign anymore. It's now apart of you and using it should be as simple as breathing or moving your hand. If you can do that, then it'll come easy to you..”

As he said that, andrew cocked back his hand and launched the ball up toward the sky just like ella did with a splash of water coming out of his hand. The clouds once again separated from the ball's path.

(!! He used his water to push out the ball faster and stronger than he would have on his own?....amazing…)

“Woah!” he exclaimed with pure amazement.

Andrew smiled.

“believe it or not, power magnet basically has a mind of its own. If you treat it as a foreign power, it won't adjust to your body. If you do, it will adjust quite nicely. So, when you use it, remember the feeling you had back when you fought against jessica or saved that girl from the robot snakes, Or imagine if you were once again in a position where you couldn't do anything while those close to you got hurt. Use that as motivation. Grab a certain memory and use it to give your engine a jump start...”

Axel nodded with a brand new smile surfacing on his face. Motivated, axel grabbed another baseball off the ground and prepared to give it one more try. He closed his eyes and focused.

(It's not foreign anymore…) he thought.

He focused in on his power. He searched deep within him. He found a cold part of him and instead of calling out to it, he grabbed it as if it was his own. As if simply trying to move his own toes…..

(As easy as breathing or moving my arm…)

But just grabbing it wasn’t enough! He needed to flip on the switches, and he had the keys. He knew exactly what it was he wanted to protect, who it was he wanted to protect. His family, and as of now, the girl that was living with him. No matter what, he never wanted her to see her sad ever again. He pictured it, what if she was in trouble? What if she was in need? What if she was kidnapped? What if natsumi,casey,jessica,jennifer,lucy, and everyone he cared about had their lives threatened? Would he just sit around and refuse to help? no…..

He cocked his arm back.

He thought back to when he saw natsumi being strangled. When he saw the life almost leave her eyes. The helplessness he felt. The rage...the fury…. He couldn’t stand it, something inside him always seemed to scream in protest. When the building tipped over and those innocent people around him were in danger, when maria was about to get killed in front of his very own eyes, what did he feel?

Rage, anger…...frustration…..he had to use that!!!

Right here, right now, those he cared for meant the world to him, and they would be his strength! He felt a familiar hot feeling of power being inserted into his arm and his muscles bulged out as his blood flow increased dramatically.

This was his own power..

Andrew suddenly remembered something and tried to stop him.

“wait! You gotta pump the brakes-!”

But he was too late.

“oooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!!!!”

With a mighty yell, he sent his arm flying forward and flung the ball to the sky with a tremendous boom. A powerful gust of wind came from below them and soared upward rustling their clothes and hair.

Andrew covered his face before dust got in his eyes. Then he looked up and saw that the ball had ripped straight through the gray clouds in the sky leaving behind a trail of white circles where the ball had flown through. Axel was still bent forward from throwing the ball.

A massive amount of pain engulfed his entire right arm, and for some reason, his legs and some parts of his abdomen. Even his spine felt like it was on fire. though his clothes were intact, he was pretty sure he tore some muscles. His right arm slowly fell as he struggled to keep it up. The bones were okay but it was like he couldn’t control it at all since it disobeyed his will to stay up.. Despite this pain, he thought of something else.

(It worked? It actually worked!!)

“I did it? I did it!! OOOOWW!”

He tried to raise his arms in triumph but a sharp pain stopped him from doing so. He grabbed his right arm with his left and grimaced in pain. Andrew was pretty shocked at axel's throw but, he shook his head and spoke to axel.

“That was too reckless. You were so focused on getting it to work you forgot to limit the flow of power to just a certain area.

Since you didn’t, you strained random parts of your body. Not to mention that you didn’t concentrate on only using a certain percent of power. At least you used wind and not super strength or I’d be looking for the remains of your body. At full power, any ability will have serious repercussions on your body right now, so try and use as little as possible. As you start accepting and using power magnet more, you’ll be able to use more power ”

“ah….sssorry….”

(So maybe, the reason my legs didn't break that day i jumped away from jessica was because i pumped the brakes unconsciously?)

Once when fighting jessica, he had used some sort of ability to grab maria and take her to safety by grabbing her and jumping away. He expected his legs to break again like they did when he first saved maria but, they didn't.

He was just starting. As he was now, he really was a glass cannon like ella called him. If he really wanted to do anything, he had to hurry and gain full control of this power of his!

Andrew shook his head as he saw axel flinch in pain at the slightest movement he made. Then he felt a vibration from his phone in his pocket. It was ella notifying him that it was time to go.

“well axel, nice job but it's time to go. We have our own personal nurse going with us so she'll patch you up. I guess this works out fine, it's about time you met her.”

Andrew pointed his thumb upward.Axel looked up and, by focusing his eyes, he saw the outline of a huge plane.

“!!?? Is that ella?...” he exclaimed.

Andrew nodded. Then he went over to axel and put axel’s left arm around his shoulder. Then, axel and andrew started floating...floating?

“wha?..”

Axel looked down and saw water at his feet. It must've been pushing them up.

After a couple moments, they made it to where the ship was. Andrew pressed a button on the ship and a door swung open. Andrew quickly helped axel get inside and then got inside himself, closing the door behind him.

Axel recognized the area. It was the same area that ella and axel were in when he got sucked out of the plane.

“wait? Am i going to be able to stop by my house and pack? I haven't packed anything. What about my roommate? I haven't told her anything. If i don't show up she'll be worried sick…..”

Andrew just patted his shoulder and chuckled.

“There's no time. We'll worry about your girlfriend later.”

“huh? What am i supposed to wear in florida? This? And she's not my girlfriend. She's a girl who is also my friend…”

Andrew led axel to a door that was in the hallway they were at while ignoring his nonsense talk.

“yeah yeah, get patched up and then meet us in the control room.”

Andrew opened the door and pushed axel inside. Andrew closed the door and swiftly walked away.

“hey?! Wait!” axel yelled after him but andrew had already left.

Axel looked around. For a nurse's office, it was pretty dark. Axel could see a few monitors here and there and he saw a couple hospital beds lined up against the wall. He saw one person sitting on a rolling chair in front of the monitors. The person's back faced him.

“U-um? Excuse me? Are you the nurse?...” he said nervously.

The person in the chair turned to face him. His heart rate, which was already flustered, intensified for some reason. Purely against his will and with no real cause at all.

The nurse was a girl. She seemed to be really young. She had long cool ice blue hair and crystal like eyes. Her pale skin complimented her rosy pink lips and cheeks. She had on a white nurse uniform. She had a blank expression on her face. Almost….like a doll.

The girl nodded once.

“yes, i am the nurse here. My name is Saphire. Saphire Simon.” said the girl plainly.