The mysterious light finally gains the ability of vision but what it sees is very odd to say the least, this light is now looking at the same creature that Mac is looking at prior to the fight but through his eyes.
"A creature of the Darkness….here, now?!", exclaimed the light, then the fight begins between Mac and this creature.
"Damn, I must find a way to warn Luis. The boy is not ready to fight something like this.", said the light as it musters enough magical pressure to send out in the direction of Luis' studio.
"I hope that's enough for him to notice, can't give away my presence just yet although I might not have a choice.", said the light as it sees how Mac is struggling against the creature.
As the light watched on, all it could do was hope that Luis would arrive in time to save Mac while the fight progressed.
Mark had taken his time to arrive at the entrance of the alleyway that the boys took just so that they wouldn't spot him so easily, but as soon as he turned the corner….
The light notices that Mac is running low on stamina and is barely holding on, then it sees the creature summon a sword and notices that Mac has given up because he was at a disadvantage….
"Damn, it looks like I'll be waking up sooner than I had hoped.", said the light as it sees the creature swing the sword and slash Mac across the chest as he is forced to look at JR.
"That must be….", the light began to say but then it sees that Mac turns his gaze down to his stomach and notices the sword has pierced through him.
"That's going to take some time to heal.", said the light.
Mark had just turned the corner and stood there frozen, as he sees that the one person he was supposed to protect had just been stabbed through the stomach….then he notices the creature as well.
"No….what is going on?!", Mark questioned himself as he began to run towards Mac but was still quite some distance away.
"MAAAAAAAAAAC!!!", yelled JR as he sees his best friend drop to the ground after the creature pulled out the sword from Mac.
JR was frozen from the shock of what he just saw but he didn't stay that way for long, he decides to reach out and slowly crawl to a lifeless Mac while noticing that the creature just stood over Mac's body….motionless.
JR picked up Mac's body and held him in his arms as he tried to wake him up, hoping that all of this was just a bad dream for him….
"Mac….wake up, please.", said JR in tears as he didn't get any response from Mac, then the creature jolts awake and picks up the sword once again only to swing it down towards JR's head….
Mark sees that his son is in danger and begins to run a bit faster….
"James get out of there!!!", yelled Mark in an attempt to get JR's attention but he was still too far away for JR to even hear him.
JR looks up at the creature as it swings the sword down to him and everything goes black….
In a stroke of luck somehow, the creature had stopped his attack about half an inch away from JR's head as it stood frozen again, but this time something was different.
Not only was the creature frozen but it seems that JR is also frozen as well since he's not reacting to the attack, then Mark is seen in the distance frozen in a running motion as well.
Not too far away, Luis also seems to be frozen in place while he was on his way to find Mac.
It seems that time has frozen for everyone and everything near where Mac and the others were, but one can only speculate as to who or what could've done this.
After everything goes black, Mac is then seen floating down a bottomless ocean as he slowly wakes up….
"Hmm….where am I?", said Mac as he continued to float down.
"Why do I feel so tired?", questioned Mac as he tried to open his eyes.
"What's happening to me, I can't see clearly.", said Mac, then through his blurry vision he sees a bright light approaching him very quickly.
"What is that light?", says Mac as he tries to reach out for it but is too weak to do anything and slowly begins to pass out again but not before hearing a voice speak out to him….
"Rest Chandler, you're in good hands now.", said the mysterious light, then everything goes dark once again.
Time remains frozen for those around Mac and his body but then a golden like aura begins to engulf Mac's body which begins to heal the wound on his stomach.
The creature regains movement again but only of its head and looks down at Mac's body….
"This light….can it be….", said the creature as it notices that Mac's eyes slowly began to open but is met with a gaze that is completely different from before.
Mac's eyes were glowing with the same aura that surrounded his body, then the area around Mac's body began to shake as if an earthquake had just begun which leads to a large pillar of light shooting straight up into the sky.
This pillar of light was surrounding Mac's body along with JR and the creature, but it had also broken through the clouds and looked like it was shot into the depths of space.
The pillar lasted for all of 30 seconds but it doesn't go unnoticed by different people from around the city, Crispin & Samantha were one of the few to see it through their office window which leads Samantha to rush over to Crispin's office….
"Crispin could that be….", Samantha began to say but Crispin looked at her and stopped her from saying anything further as he took a moment to think….
"Let's get everything ready, they'll be coming here next.", said Crispin as they both rushed out of the office and headed to a private medical room that was set up specifically for this situation.
Elsewhere while the pillar of light was still active, another woman with long black hair, bright red eyes and black lipstick is seen in a different building within the same city as her attention is also directed to the pillar….
"Ah, it seems that my brother's mysterious power has finally awakened. It's only a matter of time now.", said the woman as she smiles and walks away.
Then as soon as the pillar of light begins to dissipate and is completely gone, JR is seen to be moving again as he looks around him and begins to wonder where the creature had gone.
"What the….what just happened?", questioned JR as he looks down at his bloody hands and doesn't find Mac's body as he remembers that he was holding him in his arms.
JR gets up off the ground and notices something about ten feet away from him….
"Wait….is that the freaky looking thing from earlier?", asked JR although he was only talking to himself, then he feels a tap on his shoulder coming from behind him so he slowly turns around to see who it was.
What JR saw next excited him but not without realizing that something was different….
"Mac, is that you? You're alive?!", said JR as he couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry at the fact that his best friend was standing in front of him again after seeing him die in his arms.
Mac was apparently alive again even after suffering a mortal wound but he looked quite different, the golden aura from earlier was still surrounding his body and his eyes had a flame-like effect that engulfed both of his eyes.
Of course JR had noticed this new look that Mac had but was still unaware of what was going on….
"Uh….what's going on with your body?", asked JR as confusion and curiosity took over, he reached out to touch Mac on the shoulder but Mac had raised his hand to stop him.
"James, right? Oh sorry, I meant JR….I'm still learning all of Chandler's memories.", said a glowing Mac or at least that's who JR thought it was.
"I'm sorry….what?", said JR, his confusion was noticed by this new Mac but JR had no idea about what he was saying.
"Oh right before I forget, Chandler is alive but in a coma so I've taken the liberty of using his body for the time being.", said this glowing version of Mac.
"Who are you?", asked a very confused JR.
"The name's Alpha….now if you'll excuse me I have something to take care of.", said the newly introduced Alpha even though it was still Mac's body that was moving around.
"We'll talk more in a bit, for now go check on your father back there.", said Alpha as he pointed back down the alley for JR to see that his father was passed out on the ground.
"What….Dad?!", said JR as he rushed over to check on his father, unsure as to why he was there in the first place.
JR checked on his father and was glad to find out that he was breathing but was just unconscious, JR figured that he must've hit his head or something so for the now he kept an eye on him while also looking back at Mac, or in this case Alpha, as he was about to fight the creature.
The creature had finally gotten up from the ground soon after JR went to check on his father, it was still armed with the same sword that had taken Mac's life earlier.
"The alchemist's power….finally awaken….The Order will know of your….existence….", said the creature, then it takes a stance to attack.
"The Order will never know that I exist and they will never find me.", said Alpha as he summons a glowing sword and prepares to fight by taking a stance as well.
The creature and Alpha look at each other, eye to eye for another second then they charge at each other until their swords clash as the fight begins.
It doesn't take Alpha long to overpower this creature as he knew that it was only a low-ranking soldier type fighter with the basic amount of magical power, although for someone without magical powers it would've been the exact opposite.
After fighting for a few minutes and landing multiple blows, Alpha had brought the creature down to its knees as it lost the will to continue fighting.
"Now to erase your memory, you shall return to the Darkness without a clue as to how you got there.", said Alpha as he switches out his sword for a spear-like weapon that looked to have special writing on both sides of the blade.
Alpha proceeds to stab the creature with this special spear right through the head….then the creature begins to spasm for a moment and shortly after it slowly disintegrate into ash-like powder and falls to the ground.
JR was standing not too far away from Alpha as he was speechless after seeing the fight that had just occurred, then Alpha turns around to face JR….
"JR, how's your father doing?", asked Alpha as he approached JR with the spear in hand and notices that he seems fascinated by it.
"Oh sorry, let me put this away.", said Alpha, he extends the spear out and simply let's go of it but before it could hit the ground, it had vanished into thin air.
JR snaps out of whatever daze he was in and looks at Alpha….
"Uh yeah, he's uh….he's doing okay, just passed out for now.", said JR as he continues to process who or what this Alpha is.
"So….Alpha, right?", questioned JR.
"Look I know that you have a lot of questions, but for now all you need to know is that Mac is alive and in a coma….", Alpha began to tell JR.
"….so I took the liberty of controlling his body to fight the creature while I'd also heal his wound as well.", said Alpha as he lifted up the shirt that Mac was wearing to show JR that the wound from earlier is gone and completely healed.
"Wait hold up, let's back up for a moment….who or what are you?", asked a very confused JR after seeing the wound that Mac had suffered earlier was nowhere to be seen.
"Right, so let me explain a few things without sharing too much.", said Alpha as he was about to tell JR who he was but is interrupted by a familiar voice….
"Alpha, I think it's unwise to tell him anything just yet.", said Luis as he arrived just in time before Alpha could say anything.
"Ah Luis, it's good to see you old friend.", said Alpha as he greeted Luis with a big hug.
JR was amazed to see Mr. Lou there but even more so that he knew who this Alpha thing or person was.
"How is Chandler doing?", asked Luis since he was talking with Alpha through Mac's body.
"He's alive but in a coma right now, I was able to heal his wound but I think the trauma of the fight affected him more than I thought.", said Alpha only to see Luis become worried.
JR becomes annoyed that he was being completely ignored by both Mr. Lou and Alpha so he decided to interrupt their little reunion….
"Excuse me! Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here….I think I deserve that much at least.", shouted JR as he was becoming a little impatient in knowing what happened to Mac.
Luis and Alpha notice JR's frustration then look at each other for a moment, they nod their heads in agreement as they both know that JR can be trusted with what they're about to tell him.
"James listen….what we're about to tell you is only known between myself, Chandler's parents and Alpha here and not even Chandler himself knows about this so we'd like to keep it that way for now.", said Luis as he tried to make JR understand the importance of this well-kept secret.
"But before we do, we need to get Chandler's body back to his parents at Santera Medical so that they can monitor his recovery.", said Luis, then he looks over to Alpha.
"Alpha, can you stay in control of Chandler's body and help me carry James' father to his house?", asked Luis since people will start looking around wondering what that bright light was from earlier.
While time was frozen earlier, the pillar of light that shot up into the sky was noticed by a lot of people from miles away with the exception of those that were nearby as it affected them just as it did to Mark.
Those within a one-mile radius didn't see the pillar of light but instead saw a bright light just before passing out the same way that Mark had passed out.
"Yeah, I have maybe another hour of control before I have to let go since Chandler is not used to my powers quite yet, so staying in control will become tough real soon.", said Alpha as he and Luis picked up Mark's body and carried him back to JR's house.
It takes them some time to get to JR's house but they managed to arrive safely as they laid Mark down in his bedroom, seeing as he wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon.
"Mr. Lou….how long will my dad be like this?", asked a worried JR.
"Don't worry, he should be awake in a few hours but he won't remember a thing before seeing the pillar of light.", said Luis as he put JR's mind at ease for now.
"Wait….how come I wasn't affected like my dad?", asked JR, realizing he was awake this entire time.
"It's because you were in the center of the pillar when Alpha woke up, so anyone caught outside of the pillar would've gone unconscious and will only remember things before seeing a bright light.", explained Luis as he, JR and Alpha all headed outside to the car that Mark had left in the driveway.
JR had become so worried about his father that he didn't notice the golden aura had dissipated around Mac's body, so he thought that Mac was back to himself.
"Wait Mac, is that you? Are you back?", asked JR as he became very ecstatic.
"Uh….sorry JR it's still Alpha just had to hide my aura so that no one would see a suspiciously glowing kid walking around.", he said as he cracked a smile but JR wasn't amused, then he looked into Alpha's, or Mac's, eyes and noticed a difference.
Mac's normal eye color is more of a natural silver but what JR was seeing were a golden yellow color so now he knew how to tell the difference.
"Huh….your eyes, they actually help tell you apart,", said JR which confused Luis for a moment.
"What do you mean James?", asked Luis.
"Well, I've known Mac my entire life so I picked up on a few things like his eyes.", JR began to explain.
"Mac's normal eye color is like a natural silver while right now his eyes are currently gold, so that tells me its currently Alpha whose in control.", said JR, then Luis looks at Alpha's eyes and does see that his eyes are gold which surprises him that JR was able to figure that out.
"Amazing, Chandler always said that you were able to notice things quicker than most people.", said Luis, then they all got into the car and headed towards Santera Medical.
During the trip to Santera Medical, Alpha and Luis began to explain to JR about who or what Alpha is but without giving too much details….
"Listen JR, what we're going to tell you must be kept in secret and after going through Chandler's memories, I can safely say that you are one that he trusts with secrets.", said Alpha but before he could continue….
"Hold on, you read Mac's mind?", said JR who was surprised to hear that.
"Well not read his mind exactly….just view his memories from his past, it's because I live inside of Chandler's body that I'm connected to everything….nerves, muscles, brain.", said Alpha as he explained to JR the nature of who he was.
"But I do have a mind of my own which I'll be sharing with Chandler once he's awake and recovered.", explained Alpha which JR found fascinating.
"So what are you really then?", asked JR as he wanted to learn more about Alpha.
"Simply put, I'm a source of power that will help improve Chandler in becoming the person that he's meant to be.", explained Alpha, then he continued….
"Over the next few months, you'll notice that Chandler will change both physically and mentally but he will still be the same person that you grew up with.", said Alpha.
"I'll be a voice in his head for most of the time and will only take control if I have his permission, as for now I took control just so he wouldn't die.", said Alpha as he finished explaining to JR.
"So….what kind of person is Mac meant to be?", asked JR who was a bit reluctant to find out.
Alpha takes a moment to think of a proper answer….
"A savior….", answered Alpha.
They soon arrived at Santera Medical but just before they could head up to Mac's parents', Alpha's control began to fade….
"Damn, sorry Luis but you're going to have to carry Chandler's body from here.", said Alpha as he struggled to stay in control for a bit longer.
"I'll rest for now while I continue to heal Chandler's internal injuries, just let Crispin and Samantha know that their son will be okay.", said Alpha, then soon after he was gone and Mac's body went limp but JR stopped him from falling over.
"Alright James, help me carry him up. His parents' already have a room setup for him.", said Luis as he and JR got Mac's body out of the car and carried him to the elevator that took them up to the room where Crispin and Samantha were waiting in.
On the way up, Luis prepared JR as what to expect since he learned about Alpha and will have to explain to Mac's parents as to why he's there.
Once the elevator arrived at the floor and the doors opened, Crispin and Samantha are seen waiting for them there and were surprised to see JR was with Luis.
"James….why are you here?", asked Samantha who was genuinely concerned.
"Not now Samantha, let's worry about that after we get Chandler in the room.", said Crispin as he took over JR's part of carrying Mac's body.
They all entered the room with Mac's body in tow and laid him down on the bed that was prepared for him, then Samantha and Crispin began hooking him up to the machines so that they were able to monitor all of Mac's vitals.
Luis and JR step out of the room for a moment while Crispin and Samantha were tending to Mac so that he could talk to JR for a moment….
"James, do not worry about them being mad….just remember that it was our idea to tell you this secret, so just be truthful with them and everything will be fine.", said Luis just so that JR would be calm when having to explain the events that took place this evening.
JR then takes a seat while Luis goes back into the room to check on Mac and his parents, but there is a lot going on inside JR's mind as he sits there wondering what the future is going to look like….then it hits him….
"Oh no….Lucky!!!", said JR.
To Be Continued...