As Alpha continues to go through the last 17 years of Mac's memories, he also works on making his own mental journal as a way to take notes about Mac's progress during this time of change.
"It's been nearly two weeks since Chandler went into his coma and I'm beginning to worry.", said Alpha during the time just before Mac had woken up.
"But going through his memories….I'm glad to see that he's a good kid with high spirits and the urge to protect others.", said Alpha as he's gone through about half of Mac's memories.
"I do hope he wakes up soon….there's a lot that's going to change in his life, I just hope that he's prepared.", said Alpha, then time is fast forward to a point just as Luis reenters the room….
"Alpha, I know you can hear me….tell me you erased the creatures memory when you defeated it?", asked Luis hoping that the issue at hand doesn't escalate any further.
"Hmm….Chandler, please tell Luis that I did erase its memory and that it shouldn't be a problem.", requested Alpha but then he notices that Mac is taking some time in telling Luis what he just asked him to say.
"Uh….Chandler, is everything okay?", asked Alpha.
Luis notices that Mac is looking a bit annoyed by something and begins to wonder if Alpha had said something to put him in that state.
"Chandler….did Alpha have something to say?", asked Luis as he wonders what's going on inside Mac's mind.
"Alpha said that he did and you shouldn't worry about it.", said Mac with some slight irritation in his tone as he realizes that this is going to become very troubling for him.
"You know, this is going to become an issue real quick if I'm going to have to speak for Alpha among other things.", said a very irritated Mac as he makes his point to both Alpha and Luis.
"Well….there is an option that could help if you'd like to hear it?", asked Alpha.
"Great let's hear it, please.", said Mac without a single bit of hesitation.
Luis, Crispin and Samantha were all confused as to what Mac wanted to hear but quickly figured out that it must be something that Alpha had told him as they remember that no one else can hear Alpha except for Mac.
"So the option is that you let me take control of your body while you sit back and listen to everything we say.", said Alpha as he explained the option that he mentioned to Mac.
"Wait….what?", said a very confused Mac as the others around him notice his confusion which Luis thinks he knows what is going on.
"Chandler, did Alpha just mention something about taking control of your body?", asked Luis, then Mac snaps out of his confusion….
"Are you sure that you can't hear him cause that was right on the dot.", said Mac.
"No I'm sure but while on that topic, Alpha has to have your express permission before he can take control of your body.", said Luis as he tries to clear up any confusion that Mac is having.
"Ok, I get that but what I'm tripping over is the fact that Alpha can do that.", said Mac as he becomes more surprised than confused.
"Oh….I see, then I should mention the fact that during your comatose state Alpha did take control just so your body wouldn't stiffen up.", said Luis which now makes sense to Mac as to why he was able to move so easily after waking up from his two-week coma.
"Really?!", said Mac seeing that he's glad to know that Alpha helped him out already.
So Mac takes some time to process the ups and downs of having Alpha take control of his body but before he could make a final decision….
"Alpha, as I'm still trying to process everything that is going on….we will take this one step at a time.", Mac began to say not just to Alpha, but everyone else as well.
"But I would like to know if we're able to switch control instantly?", asked Mac.
"Well I can't say for sure but it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.", said Alpha as he wonders where Mac is going with this.
"Hmm….okay then, let's try it….I give you permission to take control.", said Mac, he closes his eyes and sits there for a few seconds as it looks like nothing is happening, but then he takes a breath of air and opens his eyes….
Everyone around him takes a look at his eyes and notice the gold color again which meant that Alpha was in control this time….
"So….how long did that take?", asked Alpha as he's now in full control of Mac's body again.
"Whoa….this is weird.", said Mac from inside his own head but notices that he can at least still see what's going on around him through his own eyes.
"After Chandler gave his permission and closed his eyes….I'd say it took about 5 to 10 seconds, give or take.", said Luis as he's amazed at the fact that it didn't take long for the switch to happen.
"Ok….so what do you think of this Chandler?", asked Alpha.
"Well it's different that's for sure, but I could get used to this.", said Mac from inside his own head as he realizes that now no one can hear him except for Alpha.
"Yeah he likes it.", said Alpha to the others since he now has to relay anything Mac says to them.
"So….I guess now I'll just sit here while y'all talk?", asked Mac as he prepares to possibly learn a lot more about what happened that night after he died.
"Yep but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.", said Alpha just in case Mac ever got confused.
"Alright, like Chandler told you Luis before we switched, I did erase the creatures memories once I defeated it.", Alpha began to explain.
"So I hate to ask you Crispin and Samantha, but you didn't happen to accidentally say anything about me to anyone?", asked Alpha hoping that Crispin and Samantha weren't going to think ill of him.
"No….the only people that knew about you before you woke up are in this room.", said Crispin very calmly as he understood why Alpha had to ask them about his existence.
After Alpha heard what Crispin said, he took a moment to think of other possibilities but came up with nothing which started to worry him a bit.
"I really hope this doesn't become a problem anytime soon.", said Alpha as he looked a bit worried not just for Mac but himself as well because of the potential risks that are involved for the entire world.
"So for now, I'll have to limit the use of my powers except for when Chandler is training with Luis.", said Alpha, then he turns towards to Luis.
"Luis, can you put up a barrier to hide our presence for whenever we're training?", asked Alpha.
"Of course, who do you think I am.", said Luis as he's dumbfounded that Alpha doesn't remember Luis's skill level in alchemy.
"Hang on….apparently I don't know Mr. Lou that well but uh, putting up a barrier….what?", said Mac whose confused about whatever this barrier business is that Alpha asked Luis about.
"Right….we'll talk more about that in just a bit Chandler, okay.", said Alpha because he can sense the confusion coming from Mac as he's probably got a ton of questions.
"So Luis, it looks like you'll need to do some digging and find out how The Order already knows of my existence.", said Alpha.
The Order….a notorious underground cult that was founded long ago but not much is known about them with the exception that both Luis and Alpha only know that they are a source of evil and also the ones who control The Darkness.
But while Luis and Alpha know that they exist, they don't know who leads them or how their system works when it comes to their followers, so they still have a lot to learn.
"Anyways, we'll discuss more about this later….I believe Chandler has a lot of questions, so we're going to have a chat now.", said Alpha as he proceeds to lay down on the bed.
"Uh Alpha….what are you doing?", asked Samantha as she wonders why he's laying down.
"Oh, we're going to talk inside his subconscious so that it'll be easier for the both of us.", said Alpha.
"You can actually do that?", asked Samantha which surprises her a bit.
"Oh that's just one of the many things that he can do, but don't worry we'll be here to keep an eye on Chandler in case anything does happen.", said Luis as he reassures Mac's parents to keep their trust in Alpha.
"Well we're going in, see y'all soon.", said Alpha, then he closes his eyes and falls asleep.
"Wait….what?", said Mac but before he could say anything else, he's caught off guard by the fact that now he is falling down a deep, dark hole which seems for like a very long time.
Mac tries to figure out what is going on as he just flails his arms and legs around while wondering when he'll stop falling, but without warning he sees the ground so he braces for impact and closes his eyes.
Mac doesn't feel anything for a few seconds so he decides to open his eyes and notices that he stopped falling about an inch off of the floor, then finds out that he is now floating.
"What kind of bullshit luck this is.", said Mac as he's relieved to know that he didn't hit the ground at Mach 20, although he probably wasn't going that fast to begin with.
Mac continued to float for another minute while trying to figure out how he could stop floating, then he reaches down to the ground and touches it….without warning just as the tip of his finger touches the ground, he hits the ground unexpected.
"Ow….that hurt a bit.", said Mac as he rolled around and slowly got back on his feet.
Mac looks around and tries to figure out where he's at but instantly recognizes the place that he's in….
"Mr. Lou's Studio….how did I get here?", Mac asked himself as he's very confused, then he gets startled by the next thing that he sees….
"We're inside your mind Chandler, so this isn't really Luis's studio.", said Alpha which Mac turns around to look towards Alpha but is completely freaked out to see himself as if he were looking into a mirror.
"Whoa….what the hell is going on?", questioned Mac while looking at his very own doppelganger.
"Relax Chandler, it's just me….Alpha but as a copy of you.", he said but that didn't ease Mac's weirdness level at all.
"Okay but….couldn't you choose someone else?", asked Mac as he tries his best to just look away.
"I could but I thought since we're sharing the same body, why not just go with that.", said Alpha but that didn't seem to comfort Mac any better.
"Alright then, who would you prefer I be?", asked Alpha, then he switches to look like JR.
"Would you prefer your friend James?", asked Alpha, then switches to Luis.
"Or would it be better if I were Luis….I mean Mr. Lou since you keep calling him that, where did that come from by the way?", asked Alpha.
"Well first you can just stop switching to different people, I'll just get used to looking at myself whenever we talk like this.", said Mac as it just weirded him out even more to the fact that Alpha can just easily switch how he looks.
"Second, Mr. Lou is the one who told me to call him that which makes sense cause he's an adult and my sensei, so that's my way of showing respect.", said Mac which Alpha understands while also switching back to Mac's doppelganger.
"Ok understood, you're right about showing respect….but he's more of an elder if you ask me.", said Alpha which confused Mac for a moment, but then he got an idea….
"Hold on….how old is he?", asked Mac hoping that he would finally get the answer that he has been long waiting for.
"If you don't know then he's not ready to share that secret with you yet, so I'll leave that for Luis to tell you.", said Alpha, then he notices the annoyed look on Mac's face and slightly chuckles.
"Damn, I was hoping to finally know the answer about his age.", said Mac with disappointment in his voice.
"Anyways Chandler.", Alpha began to say but Mac stops him from continuing….
"Okay we need to make some rules if we're going to be sharing my body and the first one is that you call me Mac.", he began to say….
"Only my parents and Mr. Lou can call me by my real name, but no one else….well except for other adults too.", said Mac as he made sure Alpha understood his request but is slightly confused.
"Why is that Chand….I mean Mac?", asked Alpha.
"Well if you must know….my parents are very famous people in the world and that includes me as well but I hate that kind of attention….", Mac began to explain.
"….and since my real name comes with all of that attention, I try to avoid it like the plague and have people call me by my nickname, "Mac".", he said as he best explains everything to Alpha.
"Huh….well I'm still new to these current times so I'll just have to learn as we go day by day.", said Alpha since he remains confused by what Mac said about being famous.
"So like I was going say earlier Mac, the reason I brought you into your subconscious is because I want to discuss with you about the enhancements your body is going through.", said Alpha which begins to intrigue Mac.
"Okay you have my attention.", said Mac.
"So to start off first, I will be enhancing your body over the course of the next 2 years.", said Alpha which throws Mac in a loop wondering why it would take that long.
"Why 2 years?", asked Mac.
"Because you still have a lot of training to do and Luis needs to give you special training so that your body can adapt to these enhancements.", explained Alpha since he doesn't want to rush through Mac's training.
"Hmm….okay I guess, so what's next?", said Mac with a slight look of disappointment.
"Hey cheer up, I don't want you overdoing the training or learning the enhancements too quick….so I need you to trust me, okay.", said Alpha as he reassures Mac about his potential.
"Now for the next thing….well it's best that I show you instead.", said Alpha and without warning he punches Mac square in the stomach with enough force that he sends him sliding back a couple of feet which of course Mac wasn't prepared.
Outside of Mac's subconscious, his parents and Luis see how Mac's body shakes for a moment….
"Uh….what is happening?", asked Crispin as he wonders why Mac's body just shook.
"Don't worry, it must be that they are sparring so it's bound to happen when they trade blows.", said Luis just so Mac's parents wouldn't be concerned too much.
Back inside Mac's subconscious….
"What the hell Alpha….you ask me to trust you then you do this?", shouted Mac, then he notices how Alpha is just standing there looking at him calmly.
"What's with that look?", asked Mac.
"Haven't you noticed….I hit you hard enough to send you sliding backwards but do you feel any pain?", asked Alpha as he sees Mac feeling around his stomach and realizing that the punch Alpha gave him actually didn't hurt.
"Now that you mention it….I don't feel any pain.", said Mac which surprised him.
"Uh huh….that's because one of the first enhancements that I gave you greatly improved your dexterity, so it's going to take harder punches before you'll feel anything.", said Alpha, then he notices the excitement building up in Mac.
"Alright….what else is there?", asked Mac as both eagerness and excitement begin to show.
"Easy there cowboy, one thing at a time.", said Alpha as to not get Mac's hope too high.
"Besides increasing your dexterity, I've also increased your stamina and strength but not completely.", said Alpha as he continues explaining the enhancements to Mac.
"What do you mean by "not completely"?", asked Mac.
"Well unlike increasing your dexterity, both your stamina and strength need the special training in order to increase further.", said Alpha.
"Hmm okay….is there more enhancements?", asked Mac as he wants to learn more.
"Yes but for now we'll just focus on those three until you master them.", said Alpha because he doesn't want Mac to rush through his training.
"So now show me what Luis has taught you so far.", said Alpha, then he takes a stance that is familiar to Mac.
"Okay, so you want to start off with some Taekwondo….alright then, I'll match you.", said Mac as he also takes a stance in Taekwondo and prepares to spar with Alpha.
"Although this is a bit weird to be fighting myself but let's do it.", said Mac, then he charges Alpha and they both begin to spar.
During their sparring session, Alpha tests out Mac's newly acquired enhancements by landing harder strikes then he's used too and by also allowing Mac to strike him and test the power of his strikes.
Of course while all of that is going on, Alpha wants to see how long Mac will last before getting tired by pushing him even further.
Back outside of Mac's subconscious, his parents and Luis are waiting and seeing how Mac's body is just shaking but not too violently, still they can't help but worry as normal parents would.
"What's going on now Luis?", asked Samantha as she tries to wait patiently without worrying too much.
"Well by how Chandler's body is shaking right now, I'm going to say that they're probably having a sparring session right now so that Alpha can test the new enhancements that Chandler has now.", said Luis as he explained a possible option to Crispin and Samantha.
"Sparring?", questioned Samantha.
"Uh, practice fighting.", said Luis which Samantha understood.
Back in Mac's subconscious, Alpha and Mac continue to spar as they been at it for almost an hour but Alpha begins to notice that Mac is getting tired, so Alpha makes one last strike….
"Stop!", shouted Alpha just before Mac could recover and continue attacking.
"What, why….we just started.", said Mac, then he realizes how hard he's breathing.
"Wait….how long have we been sparring for?", asked Mac.
"Nearly an hour and I stopped you because you're getting tired.", said Alpha as he notices the surprised expression on Mac's face.
"Damn, we've been….going at it….for that long….", said Mac as he struggles to breath while talking.
"Mac, slowly breath in….and breath out, also stop talking and relax.", said Alpha with a strict tone in his voice but notices that Mac starts to stumble and falls to the ground, so Alpha rushes over to him.
"Mac….", yelled Alpha as he crouched next to him and smacked his face a few times but then Mac begins to snore.
"Oh thank god, he's just passed out….must've completely drained his stamina.", said Alpha as he gives a heavy sigh of relief.
So with Mac out cold, Alpha goes ahead and takes control of his body then wakes up back in the room….
"Hey it's Alpha, Chandler is sleeping….we sparred for some time so he was completely drained of stamina and is just resting right now.", said Alpha shortly after waking up.
Alpha got up off of the bed and started walking around as he began conversating with the others….
"So it seems that Chandler becomes very eager and excited when it comes to training….is he like this a lot Luis?", said Alpha while he continues to learn more about Mac.
"Only when it comes to learning new things, but after that he just focuses on improving what he's learned and dedicates his time to that.", explained Luis as he recalls back when Mac became excited to learn that step move he showed him a couple weeks ago.
"I can concur to that as well.", Crispin began to explain since he knows his son all too well.
"Growing up, Chandler never became excited for anything….not even for his birthdays or Christmas which is probably our fault as parents since we were workaholics after he started going to school.", said Crispin.
"Then Chandler met Lucille and James in elementary school and they became inseparable almost hanging out every day after school….that's when Chandler's attitude began to change.", said Samantha while remembering when Mac started becoming a different person.
"Samantha is right, Chandler became very protective of Lucille and James….then there was that incident at the park from a few years back when he first met you Luis, luckily you were around to save him.", said Crispin with gratitude in his voice.
"Then of course after Chandler learned that you could teach him to not only defend himself but others as well, that was when we as parents saw his excitement for the very first time and we were happy about it.", said Samantha as she started to tear up after reminiscing the past.
After hearing what Crispin and Samantha said about Mac, Alpha started to understand what kind of person he was going to be as he hoped in the years to come….Mac will become more open about his emotions not just to those close to him, but everyone else in the world too.
"I see….so can you say that Chandler is not very good at showing his emotions, even to the two of you?", asked Alpha as he became serious in learning this fact about Mac.
Crispin and Samantha looked at each other for a moment as they thought about giving the correct answer with a good explanation….
"It's not that whether he's good or not at showing his emotions, but more selective at who he decides to be emotional with.", Crispin began to explain….
"Chandler is always caring and emotional with us which also includes Lucille and James as well, but for the rest of the world….he still has a lot to learn in that aspect.", said Crispin hoping that his son will change for the better.
During all this explanation, Alpha had gone into the small kitchen-like area to get a glass of water which he was in the middle of drinking when Crispin finished telling him about Mac's emotions, then Samantha decided to add something that was probably unnecessary….
"Let's also not forget to mention that Chandler hasn't had a girlfriend yet and is still a virgin.", said Samantha without any hesitation which caused Alpha to spit out the water he was drinking all over Luis's face as he was standing next to Alpha.
"Samantha!!!", yelled Crispin, he couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth….but then again, he shouldn't be surprised.
"Chandler is only 17 and you know how he becomes whenever we talk to him about that particular subject.", said Crispin as he still can't believe what his wife just said.
"Oh don't worry, the age of consent in this state is 17 plus it's not like he'll ever tell us the truth if he was in a relationship with a girl.", said Samantha very casually as she sees the shocked expression on Crispin's face.
"That doesn't make it any better, plus how do you know the age of consent and why should it matter?!", said Crispin as he was becoming a little bit uncomfortable with how this conversation was going, but then Alpha decides to interrupt them….
"Anyways….the main thing that I'm understanding from this is that Chandler is very selective with showing his emotions, is that right?", asked Alpha although he did keep to himself the rest of the information that he learned hoping that he could help Mac later down the line.
"Yes….sorry Alpha, Samantha can be….very difficult sometimes.", said Crispin while looking at Samantha as she tried to play dumb after the stunt she pulled.
"Right….well that's going to have to change one way or another, but now onto another subject that we need to discuss.", said Alpha which garnered the attention of everyone in the room.
"What may that be Alpha?", asked Crispin.
"Telling Chandler the truth about how he was chosen to inherit my powers.", said Alpha with a serious look on his face which Crispin and Samantha both understood what he meant.
Then complete darkness….
To Be Continued....