10 years ago
"Oh my god... Look at him.. Hes such a freak!,"
"Yeah, and hes always eating those disgusting cookies,"
"I heard his parents didnt want him anymore,"
The walls around 10 year old Flare seemed to close in, the shadows around his heart growing thicker.
"They dont know what they're talking about! Mommy and daddy loved me... They are gonna come back to me... Right?," The world around him seemed to close in, until there was nothing at all.
A week later, he remains in his isolated cell. Scared. Alone. Did mommy and daddy really give up on him?
That's when he saw her dragged past his door to another cell. Her eccentric features were fine as wine, her soft brown eyes like melted chocolate, her olive skin glistening under the fluorescent lights.
"Hey Guard! Can I get put in the same cell with her? I'm lonely!," he begged. With a grumble, the man had obliged.
Shortly after he was moved, they soon became friends... However, that wouldnt last long.
-------
Lio- present day
I screamed in agony, curled into a ball on the couch, my eyes burning with tears.
A cold hand strokes my arm, a slight giggle escaping her mouth.
"You think you can escape me Sweetheart? Please.," She kneeled, her pale face covered in shadows, all I could see was the chan glow of her eyes. I clenched my eyes shut.
"You're not real... You're not real... YOURE NOT REAL!," I screamed, clenching my shirt curling up even tighter in Hope's that for once she would just go away.
"Arent I though? You can still see me... Hear me... Feel me... I'm as real as anything else in this artificial life for you... Oh Lionel... You know better than to lie to yourself... I taught you better," She chimed, shifting positions so shes sitting on the back of the couch.
"We all know this isn't real for you... Your happy life with Magnus... It isnt going to last....," She chattered. She forced me upright, climbing onto of me and covering my eye, pressing her lips to my ears.
"We both know your primal urges... To strike.. To kill... Those dont magically dissipate you know," she smirked letting go of my eye, leaving a burning sensation in its place.
I looked straight ahead, glancing into the mirror... My eye is marble black... I reach up, clenching it shut and spinning, kicking her away from me. In my head, I could see a boy in a corner, eyes shut and hands over ears, trembling and struggling to cut out the noise.
So much noise... Always so much noise.
"You see, sweet sweet Lionel? You're a monster... Just like me," She smirked, looking up at me.
"You're a perverted form of a woman I loved! Shut the hell up!," I roared, standing and moving away. My fingers frosted over, slowly spreading.
I pressed my head to the glass, glaring at the floor.
"We'll see Lionel.... Who will you become in the end? Lionel Valdez? Your birthright... Or Lionel Hall... The morsel I raised you to be," She smiled, putting her arms around my neck.
"Lio? Are you alright?," a voice called behind me. I yelped and spun around covering my eye.
Eren gave me a nervous look, scratching the back of his neck.
"Are you ok? You havent been acting yourself recently," He raised two cups of coffee, carrying them into the kitchen in silence. I nodded frantically.
"Yeah I'm fine!!! I just-," He looked at me expectantly. I looked down. I cant let anybody see me like this.
"Ok, come grab your coffee. Magnus told me he was worried about you. Sent me to check up on you.," He rsponded. I nodded, freezing my eye over and walking over to him. He locked on to my eye, but didnt mention it.
"Word came down from above. Flare is on the move... He has himself a new little army. And by little, I do mean little," He started off. My heart fell into my stomach. Deep down I knew this day would come.
The day he came back for revenge.
"That's a good thing... Right?," I asked a little top wistfully. He shook his head, pulling out several different files.
"These are the code names and their accomplishments. These codenames are their abilities, or a word for their abilities that we know of. This small team is filled to the brim with extremely powerful newcomers. First off, one of the most worrisome in the group," He grabs the folder from off the top, slapping it down in front of me. I turned the page, seeing a teenage boy with green eyes and silver hair, a twisted smirk on his face.
"Code name: Dynamite. As far as we've seen, whatever he touches explodes in a matter of seconds. The bigger the object, the bigger explosion. As far as we know, there are no physical weaknesses. As you may have heard, scientists came up with a new source of power, called an amulet. If a person has one of these, the amulet with help concentrate their abilities, even store them for a period of time, inspired by Magnus and his fire ring," I glanced down at the ring on my finger. No physical weakness, and an amulet. Hes definitely a problem.
"They have his face here, why dont they identify him?," I asked, pointing at his face in the picture. Eren frowned.
"I'm not sure. They ran his face through the database for facial recognition. With his power and an amulet, he must've had some tie to money, but he never left home before he joined Flare. Whoever his family is, They kept him under tight lock and key, never giving him any room to make a mistake. His motives for joining Flare: Unknown," He finished. I shut the file and turned, waiting for the next one. He pulled another one out, sliding it over to me.
"Code name: Decay. Hes a well known Hybrid, a mix of several different powers, like you. The range of his abilities are unknown, we do know he has a combo of wind, sand and decay, like his name suggests, however we dont know how he obtained so many. We believe his original power was decay, however we never got specifics. Background unknown. He was a thug in the shadows. Has a long list of criminal history, but his home life and family identity is unknown," He informed me. I looked at the kid, a chill going down my spine. Hes pale.. All black and white. Even his eyes looked dead... Something about him is awfully familiar though...
"Next one up: Tansfer. From what we know, he can give or take powers away.. The only thing we have about his past is his original name. Jordan Smith. We have no criminal record. His family died all while he was at a young age. He was sent into foster care where he picked up tricks to survive. After a few weeks, he escaped the home. Never seen again, until now of course.," I looked down at him. He looks normal, besides the streak of red in his dark hair. He must have been emo or something.
"Heres another. His code name: Rain. He literally can control the weather. From what we've seen in his tracked movements before joining Flare, He has an amulet. We do not believe he is a hybrid of any sorts," He continued. I nodded, piling up the past few files and turning, noting only two left. It was really this small?
"Finally, the twins. Vampire and Wolf. If one consumes blood of any kind of pray, she can temporarily alter her speed, strength and stamina. If the other, the boy called Wolf, touches a kanine of any kind, he can take the same shape as the animal, or even turn into a wolf himself on the full moon. Speaking of, if it is on the full moon, we are in trouble," He concluded. I raised my eyebrow, looking at the last file.
"Who's the last one?," I demanded, tossing the last file in the pile. Eren shakes his head.
"I dont know. Even the Feds dont know.. Hes a man always wearing a dark cloak and a skeleton mask. His identity unknown. Powers: Unknown. But his speed and strength.. They're off the charts," He murmured, tossing me the file. I opened it, looking through the very thin amount of contents inside it.
"Is there a way these guys are rated?," I demanded. He nodded, pulling out a paper from his bag.
"They're listed on an a scale. A being the weakest, SSS being the strongest. From what they've seen, according to the scales it goes like this.
Decay: SSS rated. Approach with caution.
Mask, or the skeleton masked guy: SSS+ rated. They believe he may be on a whole new scale entirely.
Dynamite: SS rated. Approach with caution, call for back up immediately.
Transfer: Also SSS+ His power may not be all that flashy, but it's nothing to sneeze at. Add it to his physical strength, speed, and agility, and hes a perfect killing machine.
Rain: S rated. Approach with caution.
Vampire: B rated. Arrest immediately.
Wolf: A. Arrest immediately.
And finally, leader of the bunch, Flare: SSSS+ Stronger than The mask or Transfer. Known for his flashy lava powers, but also more frequently known for these days as his copy power. The way he can mimic anybodies power as long as he sees it first hand," He concluded. My breath caught on Flare. I forgot about that... In Magnus's final fight with him, Flare used one of my ice attacks on him. It was a maximum sized attack too, so Magnus had to break his arm to save himself, bringing the building down around them in the process.
"So whatre we gonna have to do about it?," I demanded. He gave me a look, standing up and finishing his coffee.
"Since we are bow all adults, all somewhat involved in the justice system, they have granted us access to the case. They want us, All of us that remain at least to bring him down once and for all. With the help of a few noobies that you and Magnus trained, hand picked by the government themselves," He responded with a smirk. He looked at me, reaching out his hand.
"We're going home," I heard a famine chuckle behind me, and I restrained the urge to turn.
I know who it is.
She pressed up against my back, reaching up and touching my burning right eye once more.
"Home? Please... I dont think you have a home anymore Lio... You never did... Remember Your mother? Your real mother?," She demanded. I could see my biological mother's black eyes in my mind, almost like I was standing there again myself.
"You dont deserve to be fighting against Alexander... The thing is.. You're more of a monster than he is," She chuckles, leaning in close to my ear.
"At least he doesnt pretend that hes normal.. That he doesnt pretend to not want to kill... He follows his urges and it makes him so.ewhat a monster. Certainly not someone to tango with," She smirked, her nails digging into my eye.
"But you... Lionel Valdez... Are a snake in the grass... You wait for your friends to sleep... and then you dream about what they would look like torn from the inside out... One of these days, you'll follow up on the urge... And you'll be all alone... Like you always shouldve been,"
Flare
I sit down in the giant warehouse I've taken up safe haven in, my new team surrounding me, eagerly awaiting my orders.
"All I have to say," I look down at my prosthetic leg, a snarl covering my face.
"Kill them all,"