"Are you sure about this?" Elrich asked. "Nobody would blame you at all for waiting until a different day to do this."
"Seriously," Brog said. "You don't have to do this right now, buddy."
Before I responded, I noticed Hailee staring at me with the most deadpan expression I've ever seen. Seeing her face like that just reminded me of my role in all of this. I had no choice but to be the sacrificial lamb for the people I cared about. And the quicker I got stronger, the easier it would be for me to protect them. I couldn't afford to wait around. I had to get stronger as soon as possible.
"Yes, I am," I replied. Then, without hesitating, I took the stone from Rose's hand. It didn't take too long for the stone to start reacting. The uncomfortable pain that I experienced, and the dark aura that appeared around me every time I got a new stone had returned. It didn't hurt me as much this time though, since I was already used to the pain.
"How do you feel?" Elrich said.
"I'm fine."
"You're not in any pain?" Phoebe said, worriedly.
"Nope. And I think I know what power I just gained."
"What's that exactly?" Rose said.
"Give others powers."
Everyone gasped as I said this. I already knew what they were all thinking.
"So," Rose started. "That means, you could give all of us-"
"Yes. I don't fully know the power yet, but that's what it feels like to me."
All of them started to murmur excitedly after I made that statement. I couldn't blame them. I would be pumped up too if I knew there was a chance I could be given a power boost.
"Who's gettin' the power up first then?" Brog said. "Personally, I think it should be me. Just imagine me clobbering people with even more power than usual."
"No, it should be me!" another Outer yelled. This sparked a Domino Effect of everyone yelling "no, it should be me!" It had become a huge, vocal mess. The only people who weren't shouting were of course Hailee, Phoebe, Bowie, and Lucy.
"Guys!" I shouted. "I understand that you guys all want to get stronger, but as I said before, I don't fully know the power yet. I need some more time to figure everything out.
"Ezra's right," Phoebe chimed in. "It's a new power, and he needs time to learn how it works."
They all began to nod in agreement, and then left to do whatever activities they were doing before they formed a crowd. It was now just the gang and I standing together.
"Thanks for saying that, Phoebe," I said. "I didn't know if they were ever going to stop."
"Yeah, they were really excited after you said that."
"Well, Phoebe and I are going to the bar, so we'll see you guys later," Bowie said.
"Hope you guys have fun," I waved. I started to head to my hut after I saw them leave, and felt a weird feeling as I was heading back. When I got to my door, I turned around, and noticed something odd. Hailee was following me without saying a word.
"Hailee...why are you following me like a creep?"
"I need you to give me powers first," she ordered.
"Oh my God. Not you too..." I sighed, as I entered my hut. She followed me inside, and kept on persisting.
"I'm serious. You of all people should know why I want to get stronger. I need to make him pay."
"I do know, but I still have to figure my power out-"
"Well figure it out quickly," Hailee interrupted. She then stormed out of my hut, and slammed the door on her way out. If it was anybody else, I would've said that was rude of her. But, I knew what she was going through. It wasn't like she started exhibiting this type of behavior out of nowhere.
Before you ask me, I already know, End said, as I was laying on my bed staring at nothing.
Okay, well, tell me more about my new power then.
For starters, it's not exactly giving people powers.
What do you mean?
What your new power does is boost people's ki to the highest point possible. In other words, it makes them super strong in combat. However, this is all dependent on how strong the person's will is. Someone with a weaker will's highest point will be lower than someone with a stronger will.
So, I can't give someone the power of flight or something like that, I asked.
Nope, they replied. Oh, before I forget, I have something else to tell you about this new power of yours. Pick the people you want to get their ki boosted wisely. If you pick someone weak, they could potentially die.
Oh...
You're contemplating whether or not you should boost Hailee's ki now, aren't you, End giggled menacingly.
N-No...I'm not-
Yes you are! You're worried she won't be able to handle the power just like Alex!
SHUT UP!! I bellowed within my head.
She's probably going to die at some point anyway. Might as well make her strong so that she dies valiantly, right? End joked.
You're the one who's going to die at some point, I growled.
Yeah-yeah, whatever.
...
About two hours of me napping passed, and then I finally woke up. I'm not sure how I was even able to sleep with End being a complete pest inside of my head the entire time. I got up from my bed, and started to hear a lot of commotion going on outside. My curiosity had to be satisfied, so I walked very slowly out of my hut.
I got outside, and saw everybody freaking out about something on their phones, which reminded me that I needed to purchase one of those cool, futuristic phones at some point.
"What's going on...?" I yawned.
"It's Zero," Rose said. "In the news, they're saying that King Jasper, who's just a person that Zero put in place as his puppet, just implemented an absurd tax on everything, and that there's a new law that makes it illegal to badmouth Dark Phoenix. Anyone caught doing it will be immediately imprisoned."
"What?!!"
"Yeah, it's bad."
"How will they even know?" I asked.
"He's placing undercover spies everywhere to keep people in check."
Out of absolutely nowhere, Hector inserted himself into the conversation, and picked the worst time to make an announcement.
"Guys!" he started. "Who wants to see my new invention-"
"Not the time, you kooky old man," Lucy said. "Can't you see we're all freaking out right now?"
"About what?"
"Zero's new law and tax."
"Oh, I didn't even know about that. I barely check the news."
"I'm sure you're too busy having failed experiments blow up in your face to check," Lucy replied.
"You're not wrong," Hector said. "It's also just depressing. Do I really want to check the news if I already know it's just going to be about Dark Phoenix making our lives harder?"
"Well, all that means is we have to get stronger so that we can take them down," I said. "Which reminds me. I was feeling hesitant about this at first, but I think I'm ready now."
"What are you talking about?" Hector asked.
"Phoebe's the first one I want to use my new power on," I replied. "You guys don't have a problem with that, right?"
Everyone started to shake their heads in response, and I was glad that we were all on the same page.
"We thought about it after you told us, and it only makes sense if she's first," an Outer named Kristopher said. "It was stupid of us to even think of getting powers before she did."
"Yeah, it was pretty stupid," I agreed. "Glad we all agree-"
"No!!" Hailee screamed, cutting me off. She stomped her way right up to my face, and started yelling at me.
"No no no! It should be me! You know that!"
"Hailee...I understand, but I can't just do this to anyone-"
"Oh, what?! Am I just some random person? Huh?!"
"No, it's just I have to be sure that the person I do this for has enough strength to handle-"
"Are you trying to say I'm weak?!" she cried.
"No-"
"It didn't seem like you were worried about Alex and I being strong or not before. Why are you now?"
"That's not true-"
"It's not?! If you thought we were too weak, why didn't you send us back home?!"
"I tried to-"
"You know I deserve this more than anyone else here, and yet you won't do it!"
"And why's that?" Lucy said, adding herself into the conversation. Hailee and I turned, and saw Lucy with a very judgmental expression on her face, standing with her arms crossed.
"Because you lost someone? News flash, girlie, a lot of people here have lost someone. That doesn't automatically make you more worthy."
"You don't know what you're talking about..." Hailee growled. It sounded like she was on the verge of exploding from anger.
"Oh, but you do?" Lucy chuckled. "Your boyfriend dies, and all of the sudden, you think that makes you stronger than everybody else. Well, it doesn't. You're still weak, and Ezra knows it too-"
"SHUT UP YOU BITCH!!" Hailee yelled, as she charged towards Lucy, and tackled her hard into the ground.
AN: hii! i hope whoever is reading this is doing wonderfully! i'd like to apologize again for the updates being a little bit more on the later side. school's really been kicking my butt lately, and it's been hard to find time to write. plus, i had a little bit of writer's block, but i should be fine now. stay tuned for more! thx for reading ^.^