The Fabulous Four never told me to hide my abilities from others, but I still am. I don't trust anyone here, honestly, so I'm just gonna keep my secret within a small circle of people, the Fab Four, the Ultra Vs, Dr. D, Show Pony, and my dad... and Mad Gear. Given that he's my best friend, I could never keep secrets from him, so I am gonna tell him about my newly adapted, powers.
Mad Gear and I are currently sitting in this deserted area we found while exploring. The only thing here is a growing tree we found. It's the same height as us and doesn't have that many leaves. We love this tree because it reminds us that there is still natural life out there. A life that isn't controlled by BL/ind.
"I love this tree," I stated with a smile, "I find comfort in it whenever I'm in doubt."
"Really?" Mad Gear inquired.
"Yeah. It means there are still lives out there that aren't controlled by BL/ind. There could be people who have found a haven, like us!"
"It's amazing how a nine-year-old could have such deep thoughts, young ones these days surprise me."
"Okay, first of all, you're a year older than me and i turn ten in a couple of days. Second of all, you're still young and dumb. And third of all, I don't mean to have such deep thoughts, I just... do. After everything with BL/ind had occurred."
"I'm just gonna ignore the fact that you called me dumb, and say that we've matured. You've matured. It's alright, though. You can't act like an immature child during these times- especially not in the zones. We had no choice but to grow up."
"And we need to trust and understand each other completely to work together without a problem..."
"What are you saying?"
"No secrets, okay?"
I held my pinky out. Mad Gear looked at it, then looked back up at me skeptically. After a couple of seconds, he finally hooked his pinky with mine and agreed.
"No secrets."
"Since keeping secrets from each other is mutually agreed that it is unallowed, I have something to tell you. That I've known about for a couple of days."
"What?"
"Okay, you know how I found out Cherri Cola was my dad?"
"Yeah, so?"
"I also found out about my mom, and that I have..."
Mad Gear took one of my hands in his.
"Hey," he said, "it's okay if you're not ready to tell me. I understand. My mom always told me never to pressure anyone to get information from them unless they did something wrong."
"No, no," I smiled at his patience, "I am ready, I just don't know how to tell you."
"Just... tell me! Don't think about it, just say it. I probably won't judge."
"I'm just gonna ignore the fact you said 'probably' and just say it. Please keep a straight face and believe me. I found out that I have these... abilities."
"Abilities? What abilities?"
"It's better to show than to tell."
After saying that, I waved around both my arms to create a large wind. It wasn't just normal wind, it was purple and surrounding us.
Mad Gear looked astonished and a little scared. He stood up quickly and tried to touch it. Before he could, I got rid of it.
"How'd you do that?"
I explained to him everything I learned about myself, my mom, and my dad. Everything Dad told me, I repeated to Mad Gear. We were sitting in silence after I finished talking. Gear was about to speak until we were interrupted by a distant 'meow'.
We both looked in the direction of the sound and saw a cat. It was the black cat I saw when I first entered the zones. It was back!
"Oh!" I got up and went toward it, "Hey, again." I said while petting it.
"What do you mean 'again'?" Gear asked.
"It's the cat that I was with the first two days I entered the zones," I smiled as it nudged my hand, "I guess it recognizes me, too."
"Did you name it?" Gear asked, coming over to pet it, too.
"I don't even know its gender," I chuckled, "I'll just name it 'Bad Luck' since she's a black cat."
"Toxic Ghost and Bad Luck, that's cute."
Gear and I sat back by the tree but were interrupted by the high-pitched scream of a hyena in the distance.
"It's getting late, let me walk you back to the diner," Gear offered.
"Alright," I smiled, "Come on, Dark."
Mad Gear, Bad Luck, and I walked back to the diner in comfortable silence. While arriving, we looked up at the sky to see how late it was. It was a pretty dark shade of blue and I know Party's in there worrying about me.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Gear," I hugged him and Dark Feline rubbed themself against Mad Gear's leg.
"Bye, Toxic," he smiled, "and thanks for telling me about your... issue."
I grew uncomfortable once he called it an issue, "Oh, Uh, yeah. No problem. See ya."
And I sped-walked into the diner with Luck trailing behind me, leaving Gear out there to walk home. My attempt to sneak to my and Party's room was interrupted when Kobra called out to me.
"Olivia," he called quietly. This was the first time in a long time since he's called me by my real name.
I approached him awkwardly, "Hey, Ko-"
"Party's worried about you."
"I had a feeling," I sighed as I hugged him.
"You can't-" Kobra cut himself off with a frustrated groan, and I started feeling guilty about not paying attention to the time, Kobra raised his voice, "You can't just stay out there for so late. Especially when you don't have your walkie-talkie and you're not paying attention to how dark is getting out there! You know how dangerous it is, and you know Korse is out there looking for you waiting for the right moment to either take you or kill you and we wouldn't know! And we'll be sitting here blaming ourselves for losing you. Do you know how stupid you were being? And we had to stop Party from searching for you so many times- had to assure him that you were probably fine. Don't scare us like that again!"
Shocked by his sudden raised voice, I whimpered and cowered away from Kobra Kid. I wasn't afraid of him, I was just ashamed of my actions. He mistakes my ashamed expression for fear and slowly walked towards me.
"I'm sorry for yelling, Olivia," he sighed sadly and got quiet, "I'm sorry for calling you stupid, I was just so scared for you. You have to understand you can never do that again. It's dangerous and scary."
"I'm so sorry, Mikey," I sniffed as I used his name.
He looked surprised, "Party told you my name? Why?"
"I was a fan of My Chem," I wiped my eyes.
Kobra tried to lighten the mood and ignore the fact he yelled at me by changing the subject, "So, what's your favorite album? What's your favorite song?"
"I can't choose a favorite album, but I can choose a favorite song. Well, two favorite songs. Party Poison and Vampire Money from the Danger Days album."
"Your favorite might be Danger Days."
"Sometimes, I feel like you guys knew this was gonna happen."
"What?"
"This whole... apocalypse. With BL/ind."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because, in your music videos, although you had half of the world against you guys instead of an organization, you still gave yourselves code names and the same ray guns you had in the videos. It's just... strange to me. Did you guys know Korse was coming?"
Kobra seems stunned. His expression answered my question but I still pretended to not be suspicious.
"T-Toxic, n-no-"
"Toxic," Party's stern voice interrupted Kobra's stuttering.
I turned to observe him. His arms were crossed and he looked mad.
"Party, before you get mad at me, I just wanna say one last thing to Kobra," I said.
"Go ahead," Party allowed.
"Listen, Mikey," I say as he looked at me, "If you guys did know... I wouldn't be mad. What could you do to stop it? You can't do anything, you're just four guys! You couldn't even tell anyone because I doubt anyone would even believe you guys. It does sound absurd- a big organization run by an ugly bald white guy is trying to take over the world- who would believe that? It's... it's not... it's not your fault!"
Kobra looked extremely guilty when he mumbled, "It's not Korse that runs BL/ind."
"What?" I questioned.
"We'll tell you later," Party quickly interrupted, "but I want to talk to you. Let's go."
I sighed as Party led us to our room. I sat on our bed and he joined me after shutting the door.
"I'm not... mad. I know you were probably having fun doing whatever it was you were doing and weren't paying attention to the time. But I just wanna know... what were you doing that took you so long to come home? We were so worried. I thought you were hurt."
"I'm so sorry, Party," I sighed, "I was with Mad Gear and I had to tell him..."
"Tell him-" Party cut off his question after realizing what I was talking about, "you're telling people?"
"Only people I know I can trust and the Ultra Vs since they already saw me using my... powers."
"Oh..."
"Do you... do you think I'm a monster now? A freak? Like I don't fit in anymore?"
"What?" He seemed surprised by my question.
"With my powers- they make me different, like-"
"Yeah! Different! Unique! Not an alien. Not weird or a freak or a monster. You are special, you are beautiful, you are amazing. Everyone has something special to them. Something that makes them different. Not everyone has to be the same, we need to be different."
"But no one has ever been different like me. Had the same... issue, as me. I feel alone. I wish my mom was here." I sniffed.
I didn't realize I was crying until I felt two pairs of arms wrap around me. I raised my head from my hands and saw Ghoul and Party hugging me. I haven't noticed Jet, Kobra, and Ghoul entered the room.
"I don't think I want these powers..."
"Hey," Jet cooed, "this power might save all of us. Once you learn to control it, you could help us take down BL/ind. People won't dislike your power- they'll celebrate it! You are our future hero. Follow in your mom's footsteps and save the world."
Once he finished speaking I jumped off the bed and hugged Jet. My cries were slowly dying down once I felt safe and loved by those around me.
"I'm sorry for crying, guys. I'm so sorry for worrying you by staying out so late. I was talking to Mad Gear. I had to tell him about my power. We agreed to no secrets so I couldn't keep it a secret. What took me so long was that I just kept stalling. I didn't want to tell him, because I was afraid of his reaction, but I had to. I'm so sorry for scaring you."
"It's alright, Toxic," Ghoul assured.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"As long as you don't do it again, all is forgiven," Party chimed in.
They smiled at me, and I smiled back.
"Bedtime?" Party offered to me.
"Yeah," I agreed and got under the covers of our bed.
"Goodnight, Toxic," the four said in unison.
"Goodnight guys," I paused then said, "I love you."
They stopped moving, then turned to me after a second, "We love you, too, Olivia."
I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
*****************************
In the dream...
I opened my eyes thinking that I would wake up on the mattress in the diner with Party lying next to me. But it took a second to realize that I was not in the diner at all, but, instead, in a barren wasteland.
The sky was orange and red, the ground was cracked and brown, and there were dead trees everywhere, and a couple of corpses. Besides the dead bodies lying around on the ground, I was completely alone. No animals, no wind, no sun. Just me.
"Hello?" I called out to get silence in return, "Is anyone here?"
Then, I heard a woman's voice. It sounded alien to me, but so familiar.
"Olivia?" She called out.
"Who's there?"
"Olivia, is that you?"
"Yeah, who are you? Where are you?"
"Uhm, stay there! I'll come to get you!"
"I don't like the sound of that."
"Trust me."
"How can I trust you when I don't even know you? I don't know what you look like and I don't know where you are?"
The lady didn't answer me, but I heard the sound of heels clicking louder and louder like someone was running toward me. Out of fear, I started speed-walking far away from it, then I began running. I kept looking behind me to see if the owner of the heels was behind me, and since I wasn't looking forward, I didn't see what was in front of me. I ran into something- someone and fell on my back.
"Oh, my gosh, Olivia! Are you alright?" The voice asked me, as I felt someone grab my arm and gently pull me up.
I looked up to see a tall woman with black hair, blue eyes, a button nose, and thin pink lips.
"Who are you?" I asked.
She smiled sadly at me, "Can you try and guess?"
"Not if you don't give me a hint."
She chuckled lightly, "Wow, you're just like your father."
I froze but could still speak somehow, "M-Mom?"
"Hi, baby," she opened her arms, offering a hug.
I ran into her arms and hugged her as tightly as I could without choking her. We stood there in each other's arms, crying silently.
"Mom..." was the only thing I could say at the moment.
"Olivia..." She sniffed, "You've gotten so big. You're gonna be ten years old in three days, right?"
"Yeah, I am." We broke apart our hug.
"You should tell those boys."
"The boys?"
"Those four killjoys, Dr. Death Defying and Show Pony, your dad, and the Vs,"
"How'd you-"
"I may be dead, but I'm not gone. I'm always with you. Especially since my soul hasn't been freed."
"What?"
"My soul. During the war, we are currently standing in the aftermath of, I was killed during your birth, and my soul for some reason never escaped Battery City."
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"You'll figure it out once it's your time."
"When is my time??"
"You'll figure it out, I promise. Until then, keep practicing using your powers. I've run out of time for today."
"Wait- Mom! When will I see you again?"
"Soon. I'll visit you as much as I can, i promise!"
A new voice joined us.
"Toxic?" It was Party Poison's voice and he sounded slightly panicked.
My mom started fading away.
"Mom! W-wait! How do I control my powers? Can you help me? Mom! Please, don't leave me again..."
"Toxic, wake up! It's just a dream," Party's voice was now combined with Ghoul's.
"Like, I said I'll visit you as much as i can. I'll help you control your powers then. I love you, Olivia! Please be careful out there!"
"I will, Mom, I love you, too!"
"Goodbye."
And with that, she pushed me, making me lose my balance. I fell into a hole that I did not realize was there. I just kept falling and falling until I woke up.
I shot up from my bed, my face covered in tears, and I was out of breath. After coming to terms with what just happened, I let out an unwelcome sob. I fell into Party, who was sitting beside me with a worried expression, and I told him and Ghoul, who was on my other side, what I had just dreamt.
"So, you met your mom? And she spoke to you?" Ghoul asked for clarification.
I nodded and sniffed.
"We need to tell Cherri," Party said.
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