Chapter 1: The Spread
The skies parted open, the rain had crashed down onto the planet for who knows how long? Sometimes, it lasts for hours, sometimes for days, sometimes... it feels like forever. The rain was a beautiful phenomenon, though it was very hated by many. And why wouldn't it be? It was categorized as sad, depicted in media when the main characters were feeling down upon their luck. In the back of the classroom, there sat two brown-eyed teenage boys, one was hunching over the desk. His hand was relentless, continuously scribbling to work more and more on the piece of writing. Notes of the subject on the board were being jotted down as fast as the lightning that threw itself down from the once azure skies.
This boy's name was written on the top right of his paper, Matthew 'Matt' Miller. Aged 16 years at the time and date of... now. Born December 25, 1995. There was something different about his companion to the right of his hunched over figure, maybe he was prettier? To some girls, maybe. That wasn't it, though. It was the way his eyeballs sparkled gazing upon his best friend, to the point where the negroid pupils of Matt locked onto the boy beside him.
"What is it, Henry?" This boy to the right of Matt was none other than Henry Colon. Aged 16 years of age as well, born September 25th, 1995. The two were inseparable, nothing tore them apart before they had met their mutual third best friend, it seemed they were like conjoined twins. Henry had curly brown hair that was poofed out like it hadn't been brushed, only washed for 15 minutes and he came like that. Some of the strands dangled over his forehead, being pushed to the left by the fan above him. He had been wearing an orange long-sleeved hoodie underneath his simple black shirt. A word had been spelled out in fiery letters, 'SMOLDER,' with black slacks, tiny brown dots, possibly small birthmarks covering his right cheek. Two dots on his left were one normally there, and another close to the left of his nose.
Matthew, however, had dressed the opposite. It was clear Henry had been chilled by the chill of the coming winter, but for some reason, the chill never even bothered the other boy. He seemed to relish in it, Henry had always believed. Icy blue v-neck with long sleeves, because short sleeves are for pussies, a jean jacket over the back of his chair, straight brown hair, a birthmark over the right of his top lip. Dark blue slacks. Now that we're done with descriptions, we go back to the real shit. Henry had backed up from his best friend, gently tapping the side of the head of the random he had been sitting beside.
"Haaah, nothing! Just, admiring the hustle, I suppose. Heh, does anyone even say that?"
"Want the answers?" Matt questioned quizically, raising a brow over his right eye and then witnessing Henry release a gentle breath of fresh air. He seemed relieved, for some odd reason, though all Henry had to respond to the question was,
"Yes," Don't tell the boy in the icy-blue shirt, but he was ashamed. Not that it was a bad thing to not pay attention in class, it's normal.
Now, we move to the row second closest to the front, where our protagonist sat in the middle of his two older siblings. His eyelids covered his eyeballs, his glasses to the right of his desk sitting neatly next to the left top of a paper. His head resting in the tiny dark of his arms, and to the left of him, a dark-haired man had his arms crossed with his head leaned forward.
The dark-haired man was the older brother of the protagonist, Jason 'Jay' Rivera. Aged 18 years, born July 22nd, 1994. Tanned dark skin, brown eyes, same as his brother beside him. Black everything. Turtleneck, black leather coat spread out on the back of his chair, and black jeans. He was going to the principal's office after school. In his lap, there were red-tinted sunglasses, the pour of the rain to the window to his left increased with a sleepy grumble.
Next, we have the person who had been doing her younger brother's work for him, copying down the notes on the board. Long platinum-silver hair that ran down her shoulders, wearing bright purple glasses over her brown pupils. The girl's eyes were bouncing between the words written on the board in chalk, and the words she had created with the repeated strokes of a pen. Perfect rosy lips, beautiful long purple nails, and a pretty black and purple utensil. Wearing a white patterned sweater, the collar wrapped around her neck, her light brown coat laid tightened around her waist. This girl's name was Madisyn 'Madi' Anna Rivera. Aged 17, born May 5th, 1995, the younger brother of Jason and the older brother of the protagonist to the left of her free arm. For but a moment, the young girl reached over to pat his brown fluff of curly hair.
"The many-worlds interpretation, or maybe you know it better as the Multiverse, is a theory created by the man who's theory and cat is more famous than him: Erwin Schrödinger. This theory has been popularized more because of the mass media and movies such as... 'Another Earth,' 'The I Inside', many others. It's also a sub-theory next to the Mandela Effect. Lots of people remember the Berenstein Bears, right? Their grandparents used to read them the books, used to watch the show, blah blah blah. That's their name, always has been the Berenstein Bears, however, it never was. It was always the Berenstain instead. But how could this be? The theory formulates over the hypothesis that our universe as we know it, throughout the last couple of decades, had fused with another. Similar to ours, yet with tiny altercations--" The teacher, Mr. Marquez, continued with his lecture and explanation of the Mandela Effect, while two other students in the front row closest to the window were seated. On the left side, the brown-haired boy that had his forehead pressed upon the window gazing upon the beauty of the rain and the cars zooming through the streets of lower Brooklyn. While to his right, his best friend was seated.
Blonde hair, beautiful bright blue eyes, and the prettiest smile a man could ever see. Two lines scrunched upon each that ended her lips, no lipstick. Eyeliner over the top of each of her eyelids, same as Madi, yet more visible for the blonde girl. What she wore was her white jean sweater around both sides of her chest, hiding some of her blue laced shirts that strung over her shoulders. It was a thin one. Her earrings were bright bolts of lightning that sparkled in the light. Jean shorts, she wore. She had always hated pants... always. Her name was Ella Garcia. Born July 7th, 1995. Aged 17 years, she was the ex-girlfriend of the protagonist.
To the left of her arm was none other than her best friend in the whole wide world. Bandages covered his right cheek, some covering the entirety of his right arm, and another over his nose. He had been bruised heavily in a fight, though he never spoke about it, he had been seeming to be getting new ones each day. Grey hoodie, normal basic headphones over his neck, and sweatpants. They made him comfy. His name was Ryder Karlo. Aged 17 years, born August 23rd, 1995. Unbeknownst to the class, El's left hand had been interlocked with her best friend's, every once in a while she'd squeeze and he'd get her head resting on his shoulder. She kept her smile on for everything, gazing upon the teacher amazed by his speech, it was like she could listen for hours.
"Though, it is impossible to prove-- ugh," The back of the plastic cover of a book tapped the protagonist in the back of his head. He had always forgotten to pull his hood over him when he was sleeping like everyone was supposed to do when they take naps in class.
BOOM! The clouds parted to unleash a mystical streak of energy, and with it, lightning poured through the air hitting an unknown spot. The head of this boy sat up, and there was this sort of look in his eyes.
I hope this old fuck dies... He thought, his brown eyes seemed to pierce through the soul of the old man in front of him. Open galaxy hoodie, revealing his shirt which held the picture of none other than the Milky Way itself. Everything about the Universe just seemed to fascinate him, if it weren't obvious from everything he was wearing. Black boots with blue and violet laces, pulling his glasses over his eyes, he moved his messy hair out of the way of his face. Stroking the gruff over the top of his chin, he sighed,
"I fucking hate this place," This was Ben Rivera, aged 16 of age. Born July 22nd, 1996. The youngest, and yet the capacity of power his brain held was astronomical. Just before the teacher could say anything though, the bell rang like a banshee's sonic scream. Everyone in the classroom picked up their belongings and left swiftly, a swift kick to the left leg of Jay awakened him from his slumber.
"Wait--" Mr. Tzintzun had perfect curly brown hair, though overgrown, a mysterious scar over his left eye and a beard over his lips. Though it had not fully grown in, it was still very visible, like he just started. He was wearing a black turtleneck, with black suit pants, as he turned around to focus on the board. The back of his neck was visible... a tiny glimpse of a wing was seen.
Everyone met up outside of the classroom, once exiting and entering the hallway of people crowding around, the rain-covered window had crows fly by. As though they had been attracted to the stench of death, the Protagonist pulled his bookbag with one strap tightened over his right shoulder. Near the left side of the window, as in the interior, he heard a locker door open. The two brothers met up with the rest of their friends who had been speaking altogether in their little group. Ryder still had his hand with El's, speaking with Henry, while Matt searched through his cache of books, while Madi had leaned against the locker to the left of Miller's.
"You all know it's gonna rain all week? Now I gotta cancel my plans with Sammy too, ugh, this is so fucking stupid,"
"You think she'll be mad about having to reschedule?" Henry inquired, ceasing his conversation with his best friend for a moment to lean over and got all up in her business. Each of these characters had their Tarot Card their personalities represented, each grouped by Ben himself.
Jason represented the Justice Arcana due to his strong sense of it when he's not hoeing around or smoking weed with a bunch of idiots, Madi represented the Empress because she had always been talking about starting a family whenever they spoke with their mom. Henry represented the Chariot and Matthew, the Magician. If you asked him why he assigned them those Arcanas, he'd say... 'Because Persona,' which was a game franchise he had played at the time and where he got the idea of assigning each of them to a card. Ryder, he represented the Moon, because he felt deceiving and manipulative, for some odd reason to him. And finally, Ella represented the High Priestess because he had felt she wasn't as open with her to him anymore.
But, for him, he hadn't decided his role in the Future, so how about we decide for him? He would represent the Fool, where new beginnings always start.
Jason let out a yawn into his closed fist, stepping over to the huge window and gazing upon the rain. It seemed the air over Brooklyn, even reaching towards Manhattan. The air had stagnated. There was this one saying, this one particular phrase that was in the back of his mind once he spotted this amazing sight. Stagnating air is common foreshadowing for when something terrible is about to happen. Though, it wasn't supposed to be literal, though... right?
The glass shattered to pieces in front of the young man's eyes, the force that had caused this threw his body back into his younger sibling's. Effectively knocking out the duo as they laid on top of one another's bodies, Madi instinctively reached out to help, but this... force had caused her to collapse against the lockers. Ella and Ryder fell too, bleeding from their noses uncontrollably, while Matt and Henry, like magnets, had been thrown the opposite way they were facing. This wasn't just them, though, around the corner, two brown-haired girls had witnessed a terrible headache and collapsed in the entryway to Mr. Marquez's classroom.
A New Story Begins, 9 months later.
His eyes fluttered, a pained groan flying out of his chapped lips his vision hazy while staring around at the interior of wherever he was. Very familiar... then once the blur dissipated, he recognized it. This was his and his brother's room, his lips parted to shout something, though, a familiar tanned hand covered his mouth.
"If you lick my fucking hand, I'm throwing your hand out the window. She's in the other room, sleeping, and if you wake her ass up, I'm not the one getting yelled at," He had never heard his older sister so quiet, whenever they sat together at lunch or saw her talking to a boy, she was always so loud and annoying.
Beside her, standing up straight, their older brother leaned back on his bed, playing with a knife. An elegant looking one with engravings on the metal. Madi explained everything with a simple gesture, handing his purple-cased phone over to her younger brother. That recapped everything since the original incident 9 months ago in October.
"It's been 9 months? What the fuck..? Are the others okay?" Although his voice was speaking in hushed tones, he still sounded confused and… a bit sad. The school year already ended? What the hell is happening? His emotions clouded his judgment causing Ben's hands to crackle with Azure colored lightning Jason quirking a brow pointing his index finger at his brother's fingers. What the hell was that?
The thing that sent them into the coma was something the government, journalists, and just people around the world called 'The Spread'. Not a very creative or good name, but they suck at naming things so who cares? They called it this because the storm Spread genetic altering material into the atmosphere to hit people across the Globe giving them supernatural abilities. Most have been captured by the Government to be tortured and used for their gain, as Governments usually work. The time he had lost... just the thought of it brought a gentle tear to his eye.
"We're heading to Matt's house in Queens to check up on everyone else, they woke up earlier and told us they're waiting there. So hurry your sorry asses up, and get dressed, little brother,"
"This is gonna be fun,"
In the back of his head, a thought slid itself into his mind, wondering how he had wound up here. Who could've possibly been awake to take him here, and not the hospital? Not a teacher, no, their mother wouldn't answer the door, she was too sick. His right boot stepped into a simple puddle, miniature droplets of water splashing onto the sidewalk as he thought now, Where did the time go? The force that had brought him to his home was nothing tame, nothing friendly, as of now, he had sensed the feeling. Of someone staring at the back of his neck, but upon turning, there was nothing. And he continued his walk toward his best friend's house. Something terrible was about to happen, and yet... the World wouldn't even know it.
The black boot of the Justice left a web print in the stone it had been covered in, his eyes admiring all the cracks and damage that the sidewalk had endured over the last few decades. Broken things just seemed beautiful to him, the way his hands left these little confusing lines among his palm, the hell were they even for? They reminded him of scars that you'd create with a cutting knife, his head turned to tell his siblings,
"We're--" They had stopped, why? Why had they stopped their movement from heading toward the Magician's house? It made no sense to him, he was moving at the same speed they were, right? That assumption of his was brought crashing down. Both Ben and Madisyn were barely visible at the beginning of the block, while he was right in front of their destination. Crackles of red lightning in the air around them started to disappear, his now-red eyes ceasing their spark only moments later. Time had looked like it had ground to a halt only milliseconds prior from his perspective, why? What was this new-found power that he gained over these last few months?
He wasn't the only one, though. Unbeknownst to the three triplets, none other than the Magician, Matthew Miller kneeled in his backyard. The boy's eyes closed, whispering soft prayers under his breath. A replica of a woman's body made entirely of ice was placed on the grass, coming out of his palm. A hand comforted him, originating from none other than the Chariot, while the blonde Priestess watched, nodding to herself and whispering a soft phrase to herself. Ding-ding, ding-dong.
"Finally!" The source of that noise came from the girl behind them, the two friends standing up from the grass, with Colon patting his friend's back, they walked inside of the house. Behind the two, there was the picture of a beautiful brunette woman holding a bouquet of roses with icy-blue eyes. Her name was Izzy Miller, the now-deceased mother of Matthew.
Back inside the house, Ella threw herself onto the three of them as they entered together, giggling like a maniac with tears flowing from her eyes, her arms releasing their lock around some of their necks. Though she had been called too emotional by so many people, she didn't have any shits, not now, not ever. Though their friendship would most likely be over in a few years, she might as well give all the affection she could to ensure that they all knew she loved them. With every fiber of her being, every depth in her soul.
"I'm so glad you're all okay!!" A catch up between friends was needed, that was for damn sure, none of them seemed brave enough to go up to the other and say something like, "Let's talk." That is until Ben pushed his way through his brother and ex,
"Alright, enough ignoring what had happened. We need to talk about what's happened, you four have been awake for more time than us, tell us whatever bullshit you know," Since he'd asked for it, 2 minutes passed, the backdoor to the house had shut closed and everyone took their positions against the house. Ella sat down on the floor, her legs crossed awaiting the demonstration, Ryder leaned back on the wall behind her, Madi sat down beside her, Matt was standing to the left of her body, while the two brothers stood beside him further off.
In front of them was Henry, his eyes closed, he placed both of his index and middle fingers to his temples. What he was about to do would take immense mental power and concentration, not because it was hard, but because keeping the shape material takes a lot of energy from the body.
"He's going to do Overdrive on his head," Jay joked, spinning the dagger he was holding in his right hand as the tip of the blade fell and singed the tip of his pointer finger. His finger had been sliced open a miniature amount, but the skin reattached itself together, and the cut had been healed in a matter of seconds. Like it was instinct for the body to heal as fast as it just did.
Meanwhile, Henry had finally gotten it to work! Wings made material out of flames emerged out of his back, causing him to hover off of the grass and in the air reaching ever so closely into the sky.
"Holy shit!" Madi yelled out loud, a stifled impressed chuckle coming out to be covered by her right palm, this was amazing! This was shit you'd see on TV, like supernatural shit, something superheroes do. How the hell was this even possible?
"Uh... little help here?" Henry was new to this thing, obviously, he still didn't have the control he needed to properly help him fly down to the ground. Two icicles shot through the wings, immense cold counters immense heat, so Henry was caught in Ella's arms... wait, what? The Empress couldn't believe her eyes, it was like she had seen her friend move at the speed of light itself, or maybe as far as a bee's wings.
"Thanks, you two," Both the Priestess and the Magician nodded, it seemed that they had all gained special abilities over these 9 months in time. Where everything had been halted for the sake of what? These abilities intrigued The Fool, if these were real, he could use find a way to cure his mother of her illness. All that was needed was a little training, and they could perfect this. El carried her friend inside while Ben took center stage and volunteered to speak, clearing his throat. Everyone here was someone he knew, but that didn't stop the stuttering or the sweat running down his face,
"I-it's clear that we've been chosen, for what and by whom, I don't... I don't know. But it doesn't matter, these powers put a target on our backs, there's no doubt that the President or someone is trying to track us down right now. We can't allow that to happen, we have to put these abilities to use, or else we're going to be the dead ones. And we can't allow that to happen, right?"
"So what are you suggesting?"
"I'm saying, Jay... m-maybe we could use these gifts we've been given and train them, through June, July, as long it takes to master them. To be fair, I don't know what you all want, but that Government shit is bull. I want... I want to save my mom, but I'm willing to help everyone else out too," Though the reason seemed selfish to the Fool, it was not to the rest of the Protectors, their little group had been dubbed as, 'Fuckhead Intelligence,' by Jason. Though that was never true, they were friends, and friends turn into a family who sticks by your side. No matter what. Jason spoke for everyone when he responded,
"We're with you, little brother,"
"Good, then, uh- let's have some fun,"
A month and three days had faded away to never be seen again in the endless abyss of time, the date was now July 17th, 2013. Their abilities had been harnessed and trained by one another thanks to Henry's demonstration, some of them had an idea of how to activate their gifts. Intense concentration but this concentration required the usage of the mind, energy usage that caused the body to be fatigued. Right now, having trained their abilities enough, the Chariot, Henry Colon, and the Magician, Matthew Miller, readied themselves to spar. Boxing gloves over their fists as their knuckles cracked, feet jogging from inside belonging to the Justice throwing a bottle of water at his brother who had been watching leaning on the fence.
His younger sister stood right beside him holding the young man's hand in fear, Ryder watched from the roof of the house dangling his legs over the edge while El tried to balance herself watching. She was pulled down to sit on the roof beside Karlo, while Jason just watched from where he was right now.
"So, if I win, you have to buy me a lifetime's supply of McDonald's fries,"
"And if I win, you have to get on your knees and say how I'm better and always was more powerful than you ever were. How 'bout that?" Matt responded to Henry's claim, a bright smirk on each of their faces. The fight began... now!
The Chariot made the first move, those same wings made of flames causing the wind to be controlled around him. Two katanas made of smoldering hot magma formed in his hand, pyrokinesis is a hell of a power. Miller hadn't expected him to go first, the older teen stepped back ready to take this fight into the air if that's what was going to happen. That smug expression on Colon's face needed to be wiped clean off, so the Magician did what he needed to do. A canon made of water formed from his feet pressing harder against the grass, his controlled breathing caused this liquid to harden and transform into the element; ice. Sharp icicles were aimed directly at this smug bastard, some of them disintegrated as Henry swung the blades around, grunting.
There were so many, it felt like there were hundreds of big needles piercing his flesh all at the same time, but they hurt so much more. The blood squirted out of his arm through his wings, causing him to fall on his left arm. The Chariot was cornered, crawling backward with his back to the floor, he seemed to have no other options as the Magician inched closer. But he wasn't going down that easily! That canon made of ice that had been manufactured to create icicles sharp enough to pierce super-durable superhuman skin? It easily melted, thanks to the hand that Henry pushed into the ground. This weapon that Matt had made transformed into a roaring Serpent made of fire, he could only know what was happening only when it hissed behind him.
Even then, when he tried to form a barrier made of ice, he was too late, the tail of the creature controlled by the Chariot was easily able to grab Miller's leg. No other attacks occurred, but the heat caused the Magician to lose consciousness declaring Henry Colon the winner of this sparring match.
"Ha! Suck my dick, Matty! Alright, alright... Madi, get some ice for Matt over here,"
"Ughhh!" She complied, the invisible barrier that separated the other Protectors from Henry, and Matt was put down once Madi had exited its vicinity. Thanks to Ryder as well, it was also soundproof. The serpent was touched by the left hand of Colon, supposedly disappearing, but that was not the case. It seemed to attack the Chariot!
Its tail wrapped around his throat, burning through his skin, causing his flesh and bone to become visible. His blood boiled and the stench of burning flesh entered the atmosphere, everyone had noticed, trying to run toward their friend in danger. But they were all knocked back by an explosion, the picture of Izzy Miller had melted away in the destruction of the house. Debris and pieces of furniture scattered about the neighborhood, then they picked themselves off the ground as though obeying a command.
The material that the home was made of, wood, had been turned into metal that stuck itself to the Being hovering above the ruins of Miller Residence. Remnants of the Miller legacy were destroyed in the rubble, no piece of the past remained, all that remained was the future. In the form of the Smoldering Warrior surrounded by an aura that screamed, 'CHAOS,' the pieces of metal that had been transformed by him stuck to his chest creating an armor. The embodiment of hell itself took form in his body, all that was visible were his orange fiery eyes. Resembling Henry's,
"I am the Smoldering Warrior of the Future, I am sorry... but you must come with me."
