Tenson was a reserved kid. He had a large personality, but never liked to broadcast his existence to the world around him. His parents had abandoned him and his older sister, Mariah, leaving them to fend for themselves in a cruel world. Despite this, Tenson thrived; even before they left he had been surviving pretty much on his own. But Mariah, ever the eccentric yet a complete miss when it came to life skills, found herself relying on her younger brother to take care of her... and he did. Tenson never even seemed to acknowledge their parents leaving. Mariah was distraught, desperate to hunt them down and demand answers, but Tenson didn't let her. She was initially mad at him for this - but now she saw the truth.
It wasn't that he didn't care, or even notice, but rather that he knew only one of them could afford to grieve at a time. Tenson was her rock. He was the stable one in his eyes, too, despite all of the insecurities gnawing away at him. Though when one day, icepick-like blades shot from his wrists as a reflex to touching a hot pan; and later on, a leather jacket punk type showed up outside his apartment, asking to talk, he knew that his life was about to change.
The idea of any kind of change made him incredibly uneasy. Could he afford to rock the boat? But then he glanced over at the rent extension request denials piling up on the counter - and realized that whether his next step sunk him or saved him, he was already sinking. So he agreed to go with the guy. Tenson wasn't doing it for himself; he wasn't even a consideration at this point. But Mariah deserved to make it in this world, and he would see to it personally that she did.
The kid from earlier had introduced himself as 'Rebound'. Weird name... but he went with him nonetheless. He found himself at a weird kind of aircraft hangar, where a girl was welding.
"Yo Cece. Newer kid's here." Rebound announced. The girl took off her welding mask and smiled at Tenson.
"Hey! Tenson, right?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm still not entirely sure what's going on right now?"
As brave as he was, facing down the horrors of day-to-day survival, Tenson was not a confident kid. He was pretty timid, and never fully knew if what he was doing was right. His concerns about this place were just too big to swallow, though. Did they want him to make weapons? This definitely looked like an arms dealer's base of operations.
"You're here because you can do something special!" Cece responded, purposefully cheesily. "Claws, right?"
Shit. This was definitely a weapons factory. What was he for? Twisting screws? Tenson was still trying his best to ignore the weird claws. He really could use a little less on his plate.
"Yeah, I think so. I mean, yeah. I can do that. Why?" he returned, trying to feign confidence. He wondered if it worked. Cece smiled warmly.
"We've identified multiple occasions of people suddenly gaining extraordinary abilities over the past two years. You're here to help us find out why!" she explained. She saw his confused and concerned expression. "Not, like, a lab rat thing, or anything. We're just gonna have you stay with us to help us find out what's making these things happen. You've got a sister, right? She can stay here, too, even if she's normal!"
Tenson was completely shocked. "What's the catch?" he asked. There had to be something. Life couldn't even give him a short break, and now this was just falling into his hands for free? No, there was always something.
"The catch is that you gotta put up with us." Cece joked. Rebound laughed. "The other two guys are nice though. They're out right now, getting you and your sister some stuff for your stay. But of course, it's up to you. You can take the stuff and go back home too, but we understand if it's too much at once. Whaddya say?" Cece continued. She felt like she was really, really bad at this. BM was meant to do the talking!
Tenson just stood there. He looked... distant. Cece wondered if she had confused the poor boy - but then tears started to well up in his eyes! She was shocked. What had she said wrong? But in a really strange moment for him, something Cece had rarely seen him do before, Rebound wrapped an arm around Tenson.
"It's ok. It's ok. You've been working really hard for a really long time, huh? Just take this... you deserve this." he said compassionately. Cece would've continued to note this behavior as really out of character for Rebound... but she was too focused on the crying kid in front of her. This was a kid who had spent most of his life at the end of this rope, and - by pure, random selection - his life was completely changed...
Cece went over to join the hug. She and Rebound just stood there for a while, holding Tenson as he sobbed. Once he was fully consoled, she went on with the typical spiel.
"Our smart guy isn't here right now, and normally he'd have you go against one of us in some kind of competition involving your power, but you don't have to do that. Still, we'd like to try it anyway, if you're up for it. Call it an initiation test!"
"Yeah... yeah, of course! Whatever you guys want!" Tenson agreed. He couldn't afford to fall out of favor with these two!
"Great! Rebound, get him ready whilst... whilst I consider what to make him do! I wish BM gave me a little more direction..."
And before they knew it, Tenson found himself in the arena, across from Rebound. He was fired up. For the first time in years, his shoulders felt empty of all the anxieties he carried everywhere. He still had that nagging suspicion that this was just a very cruel dream... that he still had a life of apathy and debts to be paid for other people ahead of him. But... who cared? He wanted a break, after all. Maybe that's what these dreams were - not glimpses of an unreachably hopeful future, only to return to the bleak, real world - but breaks his mind was taking! Yeah. He would enjoy this!
Cece buzzed over the intercom.
"Alright, calibrating done! On my mark! 3! 2-"
CRASH!
Tenson heard the wall behind him come crumbling down, and spun around reflexively. Rebound just stared, mouth agape. What had burst through the wall was unlike anything he had ever seen... a boy, with big, purple, smoky wings, hovering in the air, every beat of his wings booming against the ground.
Rebound, still shaking, readied his throwing arm, but before he could even begin to plan an attack past pure fear and instinct, multiple chains shot through his torso, impaling him to the ground. His red ball rolled from his hand lifelessly as he groaned in pain, still in shock.
"REBOUND!!!" Cece screamed, rushing out into the arena. The intruder, without even looking over, smacked her over the head with one of his vast wings, sending her flying. She slammed limply against the wall, small rubble falling over her. The boy landed in front of Tenson, who was frozen in terror, with sweat pouring down his face. The boy looked... remorseful. Just as afraid as he was. But black flames flickered around his body, like this vessel of pure evil was bursting at the seams. He looked deep into Tenson's eyes. Every word from his throat echoing into a scream of pain, a cry of torment, the beast spoke;
"Where... is... SHE?"
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Bring The Heat
الأكشنWho was Wren? Where does power come from? And how will everyone manage this new responsibility thrown onto them? Maybe letting the stars guide you is the only way to move forward...
