TerraFlame (The New Journey Book 1)

by Alexis González

  “Wow man that’s hard, but you know what? I don’t care what you are or how you look, the most important thing is; we are brothers and I will protect you… but who actually made you those robotic parts?” Linex furthered looking at him in a manner of curiosity.

  “Dad did it. He saw me on the streets of the city all abandoned, dirty and exhausted but he saw me while I was crying, and really cared for me. He took me into his house and then a few days later he made some robotic enhancements for my body, so I don’t feel like a failure when I grew up. It was a success and that’s where he named me Joe” Joe explained, he had a distant look in his eyes.

  “So you are…” Linex trailed off.

  “Yeah I was adopted” Joe nodded.

  “Hey, you don’t need to feel bad about yourself. You are special for your dad and for me… you have people who care for you and you can’t doubt that man. You helped me in that fight if it wasn’t for you I would be a goner, but I really thank you” Linex said passionately, and Joe felt quite better.

  Rather than putting on his old jacket, he resolved to wear a shirt which could expose his robotic enhancements. There was the absence of shame.

  Markson arrived home with Stacy and saw Linex with Joe. He looked on with utmost surprise to see Joe clad in a shirt.

  “What are doing with a shirt Joe…!” Markson asked more out of fear than the initial shock he had felt.

  Joe's aunt Stacy was equally looking terrified.

  “Dad I can explain…” Joe started but his father cut him short.

  “No! no one must know of your secret and our experiments” Markson interjected taking out a laser gun from his big jacket and Linex got really scared that he would use the gun on him but stood transfixed to the spot.

  Joe screamed and Markson shot directly at Linex, but he unleashed his aura from his arms and the laser didn’t get to him.

  Linex absorbed the beam and the aura disappeared once more.

  Markson gaped at him in shock and asked how he could manage to pull that off.

  “I don’t know a lot about it, but it’s something strange about me” Linex replied.

  Markson knew that Linex was definitely not human. He got closer to Linex and checked his body for some clues about his aura but couldn’t find anything.

  “You're weird, but well I don’t care about that, and I will do whatever it takes to defend my family and my pretty experiments” Markson insisted taking the laser gun out again but this time, Joe got in the way.

  “No dad, please trust him at least, for once I have found someone I truly trust” Joe said blocking his aim at Linex.

  Markson was quite worried but accepted to let Linex stay in the house and see his laboratory. “Well if my son lets you stay and if he is saying the truth, then welcome to the D.Freink family!”

  Markson is a very intelligent and crazy scientist with loads of alien creatures in the laboratory and he immediately started a new project which would involve understanding Linex's power. Linex and Joe went to his laboratory and saw robotic suits and the aliens he caught.

  “Wow, those are some dangerous beasts” Linex commented excitedly.

  “Nope, they’re nothing but stupid creatures, right now the only creature that is very intelligent is all chained up” Markson replied.

  “So I can’t see it?” he asked with enthusiasm.

  “No, that damn monster is too dangerous to be unleashed” Markson stated dismissing the idea.

  “Uh, dad language… anyways, it took two hours to take it down” Joe added.

  Linex got goosebumps and quickly changed the conversation.

  “Very well, now we must check what was that you did earlier” Markson suggested, he beckoned on Linex to lie down on a bed. But Linex hesitated.

  “Heck no, I’m not going to get experimented on by you!” Linex protested.

  “Ahh, well then it doesn’t matter maybe I can see it soon and verify answers of it” Markson said sadly.

  “Yeah, way better dad” Joe agreed.

  They went out of the laboratory to see the news for a while and there was a news item on the undead monster. Markson saw Linex and Joe fighting it and got surprised then he saw a red aura going around the city, it was Aiden but since he was going really fast, one could only see a little of his aura.

  After the monster died, Markson said. “I’m really proud of you son and Linex I can’t believe you went out there and faced that beast I also want to check what that was”

  “For what I heard was that they are dead, that’s all” Linex informed him.

  “Dead people… this is getting good” Markson reasoned thoughtfully and proceeded back to his laboratory.

  “Hey Noob, let’s go out” Joe suggested.

  “Ok, where are we going?” Linex asked, wearing his shirt back.

  “To your house” Joe replied.

  “What if mom saw the news?” Linex looked quite nervous. Considering the note on which he had left his mom, he was quite nervous that he would be grounded.

  “Hey, it doesn’t matter, I’ll tell her we were just in the basketball court” Joe urged.

  “Fair enough” Linex muttered.

  They went to Linex house; his mom appeared really mad looking for him in the city. Linex and Joe were quite nervous.

  “Bad idea” Linex noted seeing the frown on his mother's face.

  “True” Joe agreed.

  “LINEX, get in here now!” his mother cried loudly at the top of her voice.

  Linex and Joe cringed back in fear and ran together while Jennica got out a bat and began to chase them.

  “WHERE DID SHE GET THAT?” Joe shouted.

  “Who knows?” Linex blurted out. "Just frigging run…!"

  “Linex come here or I’ll hit you with this Bat that I got out of nowhere!” his mother shouted after them.

  Meanwhile, Sensei Aiden had just finished buying some groceries in a mini store.

  “Thank you ma’am” he said grabbing his bag of groceries.

  “Are you old to have red hair?” the lady asked Aiden.

  “Excuse me? My hair is natural” Aiden replied laughing.

  “Oh I’m so sorry and your welcome sir” the shopkeeper was saying, but he hardly heard those words. He was trying to convince himself that he wasn't actually seeing Linex and his friend running down the block.

  “Why are they running?” he muttered rather confused. And then, he saw a woman chasing them with a bat.

  “Over here!” he called to the boys, waving at them.

  “Hey, it's Aiden” Linex said breathing hard, they dashed towards his direction.

  Hidden safely behind the garbage bags, Jennica couldn’t find them and continued to look for them, running into the next street.

  “She is a good mother then” Sensei Aiden commented smiling.

  “Umm… you know she can smell me, right?” Linex asked.

  “What…?” Both Aiden and Joe exclaimed but Jennica had turned around and was headed back towards their direction.

  Aiden grabbed the two boys from their shirts and disappeared in blaze of fire.

  “I thought I heard someone oh well, Linex!” Jennica screamed at the top of her voice.

  They went to Aiden’s house.

  “I thought your mother got tired of looking for you Linex” Sensei Aiden said after they had landed.

  “She never quits” Linex said abruptly.

  “Oh, that’s a good mentality then” Sensei Aiden noted. "However, that’s not a good way to treat your mother Linex"

  Linex felt bad about it “I know, it just she is very overprotective and well I want to learn new things and also since I found out about this power, the only way to understand and to control it is through training” Linex replied.

  “I understand my son”

  Joe wanted to know about the fire power Aiden had used during the battle. “Say you possess fire powers
right?”

  Aiden sat in his chair in the front yard and nodded slowly. "That’s correct”

  “And you’re not from this planet as well" Joe furthered.

  “Exactly”

  “So what do you see in the Noob? This entire aura he has… do you think he doesn’t belong here?”

  Aiden stood up and walked with them through the forest, “At first I thought his mother was not from the planet”.

  “So… I’m an alien then!!!” Linex declared.

  “What! No, I mean you could be, but I don’t know for sure” Sensei Aiden replied.

  “If his mother had fire power, she would have been following us all town without getting tired quickly” Joe said thoughtfully.

  “That’s correct” Aiden agreed.

  “Could be a miracle… I mean my father was gone two months after I was born” Linex said.

  Aiden had always had the notion that Linex could be different, but then he instructed them to go to the training field if they like, he thought that maybe Linex and Joe would be a good match. Linex and Joe proceeded to battle.

  They stared at each other waiting for the first move. Linex moved first and started to punch Joe who was dodging the attacks, then he blocked one attack and the sound of the punch was loud.

  “Are you ok?” Joe asked with concern.

  “Your open!!” Linex shouted hit Joe in the face, sending the latter flying away. Linex's aura beamed brightly around him.

  After the attack Joe hid in the forest “Come on out Joe, you know you’re not that weak” Linex urged looking around.

  Joe shot at Linex suddenly but Linex dodged it.

  “What was that for!!” Linex asked surprised.

  “Sorry, but that blast was from my arms, get ready Noob I’m going to beat you, you’re going to regret for what you done to my face” he ran towards Linex, with a look of determination on his face.

  Joe’s robotic legs were charging, and Joe was going at high speed having Linex at a disadvantage. Linex got punched and kicked a lot of times making him weaker.

  "Stop that!!” Linex then unleashed a blast of aura from his arms and legs; he then got up to the speed of Joe. Making the arena a speed battle, Linex was getting to him but Joe was still faster than him, and he kicked Linex in the stomach.

  “Got you” Linex grinned.

  “What?” Joe asked.

  Linex released a fire blast at Joe; he got badly injured by it. Linex was still at a disadvantage but they fought like equals, the trees were getting destroyed one by one and the ground shook a little due to the speed and heavy battle.

  “I’ll show you my hidden attack!” Joe shouted.

  “Go ahead, because I will too!” Linex braced himself for the attack; he also had an ace up his sleeve.

  Joe and Linex were charging their attacks after they got full charge, they unleashed one another's wave blasts.

  “I HAVE WON THIS!” Joe cried.

  “NO YOU HAVEN’T!” Linex replied.

  The beams collided.

  “No, Please… I won’t lose!!” Linex said unleashing a red aura making his wave attack red and more powerful. Aiden was very focused on Linex's power. Watching the boy; using his power to its fullest.

  Then Joe got nervous because Linex wave attacks were getting closer, but then he dodged the red wave, and an explosion occurred. Linex thought he had won but Joe ran fast and gave all he got into his punch but suddenly he stopped.

  “NO!” Linex exclaimed out of surprise.

  “I’ve won” Joe said smiling, looking down at his malfunctioning arm.

  Joe got away from Linex. He saw Joe's arm was malfunctioning “Joe your arm… are you alright?”

  “Don’t worry bro, it’s no big deal dad can fix it quickly… maybe it was because my arms used to much power” Joe replied

  “Alright if you say so but remember that next time I will win” Linex insisted and Joe only shrugged.

  "Great, you both had an interesting fight” Sensei Aiden complimented.

  “Yeah it was awesome!” Joe agreed with excitement.

  “I’ll beat him next time” Linex muttered being sassy.

  “Since Joe is here we can train together” Sensei Aiden suggested.

  “I’ll train by myself don’t worry I just want to beat Linex, he is still my rival for now… he has a big potential hidden and I won’t allow him be stronger than me” Joe replied.

  “Yeah sure, come with all you got later” Linex advised, winking at him.

  “Sure” Joe said.

  He soon left and went home with a smile and Linex stayed with Aiden to train some more, while Jennica still searched the city for him.

  CHAPTER 6

  MOTHER'S CHASE

  That same day, when the sun had gone down the horizon and the day was growing dark.

  Aiden had been training with Linex for over an hour; all in the bid to improve Linex's martial arts skill.

  “Ok, then I guess this is enough for today” Sensei Aiden said.

  “What? No, I want to keep training to become stronger” Linex disagreed, for him he could go on training throughout the night.

  “It’s already late, we should get some rest to train more tomorrow” the old man replied, heading back into the house.

  “I can’t I have school tomorrow” Linex pointed out.

  “Oh… well maybe you should come after school then” Sensei Aiden shrugged.

  “I’ll try” Linex muttered in disappointment, proceeding to wear his shirt.

  “Ok, take care and be careful it's late already” his Sensei advised looking up at the darkening sky.

  “Of course I will be careful, thanks for today’s training” Linex nodded in understanding.

  Linex left and headed out of the forest, he walked through the park, then his mother appeared crying.

  Her face was quite swollen and her eyes puffy with tears.

  “Mom…” Linex whispered moving close to her.

  Seeing him moving towards her, Jennica ran to him and embraced him tightly. “Don’t do that ever again… please… don’t leave me like that… like what your father did once…”

  “Wait… dad did what?” Linex said in wonder. He had never known about his father disappearing from her randomly.

  “Umm… I didn’t told you but after we got you, your father then vanish and never returned” his mother replied nodding her head and wiping at her tear-streaked face.

  Linex felt deep anger for what his father had done over the years of his life and resolved to make him pay for it. Quite a surprise; that he wasn't even dead, all those years.

  She took Linex back home. While she was cooking, she stared at Linex longingly, noticing that he was lost in deep thought. Jennica was worried because she knew Linex was thinking about his father, she got close to Linex and sat by his side.

  “Listen I’m so sorry honey, I know it was hard to find out about that; but let’s just forget about it, alright?” his mother said stroking his hair.

  “Mom how can I forget about it if he left us behind like if were trash to him?” Linex asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

  “I know, but please come to the kitchen dinner is about to be ready” his mother beckoned trying to sooth him.

  The kitchen was getting on fire.

  “AHH, the kitchen!” she exclaimed her eyes ready to pop out of her skull. She had totally forgotten that she ought to have turned down the gas.

  However, Linex went running to the kitchen, crossed his hands and concentrated unleashing his aura. The aura went out from his arms and he absorbed the fire in the kitchen.

  His mother looked on surprised.

  “Mom, I forgot to tell you I have fir…” Linex started seeing the look of shock on his mother's face.

  “Don’t do that again Linex!” his mother croaked, hugging him violently.

  “Why mom? Are you ok?”

>   “Umm… I’m fine… just don’t do that outside, things can get bad if someone spots you have that”.

  "Of course I know that mom”.

  Jennica had to prepare another meal to replace the burnt one and they had a nice time.

  His sleep that night was troubled. Thoughts of his father kept resurfacing over and over “Why would he leave? I just don’t understand…” Linex began to relax and went to sleep peacefully.

  By morning, his mother woke him up quite early.

  “Linex it's already time, get up and get to the bus” she said.

  “Alright…” Linex agreed standing up from his bed. He had groggy expression on his face.

  “Oh my God, you look exhausted” Jennica stated.

  “Really…?” Linex asked.

  “Yeah, but still you’re going to school, I don’t what you to get a bad grade” she insisted casting aside the blinds that obscured the window. The first rays of sunlight streaked in nearly blinding him.

  “Well that’s a bother” Linex yawned.

  She smacked him on the head.

  “What was that for mom!” he rubbed at his head, looking at her in despair.

  “How school is a bother? You should get more prepared for what’s coming in the classes!” she retorted.

  “Of course mom, I’ll make you proud you’ll see”

  “What have you drink young man?”

  “What do you mean? I’m fine” Linex asked confused.

  “Just hurry and get there in time you’ll be late”

  "Okay mom love you” Linex replied.

  He was soon out of the house within thirty minutes and headed towards Joe's. He found Joe in the front yard, seated at the front porch and playing with a yo-yo.

  “How’s it going Joe?” Linex asked cheerfully patting his friend on the back.

  “Great man, I’m good, what about you noob?” Joe replied smiling.

  “Not much” Linex grunted.

  They were soon walking down the pedestrian's lane towards the bus-stop.

  “I was in dad’s training room at 4:00a.m.” Joe said.

  “Really? what were you doing?” Linex arched up his eyebrow.

  “Well I was battling the robots that dad invented for the training sessions and it was cool, at least I feel like I’m more alerted in fights” Joe informed him, grinning mildly.