Chapter 33

Lio

What a wretched existence... Look at them. At this world of idiots smiling happily... Care free. Why dont I get to have that happiness?

I deserve it! I've given up everything in my life... I deserve to watch others live my world... I deserve to watch this horrid society crumble the way my life has been for years.

I sit on a couch at home, alone once more. My head just buried into my legs. Its silent for once...

I deserve to be happy. Even if it's for a moment.. Why cant I have that? Why cant I be normal.

I stood up in a frenzy, glaring at myself in the mirror, at the ever shifting color of my hair. Frost white. I've dyed my hair twice in the past two days since our investigation into Flare started. With an a few hours, this always happened... It turned into this color.

"Why me?," I whispered, leaning my head on the mirror.

"Lio!," A voice roared. I yelped turning away from the mirror and looking at the door, where a furious looking Magnus stood. He pointed at the thermostat.

"Care to explain why it's so cold in here?," He demanded, rubbing his arms. I turned with a frown.

"Its hot in here... What do you mean?," I asked. He raised a brow.

"Its negative four degrees in here... The windows are frosting over.. ," A wave of cool fore spill from his fingers onto the wall, spreading through the entire house and melting away the cold. He stopped after a second, walking up to me.

"What is going on with you?," He demanded. I made eye contact, struggling not to look away.

"Nothing," I lied. He grabbed my wrist, his eyes darkening exponentially.

"I thought we were past this," He growled. I yanked my hand away, watching frost crawl up my hand. I shoved it into my pocket, breaking a sweat.

"We are Magnus," I promised. His nostrils flared.

"You're lying to me..,"

"So what?,"

"I don't like it when you lie to me,"

I threw my hands up in the air in surrender.

"I dont think I like it either, but that doesnt stop you from lying to me Magnus.. What do you want from me? To cry on your shoulder again! To wallow in my own self pity... No," I glared down st my frosty hand, Flares face crossing my mind.

"The time for talking is over," I growled. I pushed past him.

"Lio please... Tell me the truth," He begged grabbing my shoulder.

I looked at him through my peripheral vision, cracking my knuckles.

"Are you ok-," I clenched my fists, closing my eyes.

Breathe...

"Yeah... I'm good," I lied. He reached up, brushing a finger through my hair.

"Your hair... Its changing color...," He whispered. I flinched, reaching up and touching my hair. I closed my eyes, breathing heavily.

"I'm fine.... Its nothing-," I whispered. He stepped back, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Promise me... Please promise we wont have to go through that year all over again.... I cant... ," He pleaded, grabbing my hand. I thought back to that day, holding his hand in a pile of rubble... The fear that took hold of me... I closed my eyes, reaching out to him. I hugged him, burying my face into his chest... Sometimes I forget... He has worries too...

"I promise... I love you," I whispered. My eyes burned as he hugged me back, laying his chin down on my shoulder.

"Awww how sweet," A voice growled. I turned, watching as the door exploded off its hinges, flying towards me and Magnus. Magnus turned, flames erupting from his palm and enveloping the door.

"Oh poor Magnus Branwell... ," Another voice grumbled. Two figures walked in through the flames... I recognize them.

Dynamite and Decay.... I grabbed Magnus's shoulder, pushing him behind me on instinct.

"We have a very specific kill list you see," Decay chittered, cracking his knuckles. A vein in his neck bulged, and from under the hood I could see a spill of dark hair.

"Lionel Hall... You are at the very top of it... Of course we have to take care of Magnus too... But you've pissed off Flare the most... So... Do you want to die slowly... Or quickly-," He growled. I reached up, audibly making my knuckles crack, my back freezing as tendrils of frost erupt around me.

"I'll give you to a count of three to exit my home," I warned. The world around me flashed with darkness, that voice whispering again.

You're weak...

You cant win without me...

"One!," I counted. I looked up, my right eye burning.

"TWO!," I continued, rage filling me. Almost instantly, for the first time, I opened my right eye, and everything had changed... I was looking through my tainted eye.

"Three!," The frost materialized, and twi spikes shot out in front of me, headed straight for them.

Decay reached out with ease, touching them with the tips of his fingers.. Suddenly, my ice started to crumble, crawling out towards me.

"Lio!," Magnus cried. He lunged in front if me, shattering my ice before the decay reached me. I stumbled backwards.

"Explosing Hell shit," Magnus roared. I tensed up. He isnt supposed to use that move anymore.

"Magnus don't!," I yelled, reaching out to him. He gave me a fierce look.

"THEY CAN ALL BURN IN HELL!," He screamed. The bullet ripped from his palm, marking the floor.

"What the-," Decay growled. The ground shook beneath us, and then the floor split open shrapnel peeling from the ground and slamming into the two attackers. Magnus cried out in pain, falling to the ground clenching his trembling arm. I reached forward, putting my arms around him.

Enough if all this pain... I'm tired of it... I dont want this anymore...

"Damn that hurt-," A voice snickered. From the rubble, Decay and Dynamite stood straight, brushing dust off of them.

"That cant be the same Magnus that decimated Flares arm and eye... Can it... You've gotten weaker... Did your fight with him ruin you just as much?," Dynamite chided with a smirk.

"Stay away!," I cried, clenching my arms around Magnus tighter. They're going to kill him.... Just like Flare killed Michelle...

"It doesnt have to end this way," Her voice echoed in my mind.

"What do you want from me!," I demanded, shaking furiously.

"Stop being such a damn baby and stand up for yourself... If you cannot adapt to the world, then it will devour you whole. Survival of the fittest....Kill or be killed... Do you want him to die!,"

"No I dont!,"

" Do you want to die!,"

"OF COURSE NOT!,"

"ARE YOU GONNA LET EVERYBODY ELSE YOU LOVE DIE FOR YOUR OWN COWARDICE?,"

"Never again!,"

"How are you gonna back that up!,"

"I wont let anyone hurt them... Ever again," A tear spills from my cheek.

"Who are you!,"

"I am Lionel Valdez!," I looked up, the voice disappearing from my thoughts.

"I wont let you...," I murmured. I stood up, avoiding eye contact.

"What will you do to save them,?"

"Whatever it takes!,"

I cracked my neck.

"I'll kill them all,"

Next thing I know, I'm being dragged somewhere by the shirt, rough hands yanking me away from the blaze that my apartment had become.

"God Lio.... What have you done," The person whispered. I looked at my hands as I stumbled along in confusion, especially my blood soaked hands.

"W-what?," I whispered.

Soon enough, all we could see of the blaze was the smoke in the distance.

"What the hell was that?," He demanded. I turned, seeing a beat up Magnus, his right arm almost black with burns, his shirt torn and tattered.

"Magnus what happened-," I asked, but he ignored me, raising a phone.

"Sarah, Eren, Ryan... Meet me at the Feds headquarters. I'm bringing Lio back with me. We have new intel on a few of our targets," He panted into the phone, his hand shaking.

"Magnus I-," I reached out to touch him, but he flinched, throwing out his burnt hand.

"I dont know what that was in there... But... What even are you?," He demanded breathlessly. I dropped my hand, feeling a ping in my chest.

"Magnus... What're you talking about?," I asked. He gave me a confused glance.

"You mean you dont remember?," He asked. I shook my head.

"Let's just say, you might as well have put those boys into a grave," He panted, kneeling down. I crouch, freezing his arm over.

"When it thaws you'll be good as new... Now please explain to me what happened," I pleaded. He buried his head into his knees.

"I... I've never seen something like that... That power... That anger... Lionel... You called yourself a Valdez," He stammered. I flinched, looking at my hand.

I let her in?

"I dont know-," Before I could finish, a strong fist smashed into my cheek, I rocking me sideways. I turned, looking up at the pissed off Ryan.

"What the hell did you do now huh!," He roared, yanking me up by the shirt and slamming me into the wall.

"I dont know-," I growled. He turned me around, slamming me face first into the bricks.

"Lionel Valdez... You are under arrest for two charges of attempted murder, Assault and batter, Unauthorized use of powers, and arson. Ypu have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law," He grumbled

"So stay shut the hell up," He muttered. I gaped, turning for Magnus, but his eyes were cast downwards.

"Aww... Lio... Look... It finally happened... They got too scared of us... They turned their back on us," She whispered in my head. I said nothing as I was shoved into the back of a cop car.

It's been three days and I'm still locked up in here. No visitors... Nobody to talk to.. Just me and my thoughts, on this disgusting concrete floor. The bars that separate me and the others are thick rods.

"What are you gonna do now.... You're officially all alone in this world...," She whispered, running her cold dead fingers along the bars.

"No I'm not... They'll get me out... He'll come get me out of here," I mumbled. She smirked, letting out a callous laugh.

"You saw your beloved... He was too scared to even stand up for you... All for what.. You defended him.. And he locked you up for it," She teased, walking over to me.

"As time passes, you will slowly come to the realization I've come to... They're scared of us... Of what we can do... So they're throwing you away... Letting you rot in a cell they dont even consider worth cleaning," She growled. She kneeled, touching my cheek. Slowly, a tear streaked my face.

"Oh sweetheart... Are you sad?? ," She asked. I nodded, biting my cheek.

"You really loved him... Didnt you," She sighed. She ran a hand through my hair.

"Just watch... They only care about themselves... They cant have a loose canon like us raining on their parade can they?," She murmured softly, her lip slipping on my ear.

"No they can't," I sobbed. She smirked.

"Finally... You're listening to reason... Remind me again... What is your name,"

I looked up, watching her fade as my right eye burns.

"My name is Lionel Valdez," I growled. Right before my eyes, her image started shifting... No... melting...

Her eyes changed color, turning bright silver.

"Finally... You have learned what it means to survive,"

In a flash, Flare stood in front of me, a man in a skeletal mask beside him. He reached down to me with blank eyes.

"My group isnt a group of Lackies who are out just to kill or hurt people... No... We want change in this messed up, twisted world. Eren and Sarah? They abandoned me to the scalpel of a mad scientist so they could save their skins... The rest of them... You'll learn eventually," He kneeled, offering me his hand.

"We have been enemies in the past, Lionel Valdez... But we both have been wronged by this system... This wretched excuse of a justice system, and twisted Ideals of loyalty... You more than anyone else I know... I can help you... We can help you," He gave me a warm smile, unlike any I'd ever seen from him.

"Join us... See the story from all angles... Then you can choose what is just... and what is not," He murmured... The voice in my head... Its been him.

I felt the tears slip from my eyes... They left me here to rot...

I reached up gulping down my pain.

"I'm tired of this world rejecting me because I'm different... I'm tired of being hurt," I whimpered. He smiled.

"With us... You'll never be hurt again,"

I grabbed his hand.

"Let's get out of here... Together,"