Book 1: "Cowardice"
Journal Entry 1
The truth is that I should have never been born.
Chapter 1: "Shadow in a Crowd"
"You're such a coward."
The soft words could only be heard by Max. After all, the voice only existed in his head. For the first few days, he had wondered if he was going insane when his old imaginary friend resurfaced and began antagonizing him. Max assumed that his mind had finally cracked, until the rampages started. He wasn't the only one being haunted by a character of his own creation. Plenty of people around the world complained of the same issue. Scientists and psychologists across the planet were studying the phenomenon, but no one had an explanation, especially for when the mental creatures forced their way into the physical realm.
"I can't believe it's happening again!" A girl screamed from across the train car.
"It's almost every day now," an old man muttered.
"You think they'll come any closer?" a teenage boy around Max's age asked. "I can't get good footage from here."
"I hope not," the boy's girlfriend clutched at the amateur cameraman's arm. "We're stuck in here."
"She's not completely right," a dark, towering figure materialized next to Max. "You can get out of here, but will you, coward?"
Max held his phone in his trembling palms. He stared down at the screen. Cold sweat rolled down the back of his neck as he gazed at the green button. Like everyone suffering from the recently named Meta Psychosis, an app appeared on his mobile right after his imaginary friend reappeared. Activating the system was linked with the rampages. Although, people didn't usually initiate the transformation on purpose. Strong bursts of emotion caused people to lose control, forcing the fusion against the victim's will.
All eyes in the silver train car were pointed away from Max. Every worn, gray seat on his side of the transport was abandoned. They were all focused on the event happening further into the city. A giant T-Rex with wide, robot arms was causing chaos in the streets. The monster's blue scales were painted with scarlet flames. Fire escaped between its sharp fangs. Bright crimson hair formed a Mohawk on the top of its skull. Laser beams escaped from its mechanical fingers, destroying sections of the roads and buildings.
A few months ago, Max wouldn't have been able to peel his eyes away from the spectacle. Now, such a sight had become a daily occurrence. He tried to remain hidden during the rampages, but the teenager always found himself pulling up the Realization app whenever there was a breakdown. Max never used the fusion software consciously. At the same time, his imaginary friend wasn't controlling him. His body simply moved on its own whenever people were in danger. During every frenzy, he found himself hovering a quaking thumb over the green activation button.
Max's breath caught in his throat. A dull, gray hoodie covered his skinny torso. The jacket was a few sizes too big for the boy's lanky frame. His grimacing features were hidden by the shadows of the hood covering his skull. Max used his free hand to clench at the khaki pants of his school uniform. Pain surged through his chest as his heart threatened to hammer its way out of his ribcage. He gritted his teeth with such intensity that the left side of his face ached from phantom injuries of the past.
For a brief moment, he held his finger over the button, preventing himself from initiating the transformation. Even with all eyes turned away from him, the other passengers would notice the surge of energy. Everyone would know his status as a Visionary. Once that cat was out of the bag, there would be no putting it back into place. He couldn't simply put his phone away either. People were in danger, and not just from the person on the rampage. Someone had to protect the bystanders from the heroes as well.
Based on the flashing white lights and swinging strings, the numbskulls were already on the scene. People were in danger. Children could be orphaned at any moment. Bright headlights flashed in his mind. The phantom pain intensified, creating an intense stabbing sensation in his left eye socket. He had to rush to the scene. There was no other choice. If he was detained as a potential threat, then he would accept the consequences. Right now, he couldn't turn away when he could prevent terrible tragedies from tearing families apart and ruining lives.
Thankfully, he was saved from having to sacrifice his privacy and future for the wellbeing of others. The light Visionary unleashed an attack so bright that everyone in the train was momentarily blinded. That was the opening Max needed. His thumb pressed down on the activation button for the Realization app. Max was overwhelmed by a wave of darkness. His powers were dampened by the intense illumination. No one noticed him disappearing into the shadows created by the brightness. Even after their sight returned, the other passengers would forget that he had ever been there. Max knew he wasn't memorable unless someone got a peek at his hideous face.
He moved in a blur, merged with the darkness beneath the train. The transport was flying down the rails elevated above the roads. When the vehicle passed between two buildings, Max rushed between the shadows, hiding in the blackness to avoid detection. Lights gleamed all around him. Neon signs covered the surrounding structures of brick and glass. Holographic images were projected into the air, advertising various products to the populace. While the city never slept and never had a moment without illumination, Max still had a lot of room to work with in his home. After all, bright flashes created long silhouettes.
The Visionary darted in the direction of the fighting. Everyone was fleeing from the danger, making his job easier. Some people were injured. They clutched at their bruises, broken bones, and bleeding cuts. If they were well enough to run on their own, Max left them be. His focus was locked on those who were unable to retreat under their own power. Every time he spotted someone on the ground, the Visionary rushed to their aid. They gasped in shock as wings covered in onyx feathers reached out from the darkness, latched onto them, and pulled them into the shadows. In his realm, he was able to regenerate parts of their wounds before throwing them back out onto the street far away from the conflict. Every one of the recovered citizens tumbled back into the light with dazed expressions spread across their faces.
Max also had to protect the civilians from the fallout of the conflict. The dinosaur and the heroes were trading energy blasts. Instead of blocking the incoming attacks, the vigilantes dodged the beams, allowing the bursts to ram into the buildings around them. Max groaned in exasperation at the sight. When the rubble fell towards screaming citizens, he had to reach out with his wings to knock the debris away. At first the people remained frozen in shock, but they eventually fled in terror when the gravelly voice of his imaginary friend demanded that they run.
Due to the damage caused by the combat, Max was forced to help people evacuate the buildings. Dozens of workers were pulled away from their collapsing floors and dragged into the shadows of their office. Like with the other victims, the Visionary deposited them away from the danger. Thankfully, the string hero helping the light wielder against the T-Rex was holding the rampaging beast in place. The destruction from the conflict was contained to a single city block. This allowed Max to focus on carrying all of the people in the immediate vicinity away from the danger.
Even after only a few minutes of his work, Max felt exhausted. His limbs ached. His insides burned. His mind pulsed with pain. Despite the strain, the Visionary refused to slow his pace. If he stopped, people would die. Some victims were trapped in bathrooms, elevators, or tunnels. They were only saved from being crushed, blown apart, or torn to pieces because he intervened in time. While shocked and confused, they cried out in gratitude when he safely deposited them on the ground far away from the frenzy. Once they were out of the hazard area, Max instantly forgot about them. Others needed his full focus.
Sometimes, he was too late to pull the victims to safety from the attacks being thrown around by the other Visionaries. The conflict had escalated as the rampaging monster lost more control over its human mind. Those experiencing Meta Psychosis continued to spiral with greater bursts of energy until they exited their transformed state. They could either lose consciousness from exerting too much power, unleashing a gigantic explosion, or outside fighters could defeat them. Max had never been involved in one of the fights but had seen the fallout of both types of conclusions.
Either outcome meant further destruction. The heroes had to fight harder to defeat their foe in time. Both the string and light Visionaries unleashed wide, devastating attacks onto the dinosaur. Their actions bore fruit, slowly cutting the T-Rex apart. It roared in agony as its legs collapsed. Trapped on its knees, the monster fired beams of energy from its crumbling robot hands and bursts of fire from its steaming maw. Like before, the vigilantes did not block the assault. They preferred to avoid damage. After all, the pain they felt while transformed remained for hours, even after the wounds were undone when they returned to their human forms.
Such knowledge didn't stop Max. When he wasn't fast enough to pull the people away from the attacks and the debris, he shielded them from the danger. His wings would erupt from the darkness, wrapping around the victims protectively. Each time a burst of energy, a slicing string, or a wave of fire hit his limbs, Max howled in pain. Every hit steadily destroyed his feathers, eating away at his reach. He couldn't regenerate his own wounds like he could help others. The best he could accomplish was shifting the injuries to other sections of his body. Deep burns, gashes, and gouges soon coated his torso. His vision spun from the pain, but he refused to stop.
As time passed, his chest and back reached their limits. Transferring any more damage to his midsection would knock him out of his transformation. Max couldn't afford to shift the injuries to his head, so he pushed the wounds to his arms and legs. He snarled in suffering as his limbs dissolved slightly each time he shielded someone. This allowed him to keep his main wings intact, even if the amount he could achieve was limited without being able to utilize all six appendages. Thankfully, most of the citizens were out of the danger zone by the time he sustained too much trauma.
Both of the heroes were almost finished with the battle as well. The dinosaur was in pieces. Both of his mechanical arms were destroyed. His body was covered in holes and cuts. Max could tell that the Realization app was about to collapse as the T-Rex's scales shifted into pulsing, white cubes. Regrettably, the two heroes were not content to let the monster die anticlimactically. While the string hero swung hundreds of strands, cutting the rest of the road apart, the light Visionary unleashed one more beam of energy, burning a hole as wide as a car into the rampaging beast's skull.
Max scoffed at the damage done to the surrounding property. The roads were covered by smoking craters. Street lamps were cut to pieces. Buildings were missing large chunks of their walls. Every window in the area was broken. Each car had been damaged beyond repair, but at least no one was killed or permanently maimed as the dinosaur vanished. With the Visionary defeated, the T-Rex shifted back into the form of a human. All of the white cubes reconstructed the mortal body as though the conflict never occurred. Although, Max knew from experience that the man would be in unbearable pain if he was conscious.
Both of the heroes turned their attention to each other. They always bickered on what to do with the residual energy left by a rampage. Visionaries had three options at the end of battle, delete the imaginary friend, absorb the powers, or leave the phone be. While the light user always destroyed his foes, the string manipulator preferred to gain more strength. Max didn't normally care about their arguments. He would leave the scene right after the fight concluded. Unfortunately, his work wasn't completed just yet.
Unlike the heroes, Max had noticed that the final energy beam didn't stop after defeating the man suffering from Meta Psychosis. The concentrated column of light continued flying through the air after destroying the dinosaur. His eyes widened when he spotted the blast heading right for the train he had previously boarded. He wouldn't be fast enough to pull the passengers to safety. Due to the damage he had taken, the darkness Visionary couldn't remain in the shadows, reaching out to shield the civilians. Max only had one choice. He had to reveal himself in order to save those in harm's way.
The Visionary soared out of the darkness, positioning himself between the attack and the vehicle. He held his arms out with his back turned to the beam. Both of the wings erupting from his shoulders swirl together to form a shield of feathers behind him. Max cried out in agony as the energy tore through his protection and his midsection. Raw light was his greatest weakness, but he refused to relent. Thankfully, the blast died down after a split second. His wings had been obliterated, and a gigantic, smoking hole had been punched through his torso. To his relief, not a sliver of the burst had continued past him. All of the passengers were safe.
For a moment, time froze. Everyone in the vehicle gaped at his broken form. Max knew he didn't look impressive anymore. The parts of his torso which weren't destroyed were covered in steaming cuts, burns, and puncture wounds. Most of his feathers had been burned away, leaving his arms and legs as weak sticks unable to support his weight. All of the dark hair flowing off the top of his head whipped wildly through the air.
The thin, black scales covering the lower half of his face were cracked. A grimace marred his features. His long, hooked nose mimicked a crow's beak. As always for his imaginary friend, his lips were sewn together with white strings. Both of his amber, slitted eyes trembled as he tried to remain conscious. Many of the onlookers were taking pictures and videos of him before the train rocketed past him. Without his wings, Max could no longer remain in the air. He plummeted back down into the shadows.
Right as he touched the darkness, Max merged with his element once more. He utilized his remaining energy to drag himself far away from the battlefield. His target was his school. Only when he had arrived at an alley near his destination did the teenager allow himself to exit the shadows. His transformation dropped in a swirl of black energy, leaving him sitting on the ground with his back pressed against one of the walls. Surrounded by garbage cans, Max remained unseen by the students heading to class.
During the fusion, his hood had dropped away from his head. The left side of his face remained disfigured. Permanent burn and scratch marks twisted his features. Long scars cut through his short, hazel hair. A dark eyepatch covered his left eye socket and trailed under his mangled ear. His remaining emerald eye threatened to roll back into his skull. Max opened his mouth to scream in agony, but as always, no noise left his lips. After all, he hadn't spoken for close to eight years.
Max needed several minutes to recompose himself. While the injuries had disappeared, the pain remained. He repeatedly patted his body to prove to himself that he wasn't dying. No matter how hard he tried, the teenager couldn't stop himself from shaking. His phone slipped from his numb fingers, bouncing across the dirty alley. If he had any tears left to shed, they would have rolled down his face. Max needed to use all of his willpower to prevent himself from fainting or vomiting.
"You did it. Nobody died," his imaginary friend appeared in front of him. As always, only Max could see the fictional character. Crow looked the exact same as when they merged. Without the damage from the battle, the shadow user was a towering, intimidating figure. His entire body was coated in muscles. Feathers hid his pale skin from view. Wide wings were tucked into his back. He crossed his powerful arms. Both of his legs ended with sharp talons. Crow was everything Max wanted to be and more.
Max nodded. He picked up his phone and slid the device into his pocket. Using the wall for support, he dragged himself off the ground. The Visionary almost collapsed from the pain, but he managed to remain on his trembling feet. Pulling his hood up, he steadily shuffled out of the alley. Crow didn't move as he approached, allowing the boy to pass through him and dismiss him in a wave of mist.
When he exited the alley, Max joined the wave of students walking towards the school. He would have wanted to rest more but was running out of time before the first bell. At least, he would be allowed to sit down for a few hours during class. Max kept his head down and did his best to walk a steady pace. No one noticed the intense pain surging through his body. Few even glanced his way. Those who did see him immediately dismissed him. Just like in the train, he was a shadow in the crowd, someone who wasn't worthy of notice, and as always, Max did nothing to change how the world viewed him.
He could sense Crow's disapproval. The imaginary friend only praised him when he helped others during a rampage. During every other moment of his life, the fictional being mocked his weakness, and the Visionary couldn't blame his own creation. After all, Crow couldn't think or feel anything that Max hadn't already internalized.
"You're such a coward."