The Awakening

The palms tree gently swayed in the sea breeze while the hypnotic blue waves blanketed Shyanne’s legs. The soft golden sand crumbled under the weight of her shifting body. She turned over to be greeted by the 10 o’clock morning sun. She inhaled a big breath and sat up in the sand. Her head was still spinning but remarkably there was not a scratch on her, even though she was surrounded by wreckage. She glanced down the beach and saw several other bodies stirring awake from the aftermath of the crash. There were twelve passengers, co-pilot, and a pilot. But she only counted seven people on the shoreline. She looked for her friends and she only counted two out three of them. Her confused state turned to panic as she realized that her best friend was not accounted for. She stood up and begin calling out for her friend who answered her from the treetop. Free was up in the tree look for any sign of their private getaway. She yelled down to Shyanne that everyone was accounted for. “Some wanted to go off into the woods to look for food and the other are sleeping it off”. Shyanne just stared at her and said, “How do you know that they are alive?” Free responded “I checked for a pulse, I’m sure they are okay. Just trying to process the situation.”

This is not what she pictured when she agreed to Free’s getaway. Free always loves a good time so when she won this mysterious contest (which she did not enter, which she also did not tell her friends) she took it. Shyanne rolled her eyes at the thought of not verifying and just trusting her friend. But the radio was legit, and she did listen to them religiously, so she was simply happy for her bestie. And any excuse to go on vacation was always appreciated so she gladly accepted her invite. Free also dragged along Lea and Santana. Lea was a bit more investigatory about the situation, on the other hand Santana was completely in no questions asked. He just got a new promotion and was excited to celebrate with his close friends. So, the boat over to this private island held seven more people in addition to Shyanne and her friends. One girl looked to be inspecting the tender boat, taking pictures of everything she saw. Another well-dressed man casually scrolled up to her, obviously trying to smooth his way into her fitted pants. She glared at him and made her way over to the other side of the boat. Lea laughed to herself while Shyanne pinched Free. A couple made their way onto the boat in the middle of heavy PDA. Another man walked on the boat with a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder and made his way to an empty sit next to Shyanne. Shyanne quickly moved her bag to her lap so he could sit. Her friends leaned forward to give him the once over and smiled with approval. Another lady and three more gentlemen boarded the tender boat, and they were off to a vacation that would change their lives forever.

Once at the resort, the guests were informed of the amenities and excursions planned for them. They all went to their rooms to do a variety of things. In each room was an itinerary, highlighted was a night tour of the island. Shyanne and her new boat bae named Chase were chatting it up when Santana came bopping up. He could tell she was enjoying the conversation, but he went to the other side of the room where he could watch from a safe enough distance. This is so she could talk to him in peace but if she needed him to rescue her, he could. Lea and Free came in laughing, talking to their new friends Yuma and Suki. They all looked over at Shyanne and made faces at her making her giggle more than she already was. Chase cut his eyes over to her friends and laughed. He said “Wow, you got a fan club huh?” as he brushes her hair over shoulder. Shyanne smiled and said, “Is that a problem?” He replied “No not at all, I’m trying to get in the club. Maybe I can be the president??” as he stands over her smiling. His dog tags sit in the middle of his chest which is eye level for Shyanne. The couple comes in and the guy named James gestures a thumbs up to Chase. His girlfriend named Desiree put her hand on his side and said” James, don’t embarrass them!” James put his hand on her back and said “Aww babe I know” kissing her on the neck. The guide called for them to make their way to the car to be transported to their night flight.

Now Shyanne was remembering what happened to her and the others. Her hands that were on her temples began to sweat. The thoughts that were flooding her mind were nothing short of insane. People were laughing and talking one minute and the next the plane began to stall in midair. Panic filled the cabin, and everything was happening so quickly. She did remember the pilot and copilot screaming about staying calm. Santana’s eyes were the first to start glowing, next everyone in the cabin’s eyes began to glow. It was as if a switch was turned on. As they were on their sharp descent, Levi got sick. Shyanne touched his shoulder and he instantly got calm. Next thing she remembered was falling into the cold ocean. She was brought of her trance by blood curdling screams. Everyone looked toward the trees panicked. Free was still in the trees and her face was in shock as she saw what was barreling toward the beach: a rhino-like creature. Avery was the first to emerge from the tree line followed by Chase, Levi, and Yuma. “Ruuuunnnnnnn!!”

Shyanne stood in absolute shock at the events unfolding. She had to rub her eyes to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing: It was her fellow plane passenger Suki, in a form that she could not comprehend. Suki was gray and had a rhino horn protruding from her forehead. She was muscular and her eyes were black as onyx stones. Everyone was jolted by her appearance; Desiree screamed a loud pitched howl that seemed to break and bend anything in her way then with a swift jolt Suki gorged Shyanne with her horn. She slung her seemingly lifeless body into the bushes. Lea ran toward her friend but Free beat her to Shyanne. Lea was sad and stunned: her dearest friend seemed dead, and her other friend made it to her from several yards away in 0.2 seconds. The rush of wind and sand that trailed Free was evidence that her speedster powers had awakened. In the middle of all this chaos, all their powers had awakened, and the beach soon became a battlefield for new superhumans. James touch Desiree and teleported them down the beach while Chase created a wall of sand between the rest of the survivors and Suki. Free started crying as Santana flew over frantic. Lea’s eyes glowed a warm golden sun color then she went over Chase’s wall like an Olympic track star standing mere feet from Suki. Lea was filled with emotion; she had not felt this hopeless since she sat in the funeral home glaring at her mom’s casket. As Lea waved her hand in an upward motion, Suki levitated nine feet in the air. Suki thrashed around wildly screaming and crying as if she was an injured animal. And as Lea arranged her hands to strangle Suki in midair, the softest echo entered Lea’s mind. “Please do not hurt me, I didn’t mean to! Oh God why is this happening?! Help me!” Lea started crying, then she and Suki locked eyes. Lea was able to subdue Suki back into her human form. Chase ran over to Shyanne to administer CPR, but he saw no wound. Yes, her shirt was torn to shreds, bloodstained the ground around her, and she was covered in sandy dirt but no wounds. She sat up in a daze and softly said “M’kay, what did I miss?” Her friends hugged her tightly while Chase stood next to Avery to discuss their current situation. Chase’s military training was coming in very handy at the current moment. Avery, a professional gambler, always kept a cool head in the face of chaos. Yuma came over to Suki and rubbed her back as she sobbed softly. Shyanne went over to her and touched her arm smiling at her. A wave of calm washed over Suki as Yuma’s beautifully tattooed hand rested at the center of Suki’s back. Levi was hysterical shouting out of breath expletives. Santana’s head wiped around sharply and he told Levi “What you’re not going to do is curse at me about a situation none of us have control over at the moment!” Levi shouted back at Santana, eyes glowing green “Blow me Santana…” Santana got up and walked over to Levi in a trance and started blowing on him. Everyone was confused, it was not until Levi told him to stop did, they fully understand Levi’s persuasion power. “Why am I standing next him? Were we about to fight? I’m so confused.” James and Desiree teleported back from the other side of the beach and said excitedly that they saw a helicopter and boats. Everyone made their way to the other side beach except Chase, he was just looking curiously. Chase said, “Where are the pilots? How did they locate us so quickly?” Free was the first to reach the other side of the beach followed by the others. Shyanne keeping pace with Chase asked, “I have a gap in my memory, how did we go from falling to this beach?” Chase stopped, looked at her with a relieved look and said “You shielded all of us from the worst of the crash. Avery touched the plane, it disintegrated, and I broke the water’s surface so we wouldn’t die from the impact.” The Black Hawks that hung in the air and the Amphibious Warship were clear signs that these powers awakening was not an accident. Marines in full gear stormed the beach as the survivors looked in awe. The pilot said “Oh thank goodness you are here…” he was halted by a tranquilizer to the chest while the copilot was shot in the neck. Everyone was horrified that this was not a rescue, but a potential hostage situation. They readied themselves for a fight when a general came onto the beach waving a white flag. He was followed by a woman in lab coat and another heavily armed man who instructed the soldiers to stand down. The soldiers carried the pilot into the ship while the general slowly walked toward them. Chase knew his face and instantly became relaxed because he knew the general’s track record. He was also familiar with his wingman; he was a good soldier, but he would not mind doing something horrible in the name of the greater good. He also remembered the woman in the lab coat. The general raised his hands and asked them “I hate beaches mind if we discuss things on the boat?” Chase stepped forward and said, “We’ll talk here thank you sir.” The general put his hands in his pockets and said “I know you’ve been through a lot and I’m not going to sugar coat it; you’ll probably go through more. But the world is in trouble and you are very much needed. We need to train you for what is about to happen. This will not work unless you all come. Give me 10 minutes of your time and if you still want to go you can”. And this began the most epic adventure to save the world.