RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block Axel Magus and the Heir of Nostradamus

It was December 23rd, the busiest shopping day of the year.

Even in the bustling tourist-filled capital of La Perdita (or perhaps I should say especially in the bustling tourist-filled capital of La Perdita) called Puerta Mibela, the spectre of crass commercialism reared its ugly head on what should have been a time for joy and spending time with friends and family, but which turned out to be one of the most stressful times of the year. Working mothers and grandmothers everywhere filled themselves with extra-strong coffee to stay up late in order to finish wrapping presents at the last moment while missing out on spending time with their kids and grandkids. Grandparents died of heart attacks and other ailments, while homeless people slept in dingy alley shacks a block away from a store filled with expensive toys which, if they were sold, could feed these homeless people for a full month or more.

It wasn't as if the so-called "Christmas Spirit" was completely absent from the streets of Puerta Mibela -- it was just that it wasn't as evident as it should have been. Advertisements and cheesy Christmas-themed movies and music drowned out the genuine love that should have been prevalent between the people. The situation was different in the other villages on the island, which were much poorer and less developed yet, strangely enough, all the more richer in love.

Axel wandered around his old haunts in downtown La Perdita, still in disguise with sunglasses and a hat. There weren't too many people who would recognize him, anyway -- he had changed since he was the youngest member of La Perdita's premiere super-hero team, the PSI-Unit. Axel looked up at the building with the star-shaped roof in which he and his team had been headquartered. Yet he did not attempt to go in. He couldn't remember why, but there was something dangerous about that place. A name flashed through his mind -- or, more properly, a title -- the Colonel. But who, or what, was the Colonel? Axel couldn't remember. The name filled him with fear, though.

After staying indoors at the Vanguard Complex for a long while, Axel had finally decided to look up some of his team's old government contacts and try to read their minds. He wanted eventually to make it known that he was still alive, but he knew he had to be cautious for some reason. Faint memories of his torture a year and a half earlier which had thankfully been mostly blocked from his memory told him to be very, very cautious about making his presence known until it was safe to do so.

Axel was somewhat surprised, however, to find that none of his old direct government contacts were still alive. The only man who was not part of the PSI-Unit Project who was still around was Lucius Maddox, the Minister of Defense. He had been the Parliament's official PSI-Unit liaison, though Axel never liked the man very much. He always seemed to carefully guard his mind when he was around him and the other psychics, even moreso than most people would. It was strange that anyone connected with the PSI-Unit was gone, and that the PSI-Unit building was still closed up and apparently deserted. Axel and the other PSI-Unit members had the codes for the building, but only Axel was still left. What if everyone had been locked out permanently?

The boy shivered and turned around to quickly walk back to the Complex, no longer feeling comfortable there on the streets, busy as they were with Christmas shoppers. He jumped as if startled as a hand grabbed him from behind, though.

{{Axel,}} a voice whispered in his mind.

Axel's heart was thumping furiously fast as he turned around and saw a tall man with long grey hair towering above him. His eyes bulged at first, but he squinted as he looked at the man who was silhouetted by the sun. The man seemed to be smiling. Not a cruel smile, but a kind one. And a familiar one.

{{Marc?}} Axel replied through telepathy.

{{Yes, it's me, Axel,}} Marc replied, still smiling. Marc had been one of two psychic trainers (along with Tanya) who had trained the PSI-Unit team in the beginning and had overseen them directly along with Dr. Hugo Brechert when they began protecting La Perdita. He and Tanya, though they were much older and were considered more like teachers or instructors, were the unofficial eighth and ninth members of the team.

{{But -- but you disappeared! You and Tanya disappeared when the others died! I thought you had died, as well!}}

{{We are still alive, Axel. We got off the island just in time.}}

{{What do you mean?}}

{{Something... something very bad has happened to your old headquarters, Axel. I can't tell you about it, but Vanguard International will have to confront it sooner or later. They killed everyone involved in the PSI-Unit Project, Axel -- everyone except Tanya and me. Just before we escaped the island we removed all memories of our existence from everyone on the island who had known of us, and we went back to our employer, our master -- the man who had sent me and Tanya to help with the PSI-Unit in the first place.}}

{{Who?}}

{{You will meet him soon enough, lad. I can tell you that you were not the only survivor of the team, however. Kevin and Brianna, as well as Dr. Brechert, escaped the island themselves at the same time.}}

{{They did? Where are they?}} Axel's heart lifted up in joy at the thought that he was not alone any longer.

{{Unfortunately, Axel, they've disappeared. Neither Tanya or I can find them anywhere on Earth. I'm sorry.}}

Axel's face, which had lit up with hope, now became downcast again at the thought. He really was the last member of the PSI-Unit to survive. He had never wanted it to be this way.

{{Well,}} Axel said, {{at least you and Tanya are still alive.}}

{{That we are. And you will see both of us once in a while, Axel, but La Perdita is your home. You've found a good father-figure in Dr. Quantos.}}

{{Yes.}}

{{Let him take care of you.}}

{{And friends? All of my friends have died. Well, all except one or two I've made since I came back here.}}

{{You'll make friends with others, Axel. Give it time. Even Vanguard will embrace you as one of their own in time.}}

{{No. No, I don't think so, Marc. I don't want to be a hero any more. It's... it's just... I can't do it. I've seen too much death -- too much pain, it's... I can't.}}

{{Don't worry about it now, Axel. When the time comes, you will know what to do.}} Marc smiled at Axel and flapped his baseball cap down over his eyes as a playful gesture. {{You'll do just fine, lad. If I've taught you anything, it's how to survive. Don't try to go it alone, though, Axel. We all need others in order to live a full life. Independence is a fine quality, but it is not the best quality a person can have. You will soon learn how to depend on people the way you and your friends depended on each other in the past. You will learn to trust again. And now I must go.}}

{{No, don't go, Marc. Come back to the Dawson Apartments with me! I'll introduce you to Dr. Quantos.}}

{{It's best that I don't meet anyone here, Axel. I will see you tonight, though, after your birthday party. Speaking of which--}} Marc pulled out a wrapped gift-box from his long coat and placed it in Axel's hands. {{--happy 12th birthday, lad! According to some cultures, you are now a man. Or, at least, you will be very soon. I will come calling tonight. Farewell.}}

The gray-haired man named Marc suddenly disappeared from sight, teleported away to places unknown.

And Axel found himself holding his first birthday present in two years, alone again in the crowded city streets.

Axel's 12th birthday party on this day, December 23rd, was a small one. He was, after all, hardly known to any of the Vanguardians, so those who showed up briefly enough did so out of their respect for Dr. Henry Quantos, who had become the boy's unofficial guardian ever since he showed up. And Axel himself found it difficult to relate to such different individuals all at once, so he wasn't bothered by the fact that the Vanguardians who showed up for his birthday party did so only briefly before going on with their own personal lives. He was pleased by an unexpected gift, however:

"Hey, Axel," said Tayden, carrying a box with wrapping-paper and a ribbon around it in his arms, Drake Marshall standing next to him, "the team pitched in and picked this up for you."

"Wow," the boy replied, genuinely surprised by the notion. "Thank-you! Thanks everyone! What is it?"

"Just open it up," Drake said, a few other Vanguardians stepping over to watch.

Axel quickly tore the wrapping paper open and found a short box with a lid and holes on each end to carry it. He pulled the lid off and found that the box was full of comics. The 12-year-old picked out one comic at random and said, "COOL! Disco Steve Adventures!" He quickly flipped through several issues and said, "Holy cow -- the whole series is here!"

"Heh, yeah," said Drake, "Doc told us you were a fan of the show, so we figured we'd track down the comic based on the series for you at the local comic-shop."

"There's even a Dynamiteens mini-series in there, featuring Disco Steve, Trivia Lad, and... uh..."

"Timmy Trust, the Time-Boy!" Axel finished. "Wow! Thanks! There's even a LocoMotor Golden Age Special and even one featuring Giovacchino the Super-Cat, too -- cool!"

"Don't mention it," said Drake. "Well, I hope you had a happy birthday, Ax. See you later, pal."

"OK, bye."

Dr. Henry Quantos walked up to Axel and whispered, "That was nice of the guys, wasn't it, Axel?"

"Yeah," the boy replied. "I guess I misjudged some of them a bit."

"Now open up my present, Doll-Boy," said a pretty 12-year-old African-American girl who stepped up next to him and was an inch or so taller than him.

"H-hi, Denyce," Axel said, blushing. He took the present she gave to him and opened it up. "Hey, it's a couple of Walkie-Talkies -- cool!"

"Yeah, just give one to me, and we can talk whenever we want," Denyce said. "Latisha got something for you, too. Here." She gave him a small box, which he unwrapped. He looked at the blob of dried clay, not sure what it was he was looking at. Denyce whispered in Axel's ear, "She made it herself in school -- it's supposed to look like your dog."

"Oh. Ohhhh... it -- it looks just like Mandy!" Axel said loudly, looking at the 8-year-old Latisha Piper, who was standing just behind her dad, Kit Piper, and smiling shyly. The boy walked over to them and said, "Thanks, Latisha. I really like it."

Latisha looked at him once then looked down at the floor, still smiling but remaining silent as always. It was almost a year ago that she had seen her mother die right before her eyes, and she hadn't spoken a word since.

"Thanks to you, too, Mr. Piper," Axel said.

"Hey, kid, call me Kit," the man said. As Axel walked back over to Denyce, Kit leaned over to Priest and said, "Now there's something I'm not too sure I like."

"What?" Priest asked him. "Because she's too young to date?"

"Well, yeah, but it's also the other thing..."

Priest didn't understand.

"The boy! He's a bit... y'know..."

"Short?" Priest said, still looking confused.

"He's white!"

Priest laughed. "Oh, that. Y'know, I hadn't really noticed. It's not much of an issue where I come from."

"Hey, it's not an issue with me, either," Kit said defensively, "except when it comes to my little girls, y'know? I don't really want any blue-eyed, blonde grandchildren runnin' around when I'm an old man."

Priest just laughed again and took another sip of fruit punch.

Denyce was still talking with Axel. "Hey, aren't you gonna open up that other gift over there?"

It was the present that Marc had given him. "Uh... no, I'm saving that one till later."

"Okay, whatever."

"It's getting a bit late, baby," Kit said to his oldest daughter as he tapped his watch. "We gotta get you back home. It's a busy couple of days ahead if we're gonna be able to reach your grandma's place in time for Christmas. The flight's early tomorrow morning."

Denyce sighed loudly and said, "Fine! I guess I gotta go, Doll-Boy. Take care, huh? Have a great Christmas."

"You too," Axel replied as he watched the Piper family leave.

"Dad, why can't we just live here?" Denyce could be overheard as they left the room. "Like Axel does?"

Kit Piper laughed and said, "No chance o' that, baby... no chance o' that..."

"I guess the party's over now, huh?" Axel said, looking at Dr. Quantos.

"Well, almost, but not quite..." Dr. Quantos said with a wink.

Axel began, "What do you m--?"

"HO-HO-HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" a booming voice shouted from the corridor beyond the door.

"HA-HA-HA! IT IS BEING A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, DA?" another voice sounded, equally as loud.

"What th--?!"

Suddenly, the double doors to the lounge flung open, and in stepped two large, beefy men in Santa Claus suits. One had a golden beard that appeared to be real, and the other had purple skin and an obviously fake beard.

"We two kings of La Perdita are..." the first Santa sang in a stiff, formal manner.

"...being bringing gifts we be traveling far!" the other Santa added in a thick Russian-like accent.

The first Santa shook his head and said, "It's 'bearing gifts we traverse afar,' you dunderhead."

"Who is being calling a dunderhead, comrade?" the second Santa said. "It is YOU who are being the dunderhead."

"I don't know whose idea it was to pair me up with an immigrant who cannot speak the English language, but it speaks volumes of the ineptitude of this organization."

"Mason?" Axel said, recognizing the first Santa Claus.

"Aye, lad," the first Santa said, his irritation quickly washing away as he saw the 12-year-old boy. "I wouldn't miss your 12th birthday for all the riches in the world!"

"Awesome! Now my birthday really is complete," the boy said, taking a gift that Mason Templar handed to him. Axel looked up at the man with obvious hero worship in his eyes. Templar, an adventurer and expert on ancient artifacts, had come across a cult several weeks ago and rescued Axel from their clutches after he discovered the boy's existence. Axel had been kept a prisoner by the cult for more than a year by that time and was eternally grateful to the man he considered his hero. Mason Templar, however, was not a father-figure like Dr. Quantos was for Axel. Templar had kept a professional distance from the boy, preferring to hire others, such as Mrs. Guadalupe, to take care of Axel.

"I'm glad to see you've been reunited with the Dr. Quantos you spoke of earlier," Mason said, stepping up to the Canadian doctor and shaking his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Doctor."

"And I you," replied Henry Quantos. "Thank you for all you've done for Axel. He owes you his life."

"Oh, that!" Mason laughed loudly. "It was nothing I couldn't handle with the sharp end of my sword! Deuced strange that I've never been able to track those cultists down ever since, though."

Drake Marshall stepped back into the room for a moment, saying, "Sorry to interrupt, but I forgot my jack--" He looked surprised as he looked at the first Santa. "You! What are YOU doing here?" He and Tayden had met Mason Templar several weeks ago when the adventurer had hired a group of Vanguardians left behind in La Perdita while the rest of the team had been at E.P.S. Headquarters in Chicago. Templar had shown himself to be arrogant, rude, and utterly lacking in respect for others, but he had paid the team well.

"Why, if it isn't the fluffy white dragon himself -- Drake Marshall," Templar laughed loudly.

"Well, technically, I'm not the dragon -- that's Drax -- but, well... what are you doing here, anyway?"

"First and foremost, young man, I'm here to attend the celebration of my young protege's 12th birthday," Mason Templar said, winking at Axel. He then addressed the group that was still in the room (all of whom had stopped talking amongst themselves and were watching and listening to this loud man whether they wanted to or not) and said in a loud (as usual) voice, "Secondly, I've come to become one of you! Ha-ha! I've come to join Vanguard International!"

"Oh, that's just great," Drax mumbled inside Drake Marshall's mind. "Just when things were starting to get peaceful around here, we have to sign up another 'Jerk Bell'..."