"Hi there." Maxus says casually. Wolf's eyes are wide but intense as she slowly lifts her head and meets his gaze. "I believe we might have met before, briefly." Maxus says.
"You." Wolf responds, instantly remembering him from their mission not long ago.
"You and I need to have a chat." Maxus says before instantly he's struck across the face and sent flying into a nearby building. Wolf pants heavily as she holds her fist out. Her eyes are wild and shake rapidly.
"This is your doing, isn't it?!" She shouts. Maxus starts laughing as he lays in the pile of rubble.
"I didn't think it'd make her this stupid." He says before Wolf charges him. She stomps down in front of him and raises both her fists up to slam upon him but he suddenly disappears as she does. She looks shocked before suddenly being grabbed by the back of her head.
Maxus then slams her face into a cement pillar before blitzing around and slamming her face into the side of a car. Wolf groans in pain for a moment before Maxus throws her into the sky with extreme force.
Wolf is shocked as she flips through the air. She tries to balance herself out but she's never been in any situation like this before.
"This is high! Fuck, this is high!" She shouts as Maxus flies up next to her. She looks at him with a growl before he flings one of his wings at her, smacking her out of the air and into a nearby tall building. She smashes through the wall and tumbles through the inside office space before slamming into a pillar inside the building. She does so with a yelp in pain as she coughs out a little blood. Maxus floats down and into the building as well, staring at her.
"We should really talk." Maxus says plainly. Wolf growls at him with a mix of pain and frustration on her face.
"Yeah..? Maybe you should just die!" Wolf shouts before lifting her hands and shooting purple lightning at him in savage bolts.
Maxus casually blocks the attack with one of his wings before Wolf eventually stops, wincing in pain. Maxus stares at her for a moment before speeding right at her, grabbing her neck tightly and slamming her hard into the pillar. Wolf yelps the best she can as he chokes her in his grasp, lifting her off the ground.
"You have no idea what's going on here. For all you know, I could be the hero trying to save the world. Instead, you fight blindly, not bothering to stop and ask any questions about why." Maxus says firmly. As he speaks, his words spark a thought in Wolf's mind. A memory of her mother.
"I know how you are. Try not to ask too many questions when you get there. Just… stay safe, yeah?" Her mother smiles at her warmly as it fades back to real time.
Despite being choked by Maxus, her eyes show no fear, in fact, they show more interest in her memory than what's actually occurring. Noticing this subtle shift in her attention, Maxus looks so subtly surprised as he tilts his head a bit.
"Maybe you are…" he says with a quiet breath before pulling her back and smashing her through the pillar then launching her out of the other side of the building, back into the air.
As this happens, on the ground, a car is thrown at some civilians but before they're killed, Phoenix jumps in the way and catches it. She struggles but succeeds in stopping it sliding across the ground.
"Run away! Get out of here!" She screams at the people who do just that. She looks up at the Torn jumping on the car and swiping at her. It slashes her cheek a bit as she jumps back, avoiding the attack. She lands with a sharp gaze before suddenly noticing something. She looks up and sees Wolf flying through the air. Her eyes widen with a horrified look.
"Wolf… Wolf!" She screams before her attention is refocused on the Torn in front of her, slamming into her. Wolf suddenly opens her eyes sharply as she stops flipping through the air. She looks around as she glows a soft color and floats upright in the air. She looks over to see Maxus floating her way with his hand extended.
"Book of Haze No. 5 - Float." He says before dropping his hand. Wolf looks at him with a cautious gaze as he floats a fair distance from her.
"You're the one doing all this…" Wolf says at Maxus stares at her for a moment before responding.
"Yes. I bet you're wondering why-" Maxus says before Wolf interrupts.
"I don't care why." Wolf says firmly. "You're hurting innocent people. There's no why that could justify that." Wolf says with determined eyes. Maxus stares at her before exhaling and looking down.
"You really don't have any idea what's going on here." Maxus speaks. "Heroes, villains, it's all sort of blending together, isn't it?" Maxus asks as he looks at her. "You came here with someone you don't know to do something you weren't told. Then this so called 'hero' kills an innocent man in cold blood." Maxus says when Wolf interjects.
"I don't know he was innocent." Wolf says, her gaze intense but not quite totally pulled away. She's listening to him.
"Does it matter?" Maxus asks. "You trusted this man and he killed someone, brutally, then left him there. Left his soul to rot in this decrepit place and for what? This?" Maxus asks, lifting the drive from behind out of his pocket. Wolf is surprised to see it as Maxus keeps talking. "A simple drive." Maxus says.
He looks at it for a moment before shifting his gaze to Wolf staring at it. Then he lifts it closer to her direction as if offering it.
"Take it." Maxus says. Wolf's eyes widen as she stares at him for a moment, not sure what to do, too stunned to even speak. When Wolf doesn't speak, Maxus shakes the drive a couple times, encouraging her.
"Go on. Take it." He says but Wolf still doesn't move. She looks confused and anxious and worried and frustrated all at once as Maxus just rolls his eyes with an audible exhale before he just tosses it to her. Wolf catches it, snapping out of her thoughts as she looks at it in her hands for a moment.
"Why?" Wolf asks softly before looking at Maxus. "Why are you doing this?" She asks. Maxus looks at her as he grins.
"Because I want you." Maxus says ominously. "All of you. To understand that not everything is exactly as it seems. The worst of us." Maxus says while lifting his hand to his chest. He pauses for only a moment as that ominous grin never leaves his face before he lifts his hand away and out. "Even the best of us." He says.
Maxus slowly moves his raised hand over out in front of him to Wolf. He holds his hand out towards her as if offering her to take it.
"Let me show you." Maxus says with a dark tone. Wolf stares at him for a moment, her eyes stuck on his hand then shifting down to the drive in her own hand. She looks as if contemplating his words, thinking about them as fast as she can before leaning back, away from him.
"No… No, you're the bad guy. You want to hurt people." Wolf says, justifying herself in her own mind. Maxus, still grinning, swipes his hand aside as he speaks.
"Forget about all them. Let's just talk about you." Maxus says as Wolf stays quiet. "What do you owe these people? If not animosity, then what about the years of discrimination for something you can't know? The persecution for the crime of simply existing." Maxus says as his words reach Wolf with little resistance. He looks at her deep in her purple eyes as he speaks.
"I know what you've gone through. Those years of side eyes and bullies, always being pushed away or pushed around for the one little thing that makes you different." Maxus says.
As his words ring out around Wolf, she looks down as her memories come rushing through her mind. His words triggering this flood of moments she's experienced growing up. From times of her childhood bullies mocking her for her eyes, random strangers being scared of her for the same reason. Even some more recently such as Marcus or even the mother she saved and her initial reaction to them. The words "purple eyed freak" echoing over and over in her head as Maxus continues.
"I don't think you're different." Maxus says, gaining her attention back. "Don't you want to know why? Why they won't tell you about your powers? Why they won't tell you about the very world you live in?" Maxus asks before pausing for a second and speaking with a darker tone. "Why they won't tell you what he is?" Maxus asks as Wolf slowly begins to lift her gaze to match his. They stare at each other as Maxus's look softens just a bit. "Don't you want to know why your eyes seem to matter so much to everyone else?" He asks gently.
Wolf hears his words and they strike true in her soul. The rush of emotions and memories and new thoughts and opportunities causes her soul to jump in her chest. Her eyes shake as her soul pulses rapidly, sporadically. She thinks about his words as she's given this chance to learn everything she's ever wondered about.
"I… I want… I…" Wolf stutters out as she thinks about his offer, lowering her head. Maxus raises his hand once again, slowly, as Wolf floats in the air in front of this stranger. "I…" she says one last time before a memory flashes in her mind.
A young Wolf, not much older than 8 or 9, sits alone with a bandage on her cheek and a sad look on her face. She looks ruffed up as she sits at this school desk quietly. Suddenly, a pair of hands land heavily on the desk in front of her. Young Wolf is startled by this as she looks up to see a little Phoenix stand before her.
"Woahhh, your eyes!" The little Phoenix says. Wolf looks away with an upset look.
"Yeah? What about them?.. I bet you think they're creepy too…" Wolf pouts.
"No way! I think they're really cute!" Phoenix says as Wolf looks back at her with a big blush on her cheeks and surprise on her face. "We're friends now!" Phoenix says with a cute smile as Wolf stares at her with shining eyes. The memory quickly fades as Phoenix's words echo in her mind.
"You could be a hero too!" Phoenix shouts as suddenly Axe appears before her. He turns around and looks at her with his purple eyes before smirking a bit.
"A great hero, despite what everyone else thinks!" Killian's words echo too as the memory fades away.
Wolf floats in the air before Maxus with this conflicting thought in her mind but that slowly starts to settle. Her racing heart and pulsing soul slowly calm down as Wolf takes in one big breath.
"I refuse." Wolf says firmly. She matches her gaze with his and despite the screaming conflicting feelings in her soul, her eyes fill with determination. "If I want answers, I'll get them myself. In the meantime I'll keep doing what I've always done." Wolf says as her lips curl into a cocky smirk. "And not give a shit what you or anyone else thinks." Wolf says boldly.
Maxus stares at her and for once, his grin disappears. He takes a breath in before cocking his head to the side and letting out a frustrated sigh. Suddenly, Maxus strikes Wolf across her face, sending smashing through the roof of a nearby building with a snap.
Wolf lays in the cratered floor of the building as the smoke clears around her. She struggles to breath as she bleeds from her mouth. She chokes for a moment before sharply breathing in, arching her back with wide eyes then coughing roughly, finally catching some air in her lungs.
Maxus floats down closer to her as she tries to steady her breathing, opening one eye at him. He stares at her for a moment before Wolf quickly raises her hands at him but before she can do anything, Maxus speeds at her and slams his hand against her neck, into the rubble. Wolf chokes as she tries to resist his grasp while Maxus leans in closer.
"Let me make this clear. You will give me what I want. I gave you a chance to die willingly, instead you'll die resisting me." Maxus says as he begins to lift her up before throwing her out of the building, slamming onto the roof of a van down below.
Wolf yelps in pain for a moment before her eyes widen when Maxus tries to stomp on her. She rolls off the van as he crushes it underneath if stomp. Wolf quickly ignites electricity around her hands but before she can fire it off, Maxus backhands her across the face before kicking her back. She crashes across the ground with great force before slamming into another car and flipping off of it, hitting the ground with a heavy thud. Wolf tries to prop herself up but she struggles to from the pain of the attacks. Maxus then grabs onto the back of her head, pulling her up by her hair. He turns her around to face him as he speaks.
"These people, your friends you want to protect so bad are nothing more than corpses waiting for their graves to be dug. And right here, under the rubble of this city, I will bury them." Maxus threatens as Wolf begins freaking out with intense eyes. She kicks at him but it doesn't do much as Maxus stares at her.
"This world is due for a reset. I think you feel it too." He says as his grin slowly comes back across his face. "You just need a little push." Maxus says as he begins to lift his hand towards her with the red electricity looking energy around his hand. Wolf stares with wide eyes before being shocked by the Frequency from Maxus. It quickly envelops her body as the Frequency attacks her soul directly. She screams in pain unlike anything heard before as Maxus continues.