Invasion

“We probably shouldn’t stay here any longer. They’re probably still looking for us,” says Takashi. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she replies. “Let’s go to that building there. Looks like a department store,” he suggests. “All right, let’s go.” Though not really wanting to, they pick themselves up and head straight towards the building. Just like he said, it’s a huge department store, six stories high. It’s dark inside, as the power’s out. Takashi puts the general’s theory to the test and tries to use their powers to light up the building. To both their surprise, it works. They both focus and the building starts to gain power. The sound of electricity whirring fills the building, lights begin to turn on, and the air conditioners cool the rooms. “Haha, it worked!” says Takashi happily. “Oh my God. You were right,” she responds. “Ahh, feel that cool breeze,” he remarks, “All right, let’s, um, look around.” “Yeah, sure. Let’s find a store. I want to change my clothes,” she told him. “Why?” “I don’t know. I just, I don’t like this jacket.” “No, I think you look cute in it.” “What?” “What? I said, I said, um, I said I think you look cool in it.” She brushes her hair back and smiles, “You think I look cute?” “No no no, I said you look cute in it. Not you look cute.” Smiling, “Ok, fine.” “It’s not like that,” Takashi says to defend himself. “I didn’t say it was like anything,” replies Olivia while smiling. “Whatever, let’s go.”

They start exploring. As like it is everywhere, there are a lot of people asleep. “Look at everyone,” he comments. “I know. Why did we wake up but they didn’t?” she asks, confused. “Well, seeing what we can do, I can safely say that it’s our powers,” he concludes, “oh, look.”

“What?”

“Food.”

“Really? Now?”

“What? I’m hungry now. You’re not?”

“Ok, maybe a little.”

“Then let’s go. And besides, I’m tired, and you probably are too. So, let’s sit down.” “All right.” They talk more about what they can do as they try to relax. He decides that they should practice their powers while they can, before the soldiers find them again. After eating, Takashi decides to go to the sports section to practice. They start by throwing a baseball and trying to catch it in mid-air. Olivia tries this first, with Takashi throwing the ball, but fails as the ball hits her face every time. “Owww,” she exclaims. “You have to focus,” he tells her. “I am focusing. Why don’t you try it if it’s so easy then?” “Okay.” They switch and it’s Olivia’s turn to throw the ball. To both their surprise, Takashi manages to catch it the first time. “Ha hahahaha,” he laughs in excitement. “Oh my God!!” she screams, surprised. “Are you seeing this?? Oh my God,” he still can’t believe what he’s doing. “Hahahaha. You did it!” He drops the ball and catches it with his hand.

“Ok, come on, you try it again. Now, just relax and imagine it stopping right in front of you. Just imagine it.” “Yeah, yeah. I got it,” she says all cocky. He throws the ball to her, but it hits her face again. “Owww.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry.”

“It’s alright. Just do it again.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, come on. I can do it.” “O-kay.” She focuses. He throws the ball again and it stops in front of her. She finally manages to catch it this time. “Hahahaha! I did it!” “You did it!” “Haha. Oh my God. Oh my God! I can’t believe this.” “Believe it! Haha.” They continue to practice, this time trying to move and levitate stationary objects. This seems to be simpler, as they successfully accomplished it more easily. They start to have fun playing with things around the store, moving them and levitating them. Eventually, they‘re able to move and lift heavier objects. “Haha. This is fun, and amazing,” remarks Takashi. “Yeah. It’s a bit hard at first, but it gets easier as you keep doing it,” Olivia adds. “Yeah, I think…I think it’s like a muscle, you know. The more we use it, the stronger we get. The more powerful we become. You know, kinda like when you’re first learning to ride a bike or playing a guitar. At first, it’s a bit hard. But, if you keep doing it, you’ll get use to it. It becomes like second nature.” “Cool.”

“Ok. Let’s try the other things that we can do,” Takashi suggests. “Like what?” she asks. “Well, let’s try the invulnerability thing.” “And how are we supposed to do that? Cause I’m not jumping off a building again, hahaha.” He laughs, “No no. We’re gonna do something else. Ummmm… Ok, let’s go there inside the restaurant.” “I can’t believe you’re still thinking about food.” “Noo. That’s where we’re going to test it.” They enter the establishment. “Ok, let’s sit down here.”

“O-kay.”

“Alright, give me your hand.”

“Why?”

“Cause I’m going to stab it with this fork.” “What?! Whoa whoa whoa. No way.” “Oh, come on, haha.” She laughs, a bit nervous, “Why don’t you put out your hand then, and I’ll stab it?” “Hey, you’re the one who survived a four-story fall,” he reminds her. “Well, yeah, but...” “Just put your hand on the table… Trust me,” he gives her a sincere look. “Fine! I don’t really trust you, but… Wait! Do a countdown, ok??” “Okay...” He then quickly stabs her hand without warning. “Ahhhhh!” “Holy shit,” says Takashi while looking at the bent fork in amazement. “What the hell!” she says, hitting him, “you were supposed to give me a countdown!” “Hahaha,” he laughs while showing the bent fork to her. “Holy shit.” She looks in amazement at her unscathed hand. “Remember I said that with telekinesis we can create energy shields or force fields.” “Yeah, so?” “Right. So, you just imagine that there’s a force field or barrier that covers your hand and/or body, and it’ll protect you and you won’t get hurt because of it. Your mind must’ve protected you automatically or you must’ve imagined it without realizing. Remember what I said about the self-defense thing?” “Yeah,” she laughs in excitement, with a hint of confusion, “this is weird. That also must’ve been how you survived your fall at the fire escape.” “Uhhh,” he tries to remember that incident, “yeah, I guess. Haha.” He suddenly becomes shocked. “What is it??” she asks, worried. He smiles, “Of course. How could I forget?” “What??” “With telekinesis, we can also levitate. Fly!” “You’re kidding?! Are you serious??” Olivia asks enthusiastically, “no way! You’re saying we can fly??” “Well, yeah, if I remember it correctly. Self-levitation or something like that. It’s basically the same as when you’re levitating an object, except, instead of an object, you levitate yourself.” “Awesome! Okay, then. Let’s try it out!” she says very enthusiastically. As they head out of the restaurant, Olivia notices that the clocks are stopped at 8 minutes after midnight. “12:08,” she speaks. “What?” “The clocks. They’re all stopped at 12:08.” “Yeah, you’re right.” “It must’ve been when whatever this is happened.” “Right. Duly noted.”

They head to a nice, open area near the railings, in front of one of the shops. “Alright, Liv, why don’t you go and try first.” “Don’t call me that,” she tells him. “Alright, ‘Olivia’.” She focuses, prepares herself, and then jumps, successfully holding herself in mid-air for a second, but then falls back down. He laughs, “Whoa. You alright?” She moans, “Ohhh, yeah, I’m fine. Just back up. I wanna try again.” “Ok. Uh, don’t jump. Try to imagine that you’re floating.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it,” she gets a little cocky again. “Okay,” she prepares herself again. This time, she soars forward for a bit, but gets flipped back and falls again. “Dammit!” she slams her fist against the reflective floor. Laughing, ”Did you even hear what I said?” “Shut up. Why don’t you try it then?” “Alright. Back up.” “Ok. Prepare to eat floor,” she teases him. “Ha ha.” He closes his eyes to concentrate. She chuckles, “Is that your levitating face?” “Shut up,” he smiles. It broke his concentration a little, but he got it back. To both their surprise, his feet starts to float off the ground. “No way! No way!! Bull-shit!” “Hahahaha! I’m doing it. I am doing it!” “Oh my God,” she laughs, “I hate you! How?! “Haha. Oh my God. OH MY GOD!” he says as he spins around in mid-air, excited. He starts to rise higher and higher. “Olivia, seriously, it’s much easier than it looks!” he screams down to her. “Yeah, thanks for rubbing it in!” “I meant like you can do it! Come on, try it again!” “Okay, okay!” “Just do what I did! Just stand still, relax, close your eyes, and concentrate. Imagine your feet floating off the ground, like the way mine did,” he continues to scream to her, he’s pretty high up now. “Alright.”

She closes her eyes and concentrates. Then, to her amazement, her feet start to float off. She opens her eyes in excitement. “Oh my God. I’m doing it.” “You’re doing it!” “Whoa--“ she says as she drops to the floor, again. “Shit! I can’t do it!” Takashi floats back down to help her. “Yes, you can. Just try again. Keep trying. Like I said, the more you use it, the more you get better at it, remember?” “Right,” she said in a sarcastic voice. “Hey, look at me. You can do it. Ok? I know you can. Just…try again.” Olivia looks at Takashi with an endearing look. “What?” he asks. “Nothing, it’s just... You really think that?” “Of course. You can do this. Now what do you say you try it again, huh?”

“Okay.”

“Alright, let’s go. Now, close your eyes and just relax. Don’t think about anything, that you have to clear your mind or any of that bullshit.” She smiles and chuckles, “Haha, right.” He smiles back, “Ju--just relax and imagine you’re floating. Imagine you’re flying,” he tries to express that with his arms, waving them open and the like. She takes a deep breath, “Ok.” “Now feel yourself floating. Feel the breeze.” She closes her eyes and concentrates. Eventually, she starts to float, higher and higher. She opens her eyes and to her surprise, she’s flying. “Hahaha. Oh my God. Oh my God.” “See? You’re doing it!” “I’m doing it. Haha. I’m doing it!” “Wait, wait! Don’t do anything! I’m coming up!” He floats up to her and they both hold hands, throwing them up in the air. “Yeah!! We did it!” she screams out. “See? I knew you could do it.” “Hahaha. Thank you.” “You’re very welcome.” They stare at each other for just a little bit too long. “Uhh, do you wanna dance?” he asks her. “Sure,” she agrees. They hold hands, he puts his other hand on her back and she on his shoulder, and they dance through the air, floating really. After that, they float back down, still holding hands. Reaching the floor, they continue to look into each other’s eyes before releasing. “Umm, right.” “Right.” They both were blushing a little. With a smiling, “That was nice,” she tells him. He looks at her, “Yeah,” smiling too, ”I mean, yeah. Umm, it was.” “Let’s, uhm, find a place to rest. We’ll start going in the morning,” he continues. “Yeah, ok,” she replies. They find a bed and bath store and sleep on one of the beds.