After Midnight: The Series

The characters and events portrayed in this story are completely fictional. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. That is, if you believe in coincidences.


Written by Kenichi F.

Prologue

It was a dark and stormy night. Really, it was. Dark. And stormy. Well, you couldn’t really describe it as stormy, but nonetheless, it was a dark and stormy night.


It must have been about 8 PM because as I said, it was a dark and stormy night. 

But really- it did seem as if the weather itself had conspired to go along with our dear friend, or hopefully dear friend, Axel Russo. 


Now, you see, Axel is a spy. Why is he a spy and who is he working for? Well, I’ll get to that! But right now I have to tell you what’s going on. He was sent here to investigate the not-very-recent “terrorism” occurring in Futucivias, Magenta’s capital. (But they’re nicknamed “The City of the Future” and “Magenta”. Also, fun fact: Futucivas means “future city” and Magenta means “great country”. But it’s called “Magenta” anyway.) 


One of Magenta’s bridges was bombed, leaving everyone thinking it was Donasci, Magenta’s rival for thousands of years. However, a society created in Donasci called Yeticos, well associated with Donasci’s military group, claimed to know nothing about the bombing. This must have meant Magenta bombed themselves, and it was not an attack from anyone else. 


Donasci became angry about this, and people from all over the world began accusing Donasci of everything bad somebody did; for example, when a man from another country murdered somebody, who did everyone think it was? Donasci. 


At first, they were fine with this, what could a little bad reputation around the world do? 


But it’s the whole world. 


THE WHOLE WORLD. 


In just a swift two months, Donasci became the culprit of everything, and it was a scheme so perfectly thought through by Magenta, framing their rival on everything. And you know this wasn’t going to end. And neither did Donasci. They couldn’t take it anymore! Being unpopular is expensive, you know. Terrorism against you… Fewer people in your cities… It’s just too much to handle all at once.


So they did what any rational country would do. 


They claimed war against Magenta. 

Chapter one: 

First things first

Now, enough with the backstories and prologues! It's finally time for me to explain who Axel is. 


Axel was born in Donasci. (Fun fact: Donasci means “Dominating country”) A small town in Donasci, but big things are made from small things, you know. 


Axel has no parents. He lost them when he was 9. By the time he was 20, he had already been 

picked up by the Dominacsan military, given the rank of Lieutenant, and mastered 6 martial arts and the art of silence.  But at this point, Donasci had been losing soldiers, dying every day in a terrible war. So they sent Axel to investigate the bridge bombing 10 years ago. 


So here Axel is, in the square (Which wasn’t a square, it was a circle) of the future city, (Or, if you prefer, Futucivias), the hovering cars hovering, the tall buildings tall, and the people… just being people. 


In fact, there were so many people- every foot or two or so there was a person or two.

People. Huh. You know, people. Everyone’s got somewhere to go, something to do, and somebody (or possibly nobody) to meet. 


Everybody has some sort of mission- like getting to work for a night shift, going home from school (but that's unlikely), and maybe going to a party (lucky them). As I said, everybody has some sort of mission- and Axel Russo’s mission was probably the most important out of all of them.


Axel’s got a few accessories- now, hopefully, this won’t be inappropriate to any of my fellow readers, but Axel has, in his magnetically powered backpack:


Axel could feel the exploding pens shaking around in the inside pocket of his brown trench coat, and the anxiousness rising from him. His general, the one giving him this mission had told him to “Gain recognition from a Magentan civilian”. What did that mean? 


Axel may have been:


But he is not:


Axel stumbled, walking in a circle. Every few steps or so, he bumped into a person or two, losing his train of thought.  Until finally, he had an idea: He could call the general from his communicator! Just ask him! It was a perfect plan-


Wait. That would be a waste of the general’s time. Wouldn’t it?


Yes, it would be a complete waste of the general’s time. He needed to keep his good reputation. 


Okay, so recognition. Recognition… that means to… gain someone’s trust, doesn’t it? So, that meant that the mission to investigate the bombing was paused. For now, anyway. Now, the mission is to gain someone’s trust. And the perfect way to gain someone’s trust is to… become friends. 


“Ok,” Axel thought. “I can make this work.”


But why? Isn’t the first rule of being a spy to not form any sort of relationship with anybody- or even let anybody know you exist-this was a complete violation? He had trained for 11 years and for this? No. It couldn’t be. It…


Then he came to his senses, realizing he was a spy. He had to take this. He had to accept this challenge, no matter how difficult it is, even if it would cost his life! He is fighting for the Donascian army! He MUST-


A person accidentally bumped his shoulder on Axel’s. 


It was perfectly normal. It happens all the time. But this person was no ordinary person. He looked about 40, but could also have been 50, or even 60 because of all the wrinkles on his face. He was wearing a brown coat and jeans with what looked like red paint on the bottom of his pants, stumbling around dizzily, like he had just taken a roller coaster ride 20 times in a row. His cheeks were bright red, like a radish got a fever and swam in red paint. It even looked as if he couldn’t control his face or his body, and in a way, he looked… dangerous. Now, Axel knows quite a bit about the world. The General is the one who let him enter the army in the first place. He was like a father to him, a father that always has his mind on something, a father that always protected Axel and cared for him, aside from training him. He would train him (Or send people to train him) all the time, ensuring that he would grow up to be the best soldier he could be. Nonetheless, it worked- he now knows every way to knock someone out in an instant- but he wouldn’t want to. 


You see, Axel only wanted a family. He only wanted friends. He only wanted- a normal life! A life not living in an army center with a couple of thousand troops, but in a house with a family. A life not living near specially trained men and women all armed with firearms, but normal children and two adults to protect him. Not- not something like- not something like- like living a life trained to fight! 


Filled with anger, sadness, frustration, and confusion, or not knowing what to feel yet at all, he looks back in time, only about a minute ago, to find just what could have reminded him about this. Axel mumbles as if trying to search his mind… 


“Let’s see… Army… General…”


Of course! It was this very man he had just bumped into! But the question is, where is he? 

Axel had trained half his life for this. He couldn’t quickly understand simple instructions from the general, but he can analyze the way someone walks, talks, and looks instantly. But none of it really comes to use, because, as I said, Axel has a bad memory. 


Running around the square, he bumped into even more people a second. But first, let’s calculate how many people Axel bumps into when he’s walking. If you do the calculations, there’s an average of 1 person for every 1 foot. And with an average walking speed of 4.7 feet per second, (Or 3 miles per hour,) or rounded to an average of 5 feet per second. So, when Axel walks around in the square, he bumps into 5 people every second.


But this is just walking. Now that Axel is actually running, this means the calculations must go even further. If Axel is running at a speed of 8 miles per hour, (sometimes 9, but let's keep it 8 so the math will be easier for me), which is about 12 feet per second, and there’s 1 person for every 1 foot, so that means when Axel runs around in the square he bumps into 12 people per second. 


So, as you can see, it is very hard for Axel to get around. But, in an astonishing effort of time, with lots of “Hey!”’s and “Watch it!”’s, he found the man that bumped into him, slid in front of him, and got a fist in the face. Real hard. 


It felt like a thousand bees had just stung his face, along with a sledgehammer, another sledgehammer, and maybe even a few jackhammers, too- all in one punch, all in one second. The man, the man that hit Axel, didn’t even turn his hips or head. In fact, he didn’t even stop walking. It was such a powerful hit, all completely at such ease. It was as if Axel just didn't matter, just like crushing a mosquito. There’s no anger, no joy, no pain. Just pure nothingness coming out of such a powerful punch. How was it even possible? And, most importantly, how could an old man have such a powerful punch? 


“Watch it!” The man shouted at Axel.


“Hey, old man-” Axel lost his train of thought.


“I’m not old, kid. Now get ‘outta here!”


Axel had nothing to do as the man walked away. What could he do? He was an old man. And how could an old man have such a powerful punch? 


Either way, there wasn’t anything he could do, and he had to get some information about the bridge before the mission. 


Pro Tip: Always gain some background info before doing anything.


Axel walked (Or “bumped”) his way over to the nearest bench, sat down, and opened his magnetically powered backpack. But inside, there was something he didn’t recognize. 


It was a slip of paper, small and thin. Wait! It’s not a slip of paper. It’s… an envelope. 

Axel’s never seen this before. Maybe the general gave him a goodbye note? 


He opened the envelope and there was no name. There was no “From” address, but there was a “To” address. It said: “To Axel Russo''


Okay, something must be going on, Axel thought as he opened the envelope. 


It read: .---- ----. ...-- -.... / ..... ....- ---.. -----


Morse code! Now, something’s really going on!

Hello?

Is anyone there?

Oh- it’s just you. 

I thought everyone had left.

Well, after Axel had failed, I thought everyone had left. 

Remember that code in morse code that Axel found? Yeah. It said 1936 5480. What does that mean? 

Seriously- what does that mean? Axel didn’t know. Plus, where would he go? 

Where is he going to go? 

Chapter TWO: 

FAILURE

  We’re back at the town square… our people count: 1.


One person. Axel. He had failed from the very start- and he knew it. By now, anyway. So, with nowhere else to go,  Axel wandered around town,  thinking about what to do. Call home base and fail? And for what? Useless. He would be utterly useless.


Axel glanced at his watch. 11:59. A few seconds later, ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding -ding-ding-ding. 12 dings.  Axel imagined that maybe something would happen like they always do in movies. Maybe a gang of bandits would attack him and steal from him. Maybe the police would arrest him and interrogate him. Maybe– just maybe– nothing would happen at all. 


And that is exactly what happened. 


Axel suddenly thought about something crucial- he needs sleep. Right? I’m pretty sure you need sleep to survive. There was a bench nearby,  so his bed was already cut out for him. 


Right as he set down his backpack and got in a laying position, he realized that if his mission was to investigate the bridge bombing, wouldn’t the police get pretty suspicious if he slept on a bench? Aren’t there a lot of homeless people in Futucivias,  Magenta’s largest city? Yeah, the police won’t notice one more person. For sure. So Axel hopefully rid of any other doubt that had come upon him before,  set down to sleep there for the night.  


“Yeah, probably just figure something… out…. tom- to…” He fell asleep before he could even say it. 


Slam!


The sound of what sounded like a folder hitting a desk woke Axel up.  Huh? Axel thought.


SLAM!


The sound was louder this time, like it wanted to wake Axel up. Axel was still waking up,  half asleep.  He could barely see because of the crust in his eyes. Axel’s brain commanded his hand to rub his eyes, but his hands wouldn’t move. He tried again,  this time trying harder.  His hands still wouldn’t move. Upon observation, he realized that there was an occurrence of something out of the ordinary. 


He woke up entirely but still couldn’t see. So he blinked hard a few times.  He started to see.  First, he could see that it was dark. Very dark. Okay. It was dark when I was sleeping on the bench, but it didn’t feel like I’m on the bench. Axel thought. Then, as he started to see more and more and his eyes started to adjust, he could see that he was in a room. Not good. Then, the worst part: there were two men standing in front of Axel. It seemed like Axel was tied to a pole. And there was a metal ring around Axel. 


“Where am I? Who are you?” Axel yelled.


“Now,  now,  calm down.” The man looked old. His calm voice sounded trusting and warm, like a hand on your shoulder. Pressing gently, but firm. He talked with a smile,  like he was trained to do so to make you think so much about him. Could he be so bad?


“You’re in the hands of Magenta’s police and government.” The man said firmly. 


“Crap,” Axel said under his breath.

 

“Now, if you tell us what we want you to tell us,  we’ll let you go. You will answer our questions here."


Forget him being a good guy, Axel thought. He’d been through a few interrogations before. That one would be no biggie. Right?  “What do you want, old man?” Axel shouted.


“No need to be alarmed. Now, tell us: what is your name?”


Wait. Axel thought. I can’t tell him my name, but I can give him a different name. 


Axel is a quick thinker; he thinks quickly. There's a moment when he tries to think of something when he thinks fast, but then he loses that moment and has stuck thinking of something useless for an hour. So if he doesn’t think about it quickly, he’ll lose it and sometimes even forget it. “Conor ‘O’ Malley,” Axel replied.


“Well then, Conor ‘O’ Malley, tell us, where were you born?”


“Here, in Magenta.”


The interrogator muttered something under his breath, and then he laughed.


“Ha! Do you seriously think I would believe that? You’re the worst spy I’ve ever met!”


Spy? How does he know I’m a spy? Axel wondered as the man continued to laugh. 


Then, an amazing thing happened: A plan formed in Axel’s head. His hands and back were tied, but his legs weren’t. He was sitting on a wood plant attached to the pole he was bound to. “Sir,  before I answer any more questions,  may I have a cigarette?” Axel asked. 


“You may after you answer our questions,” he replied. 


“Please, sir. I promise I’ll answer all of your questions correctly.”


“That’s what they all say.” Then, out of complete disrespect, the man took a cigarette,  lit it,  and put it in his mouth. “Tell us your real name or-”


WHAM!! Axel used both of his feet to kick the man in the stomach,  knocking the cigarette out of his mouth and onto the floor- the wooden floor. With a crickle and a crackle, the entire building was on fire.  The interrogator, unconscious and lying on the floor, was immobile. The second man had already run away. But Axel was still tied to the pole.


So Axel wasn’t going to be interrogated. Instead, he was going to burn to death. 


Goodbye, cruel world…


Wait, it can’t end like this. It can’t be possible. The story is too short already!


Axel, waiting for the fire to reach him, suddenly heard something. Footsteps. Was it the man from before coming to save him? Or was it the other guy coming to save him? Or could it be the backup officers coming to save him? Or- or maybe it was nobody at all. 


And then the sound was gone.  Axel started to see black spots on the side of his vision. And right when Axel passed out, the footsteps came back, resulting in a silhouette swiftly slicing the ropes holding Axel and grabbing him in the night. 

He was out! 

Chapter THREE: 

A BAD SITUATION

Axel had an itch. It was under his toe. The second toe- counting from the outside- of his left foot, to be exact. And Axel was never exact. No, wait, that was wrong. The itch was under his middle toe. Yes, that was it. 

 Axel tried to wiggle the toe without wiggling the others. But before he’d managed a proper wiggle, the itch had, oh no! moved under his fourth- no, darn it. It had moved again. Up this time. To the top of his big toe. No, to the top of his foot. It was, Axel had no choice to admit now, a traveling itch.  The very worst kind. 

  His brain instructed his hand to scratch his foot- but for some reason, he couldn’t move. His hands were behind his back. 

He opened his eyes. The room was dark, but he could faintly see. He was in some sort of wooden room. But for some reason- it felt like it was SWAYING?


The air smelled salty, a musty smell. Which gave him the question: Where was he?

He could feel his backpack by his feet. Okay, that’s a start. But he couldn’t grab it without his hands… HIS HANDS! They were stuck behind his back! Tied to a rope. A rope…. 

“As per the room escapes we did back at base…” Axel was reminded. They used to tie him up with a rope to a chair in a room with a locked door. There were a few items to get out of the room, but not the rope. Plus, he had only two minutes to get out. And he was only 8. But there was a sneaky technique to get out that Axel was reminded of. It was also the same technique that Houdini used to use during his tied-to-a-rope escapes. Do you want to learn it? Well, here is a step-by-step guide to escape if you're ever tied to a chair! 


Step 1: Look for slack

The mistake people usually make when tying someone with a rope to something (a chair, table, etc.) is that they use too much rope. Then there's always slack. To look for slack, try tugging on the rope. You might see that there is extra rope. If there is, you’re in luck. 


Step 2: Make it easier

 Houdini always took off his shoes during his tied-to-a-rope escapes. It will make it easier to slip out. Houdini never used magic or illusions; he used strength, like swelling up his chest in a special way. 


Step 3: Escape

Even if your hands are tied together, you can still tug on the rope- just a little by little. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it. 

Average work time: Less than it took to tie you*

Just as the rope was beginning to loosen- 

Footsteps.

Quickly, he retied himself and pretend to be asleep. A deckhand shone a flashlight at him from what looked like a doorway- then, thankfully, walked away. Eventually, the rope dropped to the floor. Breathing heavily, he staggered to his feet. 

He finally managed to break free from the rope and stretched his legs. How long was he captured? It was quiet, but he couldn't help feeling pumped that he made it out alive. But he still had to find a way out. After a while, his eyes started to adjust. He pushed the door open with an unexpected creeeaaak. 

Oh no. Did anyone hear that?

. . .

Looks like no one. 

The door was now open, free for Axel to get out of the room. As he snuck around the halls of the place, He couldn't stop wondering what was waiting for him up ahead. 

There were some close calls. Someone was walking from a room and Axel was forced under a chair. (Why was there a chair?) And a barrel was rolling for some reason and someone had to go get it. Axel hid in a room. But finally, he came across a door that had a different feeling than the others. In this one, there was air blowing out of it. Maybe wind. 


*As it was done by Harry Houdini

He opened the door wide open, and it led to a wide, open space- or so he thought. He was outside… but now he could hear his surroundings. The swaying. The saltiness in the air. And now, the crashing of the waves. He was on a ship. Even possibly a pirate ship… but he had made the wrong choice. 

There were about ten people staring at him on the ship. They weren't only just staring at him; they were also pointing guns at him. 

Okay.

Time to leave…

Chapter four: 

a way out

Look for a way out. There’s got to be something. Some sort of shelter- some kind of... of-


“Halt, you!” a voice says. “Where do you come from? How did you get on this ship?”


Well. This was awkward. They had just taken him hostage. 


“Ummm… I’m Axel. You tied me to a post!” 


“Why, we would never do such a thing!” He takes a moment to laugh. “We are fishermen. What would we get in stealing a weak child?” 


Everyone laughed except for Axel.

“How did you get here, anyway?” one of the fishermen asked. 


“Well, the last time I wasn't here, I was being held hostage by the government.”  


“Government?” he asked. Then he spoke in a stern voice, “Should we turn you in?” 


“No, no, no, no no! I mean, well–” 


A suggestive pain ran through Axel’s head. 


“Rrrrrrgggggg.”

“What was that?” One of the fishermen asked. 


“Nothing, it’s just–”


“Answer the question, boy.”


The pain. Again. This time, even harder. 


“Rrrrrrgggggg!”


“I SAID,”


“STOP!!!!”  Axel screamed. 


He hunched over, eyes squeezed shut, his head throbbing with pain. It felt like a jackhammer pounding inside his skull, making him wince and groan. The world turned blurry as he struggled to find anything from the relentless ache.


And the world started to disappear. 


It got farther


And f a r t h e r


And f  a  r  t  h  e  r




Away. 




Axel opened his eyes. 


He was somewhere different now. 

“Somewhere completely different,” Axel thought. 


But the pain was gone. Strange. 


Nope, scratch that. Back again. He had a headache that felt like a marauding army storming through his skull. The pain was relentless, pounding and plundering his head with each passing second. It was as if a hundred jackhammers had taken up residence in his brain, wreaking havoc and leaving him defenseless against the assault. Every moment came with a sharp jolt of agony, as if his head had become a battlefield for an epic clash. He winced and rubbed his temples, hoping to find a temporary break from the relentless headache.

And it came with a voice, this time. The voice was ambient, and when you heard it your heart vibrated. The sun and the moon would stop to listen. Even nature in all of its glory would stop by to have a cup of tea with this guy.

Axel.


“Huh??”


Axel.


“HmYeahwhat?” Woah. That was snappy. 


AXEL. 


“Iheardyouthefirsttime!” Axel responded, slightly in disgust. 


Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I have– you know how kids are. 


“Totally.” 


Wait, why am I- ok, um, so anyway, just dropping by to tell you to go north until you see a tree that splits in half, then walk one mile East. Got that? I’ll be waiting for you. 


“Why do I have to do that?” Axel asked in concern. 


Just do it. 


“C'mon, do I have to?”


…


“Yo! Weird voice guy? Are you there?”


“ . . . no?”


“Tsk.” 


Axel didn’t know what to do; he looked around himself to observe his surroundings.  What was around him looked like an abandoned town, with most of the buildings on one floor. He started to walk around, to “soak in” his new surroundings. (The pain was gone, but don’t remind him or else he’ll remember and it’ll be back). All of the buildings were one-floored, except that every now and then you would see a two-story building, usually a clock house.


There was a musty smell in the air, like sawdust. In fact, there was dust everywhere. Sand everywhere on the ground. EVERYWHERE. Some sawdust here and there. The buildings were all brownish-colored and looked… kind of… “smashed.” (Quote by Axel). There were wood boards keeping everything together, their screws and nails coming off. 


A gust of dust (Hey, that rhymes!) blew into Axel’s face. He squinted and held his nose. After it had ended, he inhaled and then let out a big “UULHH-HOULGH.” 


“Things are not going well,” Axel thought. 


And I’m afraid he was right. He had no idea where he was, what to do, or who to ask. There was nobody to ask. 


Axel started to cry.


Axel's eyes welled up with tears, his lower lip quivering as he tried to hold back the wave of emotions. A single tear escaped, tracing a shiny path down his cheek, followed by another and another. Soon, his cheeks were wet with the steady stream of tears, his face full of sorrow. Silent sobs shook his body, his shoulders trembling under the weight of his regret. It was as if the floodgates had opened, releasing a flood of feelings that he couldn’t contain. His cries echoed through the whole town, an expression of his pain and vulnerability.


Back when he was a child, there was always someone to look up to. The other comrades were like brothers, spending time together, someone to play with, a shoulder to cry on. 


But who’s here now? 


There was no holding back anymore. Axel was full-out crying now. He shattered completely as he freed a waterfall of tears. His cries echoed, creating the raw intensity of his pain and vulnerability. 


But then he paused when he heard something. A clang-clangclangclannnnnnnngclangityclangityclanityclangityclangityclanityclangclaaaaangclaaaaaangclaaaaaaaaaaaaaang… It sounded like a metal pipe rolling around. 


Axel wiped the tears off his hot face–which was a challenge because there were so many–and ran over to where the noise came from. The world seemed to stop while he ran. The edges of his vision went blank, and everything was centered around that noise. A person could have dropped it. A real human person! A real– wait. 


Axel stopped. 


There was nobody around except for him. And if there was someone there,  it’d probably be some crazy homeless person. And that would not end well. 


The noise was just around the corner. Literally just around the corner of a building. 


He folded his hands into a gun and carefully tippy-toed towards the enemy. 


As quiet as a mouse, Axel thought. 


He got closer and closer and closer until he was just a b o u t    t o    p e e k   h i s      h e a d   o u t   . . . 


And then he saw him. 

The same old guy that had punched him back in chapter one! (Man, I was bad at writing back then…) 


At 119 meters per second, the sight of his face reached his brain. Axel switched right back to being behind the building. He wasn’t even sure what he was doing or when, as just the sight of the old man’s face made him immobile. 


“Who’s there? ” A rough, tough old voice said. 


Axel could hear his footsteps. The hard chep chep chep of the sand. He peered his head to look over and saw Axel. 


Axel had a natural reaction: “AAAAAAAAAAAAA.” 


So did the old man: “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.” 


The old man calmed down in a matter of seconds, and said, (annoyingly), “You again! Get aauutta heyuh!!”


He swung his arm in a circle a few times and gave him–(ouch)–a sucker punch. Right in the gut. It stung like a thousand bees had stung him repeatedly. Again and again and again, the bees never dying. Stupid bees. 


Axel ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and– you get the point. 

Now, the old man, however, thought about it. He was in the middle of something, so should he waste his time on an insolent fool? … Yes, obviously. 

 

Now, most old guys are slow, and they already passed their prime, back in their day, blah blah blah. But this one was different. He ran like the wind, his hairy legs longer than… Well, I don’t know what to put here, so I’m just going to say that his legs were long. 


As Axel ran, he started to lose breath, so he looked behind himself to see if he was still being chased. No one.


Phew. He slowed down and stopped. 


Then, an old white guy wearing jeans and a white ripped t-shirt came running with his knees high, and his elbows even higher. 


“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!”

Axel ran faster than he ever had before. He could beat everyone else in the world, even Usain Bolt. He could beat a cheetah and a lion and a swordfish in a race a hundred times with no break or water all while wearing a mask. 


He turned to the right, then to the left. He repeated this process again and again until the old white man wearing jeans was gone. 


Axel slowed down and sighed in relief, and finally came to a stop.

Still breathing hard, he looked around himself. The town had come to an end. He had passed the last building by now and could see that the town was in the shape of a circle. Ish. Circle-ish.  He could see that beyond the town, on one side was grass and more grass and even more grass, and then there were mountains far in the distance. In the other direction, a thick, lush jungle. You could enter inside and never come out again for a hundred years. 

And between that?



A tree that split in half.