Sonic Lanterns: Axel the Bandicoot

Axel's head was pounding. It felt like someone had dropped an entire building down on top of him. This was worse than the time he battled the Destructix. But this pain was not just physical. He felt like someone took a dagger and tore out his heart. Jessabel, one that was like a sister to him, was now poisoned against him. He just wanted to lay there for a bit longer now. Maybe forever so as to simply forget. No, he thought to himself. He thought about Sinestro, the one who took Jessabel away from him. That monster destroyed one of the few good things in his life. He had to get up. If he didn't, then he would not get the pleasure to make Sinestro suffer for his transgression. That was when he started to hear voices; familiar voices.

“Axel...Axel? Hay buddy, come on don't quit on me now.”

“Axel slowly opened his eyes and looked up. He could see and hear Jack sitting over him, the stars high above in the sky. “Sin...Sinestro!”

Axel sat up so quickly that his forehead collided with Jack's nose. Jack keeled backward, clutching his nose with his hands in pain. “Hey now! Is that how you repay those who rescue you? ...Heh...Nice to see you awake.”

“Nice? Not really. Jessabel is...”

“Hey calm down, man. I...”

“Calm down!? Do you even know what is going on!?”

Jack recoiled at Axel’s sudden outburst. He knew something was up and wanted to knock some sense into Axel, but didn’t want to risk angering him further. “Whoa man. I just arrived in time to find you lying on the ground here. You’re lucky that you landed in a very soft patch of grass. It cushioned your fall so that you didn't become a splat on the ground. I just wanted to get you stabilized before I took you to a proper medical facility.”

“I don't need medical attention. What I need is to find Sinestro!” Axel’s thoughts trailed again to the pink alien that took Jessabel.

“Yeah you shouted that word when you hit my nose. I thought you were just delusional. Who or what is this Sinestro?”

“He turned her against me. Jessabel, she...Sinestro poisoned her mind with false promises and corrupted her through fear.”

Jack raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to make of Axel’s story. “Okay, you're not making any sense. What exactly happened? What about Jessabel? Is she okay?”

Axel sat there where Jack found him and relayed the story back to him. He told him how Jessabel met Sinestro and what he did to her. he told him that Jessabel used some kind of magical ring and became something different all due to Sinestro's manipulation. Finally, he told him out Jessabel used this power to fight him, defeat him, and throw him out into the empty air; all of it because Sinestro egged her on.

Jack took all of this in, but was still not feeling comfortable with the idea. “I...that's...That's crazy, Axel. It's just gotta be. Jessabel...evil? Using fear as energy? I mean I'm good, one of the best in the technical world...but not even I could harness an emotion as a weapon.

“It's true! I'm not lying!” Axel felt himself getting more and more annoyed with his partner and friend.

“I'm not saying you are, man. But...don't you think you should be looked at my a doctor? Maybe...”

“You...don't believe me...I should have known. You're so wrapped up in your work that you don't even take a second to think about others!”

“Hey. That's not true. Jessabel is just as important to me as you are...But this is a lot to take in all at once. Besides...you did take a bad bump to the head. Logically speaking, you...”

This time, Axel didn’t hold back. He got in Jack’s face and screamed at him with utter bitterness and resentment. “Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT! I've had enough of your logic. I've had enough of YOU!”

“That's not fair, Axel. I'll help you find Jessabel, I promise. But first, you need to see a doctor!”

“NO! What I need is a weapon...even more powerful than Silvertooth...So I can give Sinestro a piece of my mind. So that I can take back what he took from me...and then make him hurt as much as I am right now...and then some!”

“Axel...”

“Not another word, Jack. I'm going after them. You can either come with me...or stay back like you usually do...like a coward.”

“You're not acting yourself, Axel. Please...this is just hot air that you're venting. Please, let me help...”

“Are you coming...or not?”

Jack could tell that Axel was serious. He did want to see Jessabel safe and Axel feel better. However, he could not ignore that anything that could trounce Axel so thoroughly demanded caution and further evaluation. “I...cannot, Axel. I won't rush off without a plan.”

“Fine...Stay here then. I'll go after her AND Sinestro...alone.”

Axel stood up, finding new resolve from the fire that burned in his heart. He glanced back at Jack as he walked away, seeing a look of displeasure in Jack's eyes along with something else. It might have been pity, but Axel was not in the mood for it. There was no shade of grey in this situation. There were only absolutes. Either Jack would help him or he would not. And he would not. The pain was great. He wasn't sure how badly he was hurt, but every step he took was painful. He didn't care. He would find Sinestro and make him pay for this. This endless and aimless walking continued for another hour before he heard a voice*

“There is much anger in your heart.”

Axel stopped in his tracks. “What!?” He spun around and saw a large monster standing behind him. His skin was as red as blood and his empty eyes stared down at Axel with piercing hate. He was dressed in a black and red outfit that almost seemed to match his skin. A single clawed hand was raised in a clenched fist and a single red ring on his middle finger.

Axel stared at the ring, remembering his encounter aboard the airship with Sinestro and Jessabel. “A...ring. Like Sinestro's.”

The creature lifted its head to the sky and let out a fearsome roar that would have made most people run in terror. “Sinestro is unworthy to wield the red power of rage! He uses fear, a cowardly tactic. I will get him eventually.”

“You after Sinestro too? Well get in line, pal!”

“A creature as feeble as yourself cannot stand up to Sinestro. Your powers are pathetic. Only I can...and WILL...destroy Sinestro and use his blood to make more red rings!

Axel's mind thought back to the power wielded by Jessabel. It was formidable. She was only a child too. He wondered now just how powerful Sinestro could be. Then he thought about the boasts of this creature in front of him. Could he really hold the key to destroying Sinestro? If he did, then Axel wanted that power. “Give me one of these red rings! I will take this power you claim to have and destroy Sinestro with it. You can have the body and do what you want with it!”

The alien crossed its arms and scoffed at first, but then looked more intensely at Axel. “You...Your rage runs deep. It burns in you like a fire...much like my own. You think you can wield the red power of rage!?”

“I will. I hate that Sinestro. I HATE HIM!”

“Then you must speak the oath of the Red Lanterns…THEN you will be one of us…and you will be strong enough to kill Sinestro.”

“Tell me how, creature!”

With one sweep of the creature’s massive arm, he picked Axel up by his vest with a single clawed hand. He brought Axel inches from his face. Axel could see the heartless rage in its eyes. “You will address me as my name; Atrocitus! Say this… With blood and rage of crimson red, ripped from a corpse so freshly dead, together with our hellish hate, we'll burn you all. This is your fate. Once you say that, you will be one of us. Are you ready, small creature?

“I want to see that Sinestro bastard pay for what he's done to Jessabel. I'll make him suffer until he begs for death. And you will call me Axel.”

“Excellent. Now think those thoughts as you say the oath.

“Yes, Atrocitus...With blood and rage of crimson red, ripped from a corpse so freshly dead, together with our hellish hate, we'll burn you all...THIS IS YOUR FATE!” Axel became enveloped in red light as he was covered by a red and black costume with a symbol on his chest resembling a circle with two horns sticking out of the top. His eyes opened, revealing only soulless red pits. A red ring attached to his finger, glowing as red as the anger deep inside him. He would make Sinestro pay, no matter what the sacrifice.

“Now we shall find this Sinestro, and rip out his still beating heart!” Atrocitus declared maliciously.

“We'll do that...and more. Pain will have a new meaning for him.”

“And the girl?” Atrocitus asked uncaringly.

Axel’s thoughts almost completely forgot about Jessabel. All he could think of in his angry heart was to see Sinestro suffer for all the pain he brought into his life. If Jessabel would not let him have his revenge, then she was no longer the friend he knew. “So long as Sinestro pays...who cares!?”

Atrocitus stared at Axel and replied in a menacing tone. “Just what I wanted to hear.”

Axel’s mind was flooded with anger, rage, and hate. All that mattered to him now as to destroy Sinestro and anyone else who followed him. If anyone else tried to hurt him again, he would destroy them too. He also felt his mind slipping into just those thoughts. Memories of friends were fading. His accomplishments that got him to this point now felt like fleeting dreams. His last thought went to Jessabel. The more he thought about her, the angrier he became. With those clouding his mind, he was only able to say one more thing before becoming lost in his blind rage. “I promise you…REVENGE!”