Weapon Icean/Project Khione Deleted Scenes

So, these scenes aren't romantic and have nothing to do with Valentines Day but since it is Valentines Day I felt like doing something a little different and sharing a few deleted scenes of Weapon Icean and Project Khione. Also Weapon Icean will be on the Kindle for 0.99 so make sure to check that ot and get a great deal! The first one is actually a short story I messed around with when I was writing Weapon Icean. I really loved the character of Asher and I really liked the friendship between him and Liam and inspiration struck and I just sort of wrote this short story on a whim. It's completely unedited and unrevised. This is just the first draft, the raw material but I hope you guys enjoy my messy little story of how Asher and Liam met.


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The New Kid:

Asher swaggered into the cafeteria and scanned the large, loud room for the new kid. All morning all he heard about was Liam Williams. The girls gushed over his perfect smile and blond hair and how they could get lost in his dazzling blue eyes and the guys gawked about his ripped muscles and how perfect he would be for the football team. Or any sport at all.

Asher’s eyes landed on an overly crowded table near the back where a gaggle of girls sat; gazing at a boy he’d never seen before. That must be him. Liam Williams, official spotlight hog and soon to be most popular guy in the whole school. He wasn’t about to get away with slipping into Asher’s role on his first day of school, not on his watch. A few of his basketball buddies waved at him and he gave them a halfhearted wave back, making a beeline for Liam’s table.

“Hey, you’re the new kid right?” he said, pushing his way into the seat next to him.

Mandy Fair shot him a dirty look and he ignored him, propping an elbow up on the table, and giving Liam his undivided, fiery attention. His parents may be rich but Asher had more than money. He could light the whole school on fire if he wanted to with a snap of his fingers. The Great Stink Bomb Accident featuring an accidental flame erupting and smelling up the whole school had given him a permanent spot in the popular club and his bad boy rap. No new kid could beat that. Liam nodded, making the girl’s practically drool over his food tray.

“Yep I am… Liam Williams, nice to meet you.” He stuck his hand out all proper and nice. Asher smirked and shook his hand, glancing at the girls who watched in silence.

Everyone knew Asher was top dog and if Liam didn’t back down real quick he would get a stink bomb in his locker… or smoke bomb. Asher hadn’t decided yet. “Asher Mierez. Just here to welcome you to the school. Welcome,” he spread his arms out wide and straddled his chair, sitting up.

Liam gave him a cautious half smile, those twinkling blue eyes scanning him. Asher let him take in every bit of him from his coal black converse to the red tips of his spiked up black hair. “Thanks… I think…” An amused smile danced on Asher’s lips and he raised his eyebrows at the girls who all smiled back at him.

Asher may be made of fire but he could give anyone an icy welcome. “What’s your next class? Maybe we have it together. I always like to personally welcome and get to know the new kids. You know, so no one feels left out.”

Liam gave him a genuine nice guy smile that made Asher want to be sick and leaned over the side of his chair, pulling out a class schedule. “Uh… chemistry.”

Asher beamed and Karen Jonson snorted then hurriedly covered her mouth. Liam glanced at her and then at Asher, his eyes narrowed. Asher gave him a bright, overly excited smile. “Great. We can be lad buddies. I hear we’re doing an experiment today. Should be fun. See ya then pal.” He punched Liam none to gently in the shoulder and the guy didn’t even flinch. Asher held back a scowl, forcing his lips to remain a welcoming, friendly smile.

Liam nodded, putting his class schedule away. “Yeah, sure… sounds like fun. See you then.” Asher smirked and got up, putting the seat back in its place and walked off. Poor guy had no idea what he was getting into. He sat down at the table reserved for the basketball team and Jason nudged him, holding an apple out. Asher took it and turned the fruit over in his hands thoughtfully. “What are you gonna do to the new kid?”

He flashed his team a wicked grin and took a bite of his apple. “I think… Mr. Perfect Eyes is going to have a little accident in chemistry class.”

 

“Hey there friend, how was lunch?” Asher plopped down next to Liam who gave him a friendly look. “Uh it went good. You?”

“Good. So, you wanna start on the lab experiment?”

Liam glanced up at Mr. Maloney who was writing instructions on the board and gestured at the front with a pen. “He hasn’t told us what to do yet. I’d rather not get in trouble on my first day of school.”

Asher snorted and reached over him, grabbing the beakers and fire starters, along with all the different chemicals Mr. Maloney had left on their desk. “No biggie. He doesn’t mind. Maloney actually encourages his students to take initiative. Stick with me and you’ll be the teach’s favorite in no time.”

Liam shrugged and grabbed one of the bottles full of chemicals. “Okay, I guess I can give it a try. I am a bit of an over achiever.”

Asher grinned and was about to pour in a flammable liquid into the beaker over the fire starter when the room became suffocating hot. He stopped mid-pour and glanced around, tugging at the color of his black and red shirt. “Uh… did it just get really hot in here or is it just me?” he gasped, shrugging out of his black blazer. Liam stopped examining the labels on the side of the white container and glanced at him, his eyebrows furrowing. “Are you Okay? You look a little red… and your sweating really bad.” He reached his hand up and touched Asher’s forehead. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and back.

Not now.

Not again.

Every once in a while Asher’s power got out of hand. Whenever his blood pressure rose or he got overly excitable the fire inside of him became unmanageable. He’d never had it happen at school. Asher waved a hand over his face and leaned away from Liam’s hand. “Uh… I think I just need to… go… to the bathroom… Excuse me.” He slid off the chair and dashed out of the classroom, ignoring Mr. Maloney’s shouts.

His skin grew hotter and hotter until he felt like he was being burned alive. Just a little farther to his locker where he kept a small packet of ice in his lunch box. After almost blowing up their house his mom had insisted he take it everywhere to manage to the fire inside him. He stopped in front of his locker, the lock slipping in his sweaty palm, his hands shaking. Asher swore under his breath. If he didn’t get this under control in a minute he would turn into a fiery hazard. Suddenly someone touched his shoulder and he jumped, spinning around. “Hey, what’s wrong? Let me help you.”

Asher shook his head, wiping an arm over his forehead. It was already too late. He couldn’t stop it now. “I need to get out of the school. Fast.” Without so much as a second of hesitation Liam grabbed his arm and yanked him down the corridors toward an exit door.

Asher’s chest hurt and burned with fire, his heart pumping liquid lava through his veins and searing his skin. Liam shoved the door open and pulled him out, smoke rising from Asher’s body as his increasing body heat hit the cold autumn air. He gasped for breath, the world spinning. “Farther… farther away… I don’t want to… hurt anyone,” he huffed.

Liam nodded and Asher flinched when Liam wrapped his arms around him in a very unmanly fashion. “Whoa… dude… what are you doing?”

“Hold on.” Liam jumped and Asher screamed like a little girl and grabbed hold of him as they shot into the air. He can fly. That was… uncalled for. Within seconds they were in the small cluster of trees next to the Elementary school playground and Liam set him down. Asher pushed away from him and stripped off his soaking wet shirt, throwing it to the ground. Liam stepped back and Asher ran a hand through his sweaty head of hair. Time to fire it up and let it all out.

Gritting his teeth he rubbed his already hot hands together, creating extra friction and heat and pushed his palms out in front of him. A column of scorching hot fire shot from them and Asher gasped in cold air as the fire inside of him slowly fizzled out and became controllable again. He fell to his knees, the stream of fire burning itself out and becoming sparks then just waves of heat in the air. If that had happened in the school he wouldn’t be able to explain himself out of that situation. Neither would his parents.

“Better?” Liam asked behind him.

Asher glanced over his shoulder and grimaced, struggling to his feet. His muscles had turned to jelly and his whole body still felt too hot for his liking but he did feel better. At least now he wasn’t going to blow up and kill someone. “Yeah… thanks…”

Liam grinned and folded his arms. “No problem. So… do you blow up often?”

Asher gave him a weak smirk and stabled himself against a tree, shaking his head and watching him. Turned out the new kid wasn’t so bad after all. He had a few tricks up his sleeves too. “Do you fly around the city a lot?”

“Touché. You know if you want, I think I can hook you up with someone who might be able to help you control your ability.”

Liam held a hand out to him and Asher took it, a newfound respect for the new kid. He grinned and let Liam help him stand. “I think that might be a good idea… as long as you tell me your secret Fly Guy.”

***

This next one I just wrote today. I was fiddling with the idea of having multiple POV's for Project Khione but I'm not sure if that idea will stick now that I've written a few scenes... the book is already super long and complicated and when I wrote them out they just didn't seem to fit like I wanted them to. But who knows? This one is also between Asher and Liam, and shows how strong their friendship is. It's also unedited and unrevised and just raw material.

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Asher shut his locker, peering from the corner of his eyes at Liam who stood across the hall talking with friends. Coach wanted to set the football season training back a few weeks what with everything going on. He didn’t want to strain his two star athletes. No one wanted the football season to start late, especially with all the girls wanting their homecoming sooner rather than later. Jeremey and Dillan waved and left. Asher took a deep breath and made his move. “Hey Liam. You got a sec?”

Liam stopped short, his backpack over one shoulder. He turned, grinning. “Sure. What’s up Ash? Look… I’m sorry about what I said the other day at Maggie’s. It just got kind of tense… this whole situation is pretty tense.”

Asher grinned as they walked down the hall together. “It’s been tense since Delphi got here and I think it’s only going to get crazier as the year goes on.”

“This will definitely be quite an interesting year,” Liam agreed.

Asher sobered and he stopped midway down the hall, a few stragglers passing them by but paying them no attention. Liam stopped smiling, his expression going serious. “What’s wrong Ash? I always know when something’s on your mind.”

Asher grimaced and glanced around. They were alone. He rubbed the back of his neck, shoving his other hand in his pocket. “Ya know our stupid trust exercises?”

“Yeah, I really hope Julian leaves that alone,” Liam confirmed.

“Me too… Well… Hailey read my mind during our little session and I got some good advice on not keeping secrets from best friends. I… found something the other day when the two buildings exploded in the city. It was a letter… from my dad,” he confessed.

Liam’s eyes widened. At the same time, they glanced around and he took Asher by the shoulder. He pulled him into the Men’s bathroom down the hall and after making sure they were alone leaned in close. “Your dad? As in the one that’s supposed to be dead?”

Asher nodded, his shoulders slumping. His palms heated up with nerves. “That’s the one.”

“How? What did it say? My parents assured you, your parents and me that he died in the house fire,” Liam whispered fiercely.

“No offense dude but I think it’s becoming a little obvious that your parents haven’t exactly been telling us the whole truth… I don’t know how he’s alive but he said it’s him and that he wants to meet. That I have to see him… that it’s important.”

“Are you going to do it? Meet with him? Was there an address?”

Asher nodded. “And a time. A week from now on Friday. But I don’t think I can do it. He’s supposed to be dead Liam. And he’s a pyromaniac. Out of his stinkin mind. I mean he burnt down the house with me and my mom inside… How can I trust him?”

Liam leaned against the sink counter and shook his head. “I don’t think you can or should. Like you said he’s a crazy pyromaniac. He probably wants to teach you the secrets of the fire or something brainwashing like that.”

“I don’t really feel like learning the secrets of the fire or anything he has to say… I just wanted you to know. Delphi knows too but I didn’t tell her everything. I guess there are just some things you can only tell your best friend,” he shrugged sheepishly.

“Did you tell your parents?”

“No. I don’t want to worry them. I… I’m going to through the letter away and forget about it.”

“That’s a good idea Asher. I won’t tell anyone but… if you want to let the Protectors know I’ll be there for you. For now, we’ll have to assume your dad’s in hiding and he won’t try anything,” Liam said, a hand on Asher’s shoulder again.

Asher nodded. “Yeah… I guess so.”

Even as he said that he knew his dad was too unhinged not to try anything. All Asher could do now was confide in his friends and wait for his dad to strike.

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So I hope you guys liked these little excerpts and come back for a post tomorrow. If you love Asher and Liam and want to see more of their friendship check out Weapon Icean on Kindle and Amazon .

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!