The Super 4 : Dark Death (21 page)

“Okay,” I said. “Nice story. Now we’re just
gonna take our family and leave. Thanks for the entertainment.” I
knew it wasn’t going to work- I’d watched enough movies to know
that- but I was gonna take my chances.

“Why did you save me that day on the
mountain?” Carly asked. What was she talking about?

“I had my reasons. And, no Jake. You’re not
going anywhere.” He stood up.

With a wave of his hands his attire changed.
His clothes transformed into that long black cloak I was accustomed
to. His eyes became a solid black, a green glow emanating from
them. His golden hair darkened, until that too was a solid black.
His feet and arms became multiple dark tentacles.

He smiled like an evil villain.

Correction, he was an evil villain.

We stood our ground. Harrison wielding two
fire daggers, Carly had one, long icy sword. Darryl had a little
robot, and I had my force field nunchaku.

Bobby laughed again, “Fools! The only people
who can stop me are light wielders! And your puny fire can’t stop
ME!”

He raised his tentacles, and millions of dark
rods shot towards us. I made a force field around us. But it
wouldn’t last forever.

Carly had turned her back. Light beams shot
around her. She turned and yelled, “JAKE! OPEN THE FORCE FIELD!” I
obliged, relieved. She shot a little crackling ball of electricity
towards Bobby. It hit one of his tentacles. The tentacle hit
dissolved immediately. Carly quickly sent more rapids of
electricity. But she was tiring quickly. She didn’t use electricity
much, only her water.

Meanwhile, Darryl was tampering with his
robot. It shot a light beam towards Bobby. Another tentacle
dissolved.

“Tsk. Carly, Jake, you should’ve remembered my
ability to take over people’s body.”

He raised his tentacle, and a dark beam shot
towards me. I raised my force field, but it was too late. The beam
struck me.

Darkness swarmed over me, and I heard laughter
echoing in my ears. I desperately placed my hands over my ears, in
an attempt to get rid of the noise. But it was useless. My body
belonged to Bobby.

“
Unfortunately,” he said, using my
voice. “I can’t do this long. But for now… I’ll enjoy it!” He sent
force fields their way. Luckily they all dodged it. Bobby wasn’t
used to my powers. I fought him for control, but it was useless. He
was in control. Complete control. Harrison sent fiery whips at
Bobby’s shadow body. He didn’t want to hurt me.

I had just given up hope, when I felt Bobby’s
control wavering. I used the last of my power to eject him from my
mind, once and for all.

I quickly launched a barrage of force fields
at him. I sped around him at super speed. I was creating a vortex.
The speed at which I was running should’ve been enough to make
Bobby freeze. Maybe then I could tie him up and defeat him. Bobby
faltered for a few seconds. Then he smiled. He smiled
scary.

“I’m a shadow,” he informed me, “I am
darkness. Travelling at the speed of light, well, there’s still
darkness around.” He hit me in the stomach with his tentacle. Hard.
I flew across the room. My ribs cracked when they hit the wall. I
landed on my arm. I heard another loud crack. I grimaced in pain.
My vision became blurry. Tears were flooding my eyes. My vision
became hazy and red.

I closed my eyes. All I had left were my
ears.

I listened in desperation. I switched my power
on. I could here the increased heartbeats in the room. I heard
Bobby panting desperately.

“He’s tiring! He’s slowing down!” I yelled, in
an attempt to help.

It worked. I heard an onslaught of power hit
him.

Carly’s crackling energy having the most
effect on him.

“
Go Carly!” I yelled.

She must have turned to smile at me. Out of
habit. Whatever the reason, she was the next body to be slammed
into a wall. She landed a few feet next to me.

By her weird breathing, I guessed she also
cracked her ribs. Her desperate breathing slowed. At first I
panicked. i thought she was dead. But her breathing had just
slowed. She was sleeping. Unconscious.

That was the two of us out of the fight. Only
Darryl and Harrison left. I uttered a prayer to God that they’d
win. Otherwise it was over.

I guess they knew that too. I heard Harrison
yell in frustration. He launched a volley of fireballs at Bobby. I
could tell by the sound of his swinging arms. I heard Darryl
clanking around with his robot. I heard a button being pressed.
Then I heard a grunt of pain. I smiled.

We might actually win! Then I heard Darryl
being taken over. A desperate try. I heard a whizzing sound, I
guessed they were Darryl’s super-stretched arms, reach out.
Harrison moaned slightly. His slight disadvantage gave Bobby the
opportunity to whack him.

But Harrison didn’t hit the wall. Either that
or my ears are faulty. Instead he kicked off the wall, and landed
on his feet. A few seconds later, and Darryl resumed control of his
body. Another advantage of having a super-brain, I
presume.

“Harrison?” I heard him say.

“Yeah, Darryl?”

“Let’s get this guy!”

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve ever
said!”

Carly

XXXI

The last thing I remember is a loud cracking
and intense pain. Then there was only black. But, in that state of
unconsciousness, dreams came. I’m not sure how they got there, in
my head, but they were scary!

Most of it was torture. Being pricked to death
with large syringes (I have a phobia of syringes.). Being eaten
alive by piranhas (Part of my brain knew piranhas didn’t eat meat,
but the other part didn’t care. Plus, I’m scared of
piranhas!).

And worse, watching Jake die in my arms. I
loved him.

I know, I know, love is a strong word and all,
but how else do you describe what I feel for him?

I also knew that the Shadow breathed in fear.
And the part of my brain being targeted was my amygdala. But that
knowledge didn’t make my dreams any less scarier.

I awoke to a loud inhalation. I opened my
eyes. They were sticky with tears. Jake lay a few feet away. I
could tell by the blond hair. But that’s all I could see in this
darkness.

“Jake.” I say, weakly.

He turns. “Carly!” He creates a force field
under me and lifts me off my feet. Literally. He brings the force
field towards himself. He kisses my forehead and hugs me hard. I
hear a slight groan of pain from my rib, but I didn’t care. All I
cared about was what was right in front of me.

We turn weakly, leaning against the wall, and
watch the fight play out. We were too weak to do
otherwise.

It looked like our side was winning. I cheered
weakly. It came out like a whisper.

Darryl was pushing forward on the offense,
while Harrison was protecting him with walls of fire. More and more
tentacles dissolved into nothingness.

I cheered-whispered again.

The Dark One was slowly being pushed
backwards. He looked frightened. He let loose another burst of dark
energy. Harrison’s wall of fire protected Darryl from serious harm,
but a smidge of it struck him in the chest. Luckily, he was fine,
but the slight pause gave The Dark One an advantage. He pressed
forward with another barrage of darkness.

Darryl got hit with more and more pellets of
darkness. Harrison wielded a suit of fire around the back of him.
He left the front side clear so he could breath and wouldn’t
suffocate. But The Dark One was smart and strategic.

He ran at a wall.

But instead of falling, he disappeared. We all
looked around. But he wasn’t there.

Suddenly, something dark appeared behind
Darryl.

“
WATCH OUT!” yelled Jake. Darryl
turned in time to see The Dark One standing behind him. Luckily,
Harrison raised a wall of fire in front of Darryl. Is blocked the
blow, but the smoke inhalation was too much for Darryl. He
collapsed.

“
JAKE!” shouted Harrison. Jake
nodded and raised his arms. Like he did for me, Jake carried Darryl
towards our little ‘Hurt Friends’ pile.

I propped him up against the wall.
Unfortunately, my knowledge of smoke inhalation was poor. I was
lost.

So, I left him there. All I knew was that he
needed clean air. But there wasn’t any around.

By now Harrison had switched to offense. And
The Dark One to defense. As balls of fire were thrown at The Dark
One, he raised a shield of darkness. Sometimes the balls of fire
were consumed by the darkness, but other times the fire dissolved
the wall. Then, one of the fireballs became huge and blue. The
large fireball hit the wall, and the wall was destroyed, pellets of
it flying in every direction.

Jake raised a force field around everyone but
The Dark One. He was destroyed by his own darkness. We cheered for
Harrison. He smiled weakly, then collapsed. I limped
over.

But Jake stopped me, “He’s fine. Still
breathing, just tired.” he assured me.

Sure enough, Harrison was fine. But The Dark
One wasn’t. I wrapped him up in an icy rope. Then, Jake secured him
in a force field. The force field would have to be reestablished,
but for now it was fine.

I heard coughing behind me and turned around.
Darryl was slowly getting up. His first step was a bit wobbly, but
after that it got better.

“
Did we win?” he asked,
weakly.

“
Yeah,” I tell him, “Yeah, we
did,”

“
I’m a superhero,” I heard
Harrison mutter. At first I thought he was awake, but he turned out
to be sleep-talking. We laughed. It hurt my ribs when I laughed,
but I suffered through it.

“
Let’s get them up in the sun.”
Jake suggests. “Hopefully, since he’s in power mode, his powers
will be destroyed by the eternal light of the sun!”

It sounded like poetry.

“
Good point,” Darryl said,
thoughtfully. Jake looked overwhelmed with pride.

He proudly creates force fields to
carry Harrison and The Dark One. I make little iceboats for the
families lying unconscious, and a small cane for me.

We lift them up in to the bright sun. It takes
a while, because of our cracked ribs and arms. People are gone.
Enjoying the start of summer. The door was locked, but Darryl’s
robot destroyed it.

We walked outside and lay everyone out in the
sun. Then The Dark One started changing.

First his eyes opened, and shone brightly, a
beacon of light, then they turned golden again, then his hair went
back to it’s normal color, then his clothes changed. Finally his
tentacles disappeared, to be replaced by skinny arms and legs. He
was changed. He was Bobby again.

Jake walked over to him and looked him in the
eye. “No trace of green or black.” he announces,
happily.

We high-five each other. Then we
waited.

At some point, I don’t know when, Bobby
disappeared. We never knew what happened to him, nor will we ever
know.

Harrison awoke first. “Hey guys.” he said,
before falling back to sleep. A while later he awoke again. And
this time he stayed awake. We talked for a bit. But it was no use.
We couldn’t rid ourselves of the worry we had for our loved ones.
They were still snoring.

Darryl was tinkering with his robot again. I
was going to reprimand him, this was not the time for robots, I was
going to say. then I reconsidered. Who knows when you’re working
with the smartest genius in history?

Soon, they start to wake. The little kid
first, and then Tessa, and then Jane, and so on. The oldest person,
Jake’s dad, awoke last.

When they were all awake, Darryl pointed his
little robot at them. A bright beam of blue light hit them, and
they fell back to the ground.

“
What did you do?” asked Harrison,
furiously.

“
I erased their memory of the past
few hours. Up to the point we left. I targeted the hippocampus,
thalamus-” Darryl went on for a while, listing all the parts of the
brain that dealt with memory. When he finished we all nodded,
pretending we understood everything he said.

We didn’t have the foggiest clue what he was
rambling about.

A

Few

Days

Later

…

Darryl

XXXII

“
-and then Spongebob said to
Patrick…” Carlos rambled. I had been in a happy mood ever since our
success in defeating Bobby aka the Shadow. Everything was great.
The families awoke a while later, after some talking we convinced
them that bad boy Bobby had injected them with sleeping meds. Mrs.
White was the first to buy it.