Chapter Eight

I dodge bombs, flipping in the air, crawling on the floor, doing whatever it takes. I look over and see Cloud and Ghost, not fairing any better than me. We're doomed. How did this happen?!


Things are finally looking up. It seems we're famed now. I need to talk to Arlen and Eddie. Eddie told me he fought Drako (even though I knew, but I can't talk about that because the charm doesn't let me). And we need a heart to heart.

"I think Drako's been brainwashed."

"Like mind controlled?"

"Yeah, it's obvious these people have some kind of connection to the government."

Arlen speaks up, "I don't know Eddie. Maybe... maybe he's just turned bad. Maybe it started out for Jason... but... they twisted him.
We don't know what he's really thinking now. I don't know if he can be trusted anymore..."

"Maybe Arlen's right..."

"NO! I WON'T BELIEVE IT!"

"Calm down... I think we need to talk just as normal kids for once. We can't loose sight of our real identities."

"Yeah, I guess you right."

"So, Arlen, let's start with what I saw in your head..."

"YOU LOOKED IN THERE?!"

"I'm sorry, I was looking for you, and I saw a bunch of different types of you fighting and..."

"You have multiple personalities?!" Eddie exclaimed to Arlen, surprised.

"Uh... yeah..." She replied sheepishly.

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Because... one is evil, and the other's unpredictable. I can't let them get out."

"Still, Arlen, you should have told us!" I criticized her.

"It wasn't not your place to know!"

"As our friend, you should have told us!"

"As my friends, you're getting in my way!" She stormed off, but she was still within earshot of us.

"That went well."

"Hmm. Why hasn't Drako revealed our identities?"

"I think he's being brainwashed."

Arlen turned back to us at this, "Eddie, it's possible he really is doing this of his own free will."

"No! He wouldn't!"

I hated to hurt Eddie but, "It is possible..."

"But why hasn't he revealed our identities?!"

"Maybe... there's still some Drako left in him."

"I dunno. Well, like it or not, tomorrow we have school. Our long weekend is over. This is our first time at school without Drako. Come to think of it, we haven't had to actively be heroes during school, since most of this was over breaks."

"How are we going to keep up being heroes? The government... punishes those not in school."

"Why should we be heroes if we can't even save Drako?!"

"Because, we have something to fight for."

I remembered the man and the woman who gave me the strange artifact. Are they okay? How did they get where they are today? And how did this Dark Age begin? Once Spring Break starts, Chloe and I are searching for some artifacts. We need answers, soon.

"We'll find a way, then." We all went home and went to sleep.



I got into my uniform, consisting of a dark red jacket, a white undershirt, a black tie, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. I met up with Arlen and Eddie outside the school. Eddie's outfit matched mine, but Arlen wore a red blouse, a black skirt, high white socks, and shoes matching ours.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." We walked in together. We headed to the office to pick up our schedules. None of us had classes together. Strange... I headed to my first class. I sat behind a boy who looked all too familiar, but I couldn't put a finger on who he was. If only I had thought of it earlier... The teacher walked in and called roll. They passed my name. I stopped paying attention, until I heard one name.

"Drako Starr."

"Present." Why is he here?! Unless... no... they want to see who he talks to. They need to see us show signs of worry. They need to
know who we are! I have to warn the others. This must be why we have no classes together. They're blocking everyone who associated with Drako before. None of my friends are here. I sat through the class, thinking frantically. Riiiiiing! Riiiiiiing! The bell rang. I didn't have time to warn my friends. I couldn't be late to class, the punishment is too hard. And if they didn't find me... Kyle, Chloe, maybe even my parents would be put in danger. All because of me. But there was one way out of class. Fire. I hid behind the one place the security cams can't see, which I knew of because I saw a kid break a rule while hiding here once, and he didn't get caught. I looked and made sure no one is around, then threw a piece of wood I ripped off the cheap school floor at wood building as hard as possible. From moving so fast, the wood actually sets fire. The cheap wood building caught fire too. I ran with the other kids, following single line fire drill. I secretly stomped the floor a bit too hard, causing Arlen to fall back.

I whispered to her, "Drako - don't speak to him." Arlen, who was in first period with Eddie, as they hadn't had Drako yet, ran back to her class' spot in line. She whispered to Eddie. Few... we're safe.


We lived through the rest of our classes, but, at the end of the day, just after school, as if to contradict my earlier statement, a BOOM! rang out. I quickly went into a quick passage of hidden stairs. and took my uniform off. Under it was my costume. I leaped outside through the stairs, finding Ghost (Arlen) and Cloud (Eddie) arriving at the same time. Our attacker was right outside the school. Shit! They didn't find us when Drako was here, so they need to see if we are here! SHIT! Our attacker was wearing a white suit with black targets covering it. He produced a small item in his hand. He threw one at me, and it exploded, like a bomb. Luckily, Cloud saw it before I did and redirected it with the wind.

"Thanks," I said. I leapt high in the air, but the bomb came right at me. I went towards the ground, but it fell after me. I rolled to the side and it hit the floor, exploding. "They explode on impact!"

"Then we won't let them make impact!" Every time I tried to get close to the man, more bombs blocked my path. It seemed we're losing this battle. But we couldn't afford to lose.


"All at once!" Cloud charges lightning around his fists. Arlen changes her hands to knives. We all run at the man. Tons of the little bombs appear in his hands. They fly at all of us.

"It's too late for all of you!" The man exclaims. And in that last second, I know it. The bombs make impact. Why... is there no pain? Is this dying? Or am I not dead? Why am I not dead?! I look up. All three of us are guarded by a wall of rock. I look over to a brunette girl in a blue costume, but she points to the boy next to her. A familiar boy that looks about nineteen winks at me.

"Need some help, bro?" Oh my god. Is that... Spencer?! Something is... weird here.

"Spence-"

"Not now. Let's finish this!" He signals up, and I leap in the air, already knowing the plan. Ice blasts block each bomb. I slam my fist into the the man, just as 'Spencer' creates an earthquake. The man falls to the floor, but suddenly sends a hundred bombs into the air. I see a dog, a flash of light, a surge of water, and finally, total darkness.

Suddenly, the darkness subsides. 'Spencer' lays on the floor, hurt, with his foot caught under a piece of fallen steel. A truck drives at us, fast. I slam the ground as hard as I can, and the truck flips over. There's another explosion coming from the truck, but I don't waste any time. I grab the fallen steel, unhinged by the explosion, and throw it off.

"Can you walk?"

"No. But I can do this," 'Spencer' raises rock from below him, floating on it.

"Nice. Now come on, we don't have long."

"I have a plan." He makes dust fly into the air, so no one can see, and suddenly I feel a sickening drop. Then, for the second time today, everything goes dark.

I awaken in some type of underground cavern.

"S-Spencer?"

"Yeah, it's me little bro." He removes his mask, revealing the murky blue eyes of my brother. I smile a little. My parents worked so hard to send him to college.

"How did you know... that it was me?"

"I sorta worked it all out. Anyone else would've gotten it wrong but... somehow, I just... knew."

"How do you have powers?"

"I don't know. I'm still... trying to figure it out." We sat there for a while, and suddenly, without thinking, I burst into tears. I just cried into his shoulders.

"Why... why does everything have to be so messed up?!" But he didn't answer. Spencer was the one I looked up to. He was athletic, smart, funny, nice, and everyone always said he was good-looking. My parents worked so much extra just to send him to college. I hadn't seen him in a long time. "Hey, who was that girl?"

"Oh, just a friend. Her name is Kiki, but she goes by Aqua on the field."

"We should go try to dig our way out of here," I say.

"Agreed." I hear a scream.

"That sounds like Chloe!" We say in unison. "We better get up there." Spencer creates a huge hole, and I leap back up to the rubble. There, Chloe and Kyle are fighting the man with the bombs.

"Family team up?" Spencer grins.

"Exactly." Two more villains appear. I recognize one of them who fought at Tifa's Base. The one that controls plants.

"Bruiser, Spe-Who are you?" Chloe lies.

"Call me Earthquake," Spencer winks. "You two kids get the plant woman. I've got bombs, 'Bruiser', get the other one. I nod and run at the man. I duck under an arch, lighting striking behind me. De ja vu much? His power must be to control electricity. I rip the arch out of the ground and throw it at him. He easily blocks it with electricity, and I punch him in the face.

"Ow!" Static electricity rushes through me. "Earthquake, rock fists!"

"Coming up!" Spencer yells from his battle. Earth surrounds my fists as I slam them repeatedly into the villain. I flip and kick the ground, causing a shockwave to kncock the man down. I swing my fist at him, but the rock disappears. I feel a shock going through my hand as I stumble back. The man slams and electricity whip into my feet, knocking me down. He powers up a bolt in his hands, but I slam the ground, knocking him back. I rip concrete from the floor, using it to guard from blasts. I break it over his head. I notice we have moved over to the area Spencer and I first woke up in. I throw the truck we knocked over at the man, but he blocks with electricity. Part of the truck survives, plummeting down on him. I walk over to the truck, lifting it up. The man is gone. I notice that Spencer, Chloe, and Kyle are nowhere to be seen. Charm time!

Meanwhile...

Chloe shoots a frenzy of light bullets, which are easily blocked by a vine. Kyle claws at the woman. She knocks him back and sends a frenzy of plants at them. Chloe creates a shield of light around herself and runs over to Kyle. He is covered in vines and deep wounds and gashes. Chloe cuts through a vine that is wrapped around Kyle (in dog form) with light daggers.

"We're getting beaten, badly. We have to work as a team," Chloe explains.

"Alright, what do you have in mind?" She whispers something to him. He smiles. "That could work." Chloe sends another round of light bullets. A platform made of light appears to her side. Kyle jumps on it and transforms into a wolf. Light surrounds him and he leaps down. A vine collides with him, breaking the light shield. The powerful light knocks the vine away and Kyle bites the woman's arm. He transforms into a human, but keeps his legs in dog form. He kickd her in the face, claws open. He transforms back, pounding her. Chloe comes in from behind, throwing three light shuriken (ninja stars). Kyle transforms into normal, and the two punch the woman in the face, taking her down.

"Wow, this superhero thing isn't as hard as it looks." Chloe joked.

"Please, she was just-" Kyle looks down where the woman once was. No one is there. "-weak..."

Meanwhile...

"So, you got a name?" Spencer asks the bomb man.

"Call me Volley. Not that you'll live long enough to use it, 'Earthquake'," He mocks as he throws a bomb. Spencer catches it in an earth shield. The two match up blow for blow. Neither seem to be changing their strategy. Spencer ducks under an attack and raises a piece of earth under him. He quickly uses it to get to one of the walls in which they are trapped. Volley throws a set of bombs, but Spencer dodges them. He quickly moves along the wall, bombs following him, creating an opening in the wall. He raises every piece of falling earth from the wall, directing it at the villain. Just before they hit, he disappears.

"Where'd he go?!" Spencer exclaims angrily. "At least now we have a way out. I better signal the others." He launches a dust cloud into the air.

Meanwhile...

A dust cloud rises in the distance. Spencer! I rush to it and meet up with the others. We head out a big hole in the wall, leftover from Spencer's fight. We quickly change back into our normal clothes. Our friends are waiting nearby. Kiki has already explained everything to the others. We head home.

That night... My room...

"So, you guys are staying here?" I ask.

"Yeah," Spencer replies. "Spring Break is early in college, and we figured you could use some help. We can go meet your teammates tomorrow. Our other friend can control air. I'll introduce him to you guys too."

The next day, Spencer and his friends meet the team. His third friend's name is Zack Xant. He has dark black hair, and can control air. Over the next week or two, everyone gets to know each other, as we prepare ideas for how to tell everyone about the box that showed us the past world.