by EMA LEE
My eyes finally opened fully and I was wide awake. I had totally forgotten about the attack. I ran into my room and began to get dressed as fast as I could.
“You know you don’t have to look pretty to do this.” Dean said from the kitchen.
“I know, but I don’t want to look like I died and then came back from the dead either.” I yelled back.
Dean started to laugh and walked into my room.
“So this is Astra’s bedroom. Very nice.” He said as he looked at the picture of my parents and me.
“You look like your dad.” He continued to say.
I smiled and walked over to the picture. It was nice to have someone recognize my father. It always reminded me that he was still there watching over me and mother.
“I miss him.” I whispered.
Dean put the picture down and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I wrapped my arms around him and dug my face into his chest.
“Your dad was amazing. He’s still looking out for you Astra. I’m sure he is teaching you things you never knew about yourself each day.” He whispered.
The words Dean said made me feel so warm. I knew he was right. Dean let go of me and began to walk towards the door.
“Well, you look beautiful Astra. Now you ready to go kick some butt?” he asked.
I began to walk towards Dean. Once we were face to face I stared him in the eyes.
“You bet I am.” I responded as I walked out of the bedroom.
Once we were out of the house we started to run down the beach towards headquarters to meet up with Shane.
“What took you guys so long?” Shane asked as we entered the room.
“Sleeping beauty didn’t want to wake up.” Dean said while patting me on the back.
“Sorry Shane, I totally forgot the attack was today.” I told him as I punched Dean in the stomach.
I must have hit him hard because the moment my fist hit his stomach Dean curled into a ball and fell to the ground.
“It’s alright. The Captain and Black Shadow are planning their attack in less than ten minutes. Their army is big. They have over two-hundred people that will be there. And that’s not even close to the actual amount of people they have in their army.” Shane said.
“Wait, less than ten minutes? How are we supposed to get there in time?” Dean asked.
Shane pointed at the bracelet each of us have on our wrists.
“Because there are so many that will be there, I am going with you guys.” Shane said.
“Let’s power up!” Dean said.
Our suits began to appear and our wristbands began to blink red. I looked at Dean and Dean looked at Shane.
“On my count. 1… 2…. 3!” Shane yelled as he pushed his button.
Dean and I did the same. The next thing I knew, we were standing on top of the highest building in Roseley City. It was a pretty windy day. I walked to the edge of the building and looked down at the people. They were casually walking around. Everything seemed to be fine.
“Are we a little early Shane?” Dean asked.
“Approximately four minutes early.” Shane responded.
“Alright gather round.” Dean said.
Shane and I both walked over to Dean.
“Star, you’re taking on Black Shadow. Whatever you do don’t let her get away. Shane, the Captain is much stronger than I thought, I need you to help me double team him.”
“What about the two hundred other guys who are coming to destroy the city?” I interrupted.
“I was getting there Star, just destroy whatever is in your path.” Dean exclaimed.
“Sounds simple enough.” I responded.
“Wait? How will we know which ones are normal humans and which ones are being controlled?” I added on.
‘Bang!’
We all ran over to the edge of the building and looked down. I could see the Captain and Black Shadow leading their army into the city. They were all wearing sickly green uniforms, and were armed. Some were holding knifes, shot guns, grenades, and ropes.
“What is this?” I asked.
“They’re going to attempt to control of the City, which includes the people in it as well.” Shane said.
“Not if I have something to do with it!” Dean said as he jumped off the building.
Shane jumped off the building next to tag team with Dean. I continued to look down at the City. People began to scream, I could hear gun fires and the sound of people being slammed into brick walls. I looked up in the sky and saw a helicopter coming in. I stepped back and began to run towards the helicopter. I sprung off the ground and grabbed on to the bottom of the helicopter. Once the helicopter flew over the Black Shadow I let go of the railing.
I could feel the blood rushing to my head as I fell towards the Earth. It was the furthest jump I had ever done. I prepared my feet for landing.
‘Boom!’
I felt a tingle shoot up my spine as I landed. That was a really big jump for my body, it almost didn’t make it. Dust filled the air from my landing. I could hear people coughing in every direction. The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground. The Black Shadow was on top of me with a knife to my throat.
“Did you really think you could beat me?” She whispered in my ear.
I started to move my arms and legs but it was no use. She had me pinned down to the ground pretty good. I looked over to the side and saw Dean running towards the Captain while Shane had him in a choke lock. The Captain raised his foot and hit Dean right in the stomach causing his body to fly into to the glass window of a business building. The Captain then reached up and grabbed Shane by the neck and threw him towards the ground.
“Awe, your poor friends are dying.” The Black Shadow continued to say.
I started to boil. I was angry. All of a sudden something slammed into the Black Shadow causing her to fall backwards. I was able to get up on my feet again. I looked over at the Black Shadow and saw mother standing on top of her.
“When you mess with my daughter, you mess with me!” She yelled.
The Black Shadow began to laugh and disappeared into a thick black smoke.
“You won’t win.” Her voice said while surrounding us.
The thick black smoke cleared and the Black Shadow was standing across from mother and me. Mother took hold of my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“For dad” She whispered.
I smiled and nodded my head. Mother ran full speed at the Black Shadow. I began to close my eyes, I wanted to try something I had never done before. I thought about being invisible, so no one would be able to see me. I then opened my eyes and looked at mother who ran straight through the Black Shadow.
“Ha Ha looks like your daughter decided to leave you to fight on your own.” She said as she walked towards mother with the knife pointing out.
I quickly ran towards her and kicked my feet towards the back of her knee caps. She tumbled to the ground and gasped. She looked straight at me, but she couldn’t see me. She looked around and reached for her knife that fell a little ways from her. I reached down and pulled her foot so she couldn’t grab her knife.
“How can she do that? It’s not possible!” The Black Shadow screamed as she was being pulled away.
She then lifted her other foot in the air kicking me in the face. I fell backwards and quickly got up, but it was too late. She had the knife in her hand. She then pointed it out in front of her turning in circles.
“Don’t come near me Star. Or I will kill you!” she yelled.
I looked over at mother who was now tied up in ropes, than I looked over and saw the same done to Dean and Shane. The army was starting to load them up in a truck along with the people of the city.
I looked back at the Black Shadow who was still going in circles. I then kicked her in the stomach which caused her to fall on the ground again. She started to breath heavily. The truck began to leave back to the Captains base.
“Shadow, what are you doing on the ground? Get up!” The Captai
n yelled.
“She’s here Captain..”
“Who? Everyone is in the truck.” He exclaimed.
“Star! She can disappear. She’s here somewhere.” She replied.
“Well get up and let’s go!” The Captain said as he walked over towards the Black Shadow to help her up.
As much as I wanted to kill her right there and then, I couldn’t with the rest of my team being taken away. I had to sneak into their base and get them out of there along with everyone else. I had to stop this non sense. I looked down at my wrist band, it was blinking red. I took a deep breath and clicked on the button. The next thing I knew I was in a truck filled with people. There were two men from the army sitting watch over all the people tied up. I started to look around for Dean, Shane, and mother but there were so many people I couldn’t see anything. The blinker brought me here so they had to be here somewhere. I looked closer, that’s when I saw three people with bags covering their heads in the corner of the truck. I began to walk towards them.
“Dean?” I whispered.
The person in the middle started to squirm, I could hear mumbling coming from his mouth. I lifted up the bag and saw Dean with a cloth stuffed in his mouth. The guards looked over and saw Dean’s face uncovered. They looked around but they couldn’t see me. One guard then came over and hit Dean in the face with his gun and covered his head with the bag again.
“Alright, I’m going to untie you guys, but you can’t make a move, not until we are in their base okay?” I whispered.
All three bags shook their heads in agreement. I reached down and started to untie their arms and legs. They continued to stay still so they would go unnoticed. Now all we had to do was wait until the truck stopped.
22
After a few hours had gone by the truck finally came to a stop. The guards got up and unlocked the back door. They began to unload the people. Once everyone was out of the truck the guards went to the back of the truck and grabbed Mom, Dean, and Shane. I slowly followed them as they walked into the base.
“Where do you want these three Captain?” The guard asked.
“Place them in the room next to the control center. We need to teach them a lesson.” The Captain responded.
I slowly followed behind as the guard took them to a small room. I quickly snuck by as the guard closed the door and locked it.
I made myself visible once again.
“Are you guys okay?” I asked.
“We are fine hun. How are you able to make yourself disappear?” Mother asked.
“I don't know. It just happened. And thank goodness it happened, or else we would all be tied up right now.” I responded.
“Alright, enough chitter chatter. What are we going to do once the Captain pays us a visit?” Dean asked.
We all stood there trying to think of a plan now that we were inside the base. Not only inside, but next to the control center. The only thing I knew was we had to get Shane to the control center to shut it down.
“Dean, you need to get Shane to the control center and keep him safe so he can shut everything down. Mom and I will take care of the Captain and Black Shadow. The sooner you get the controls down we can get the rest of the people from Saruta back on our side.” I announced.
Everyone agreed and we patiently waited for the Captain to arrive.
The door opened and The Captain walked in with the Black Shadow shutting the door behind him.
“So, you guys want to keep playing games huh?” The Captain said as he began to laugh.
“Why?” I yelled at him.
The Captain looked over at me with a puzzled face.
“Well, I didn't know we were able to catch you as well.. Astra.” The Captain said.
I was shocked knowing that he knew my name. How did he know my name?
“Why did you destroy our planet? Why are you trying to control this one? Why?” I continued to scream. I could feel my face burning. I was so angry with him.
“Because I like power. And I can get power here. I tried long ago on Saruta. I wanted full control. Til your father decided to metal in my business. Your father believed in peace. That stupid man.” The Captain began to say.
“If he only would have stopped metaling then I wouldn't have had to strap that bomb to his car.”
I looked over at Mother and she was furious. She began to run at him. The Black Shadow waved her hand and knocked mother backwards. She was sitting on the ground, tears filling her eyes.
“How does it feel Astra? How does it feel to face the man who killed your father?” The Captain said.
I looked up at him and looked him straight in the eyes. Not a tear would drop. I wanted him to know he would pay for what he had done. I began to walk towards him. Flames started to burst from the palms of my hands. I started to shoot balls of fire at him.
Mom was still sitting on the ground. She threw her legs around and knocked the Black Shadow to the ground. This allowed Dean and Shane to escape quickly and head to the control center.
The Captain began to walk backwards and we were now in a bigger space outside of the small room we were in. I began to pick up the pace and ran straight towards him.
The Captain ducked and began to laugh.
“You can't beat me. You are just like your father.”
I turned around and faced him once again. I closed my eyes and thought of disappearing again. I could only hope that the Captain wouldn't be able to see me. I opened my eyes and ran towards him. I jumped into the air with my leg extended towards his chest.
“Ah!” The Captain yelled as all the air was pushed out of his lungs.
He fell to his knees looking around. I could feel the fear in him. I ran at him again with my arm up in the air. I swung it around hit his face as hard as I could with my fist. The Captain fell to the ground with his head lying on the concrete now.
I reappeared and was visible to him once again. I began to walk towards him.
“If you see my father, maybe you should ask for his forgiveness.” I whispered to him.
I began to walk away as I threw one last ball of fire at him. He was yelling in pain only for a moment. Then it was silent. I looked back and all I could see was ashes covering the ground. The Captain was dead.
“Well, now I don't have to do that myself thanks to you.” A woman said from behind me.
I turned to see where the voice was coming from. There she was. The Black Shadow. She began to walk around me.
“He was starting to get a little cocky. Little did he know I wanted all the power. I just had to be his right hand man, gain his trust, then slaughter him, but you took him out for me.” She continued to say.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Oh, you still don't know Astra? Goodness that makes me so sad. We've only been best friends our entire lives.” She responded as she began to take of her mask.
There she was. The long black hair. Big brown eyes.
“No! I saw you die Sarah! You're not here!” I said caught off guard.
“But I am Astra. Sure my foot was stuck under a rock, but the Captain saw me and figured I could be useful to him. He was able to save me. I told him you would have been a great asset for our team, but clearly I was wrong. All you do is get in the way which makes you useless.”
I began to ran at Sarah but she threw her hand towards me forcing me towards the ground.
“Once we landed here on Earth I quickly learned how powerful we were. I was able to train myself to control my powers. Eventually I was stronger than the Captain. Of course I never told him and continued to be his side partner, but I knew one day I would be the leader.”
All the lights flashed on and off in the base. I could hear people talking down the hall.
Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you? The people began to ask one another. They did it. Shane and Dean were able to shut down the Control System. Sarah looked down the hall way with her mouth dropped.
I got up off the ground and ran at her. I kicked her in the
back which launched her towards the ceiling. She then disappeared and all that was remaining was black smoke.
“We'll meet again Astra. This isn't over yet.”
The black smoke left the building. I ran over towards the control system and saw Shane and Dean helping everyone out of the base. We did it. We were able to stop an attack. The only problem was Sarah was still out there. And who knew when we were going to see her again.
I realized that I haven't gone to celebrate our victory with mom. I started to look for her. She was no where to be seen. I turned towards the small room we were trapped in earlier. My heart dropped. I began to walk towards the door. I grabbed the door knob. My hand shaking as I opened it.
I fell to my knees next to her. I could feel my heart literally breaking. I began to scream, and cry, and scream again til I could no longer breath. I rested my head on my mothers chest, grabbed her cold hand and laid there.
“Astra, it's time to leave” Dean said walking into the room. “Shane and I will carry your mother.”
I closed my eyes and kissed my mothers forehead. One last tear leaving my eye.
“I love you mom. I will miss you” I whispered in her ear.
I stood up and walked towards Dean and Shane. I looked at them then walked right past them. I couldn't feel anymore. I couldn't understand how my best friend could have done that to me. Sarah was no longer the girl I thought she was. To me she was only known as the Black Shadow.
“I will find you. And I will kill you.” I whispered as I walked down the tunnel for the last time.
One year later.
I have come to peace with mother gone. I continued to work at Brunswick's Surf Shop with Cali. Cali and I were closer than ever before. She's been like my second family since my Mother died.
Dean and I still remain friends, although he continually reminds me that he is still waiting for me. And Dillan and I have decided to be friends since my mothers passing.
I walked out of the house and headed for the beach. We were all supposed to get together to surf one last time before winter started.
