by Charlie Wood
With a groan, Keplar pushed himself off the asphalt and stood up, wiping off his hands and very pleased with himself. But, then, he looked around.
He was no longer a 300-pound blonde woman. He was now a six-and-a-half-foot-tall Siberian husky in a cowboy hat, leather jacket, and blue jeans.
“Why, hello everybody,” the dog said to the hundreds of shocked citizens gathered around him. “So, I gotta know: am I public enemy number one, two, three, or four? I’m really pushing for at least two.”
A green-skinned man pointed at him and screamed. “Police, help!”
As the crowd burst into a panic, Keplar ran back toward the black getaway car. With Orion driving straight toward the dog, Scatterbolt flung open the back door and Keplar jumped in.
“So,” the dog said, as Orion drove away from the fleeing crowd, “this car is supposed to be able to teleport us back to Capricious, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Even though we’re inside the Dark Nebula?”
Orion jerked the wheel and drove on the other side of the street, dodging an oncoming police car. “I hope so.”
“Well, let’s give it a try, then. ”
Up on the hotel sky bridge, the Daybreaker watched as the black getaway car sped through the streets of Harrison. To his right, a door on the sky bridge opened, and Rigel and Nova dashed out of the hotel and onto the bridge.
“Daybreaker, what happened?” Rigel shouted. “Why didn’t you alert us?”
“Where’s Strike?” Nova asked.
“He escaped through a portal,” the Daybreaker replied.
“Where are the others?”
The Daybreaker pointed downward. “There.”
Rigel and Nova looked to the street; within seconds, a red electrical energy spread across the roof of the black getaway car. Then, in a bright red flash and loud CRACK!, the car disappeared, leaving in its wake only burning tire tracks across the asphalt.
Rigel stared at the empty street, in shock. “They escaped. They escaped back to Capricious.”
“Yes, they did,” the Daybreaker said. He turned and walked toward the door on the sky bridge. “I expect all of our energy and resources to be focused on finding them. They’ve become a nuisance. They must be punished for invading our city and frightening our people.”
“Yes,” Nova replied. “Yes, sir.”
The Daybreaker opened the door on the sky bridge and exited into the hotel.
When the armored teen was gone, Rigel looked down at the crowd of people underneath the bridge. “We can no longer rely on him. He has become completely uncontrollable. We have no choice. The extractions of his powers have to be increased.”
“We can’t increase them anymore than we have,” Nova said. “It will kill him.” “I will not let Orion and Tobin embarrass us like this again,” Rigel said. “As soon as we are back at the Trident, ready the Daybreaker for another extraction. And tell the doctors to increase the severity.”
Rigel walked toward the hotel door, leaving Nova alone.
“It’s up to us now, Nova. Things have changed. We are in charge now.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
High in the mountaintop above the green, leafy trees, all was quiet on the sky-ship landing platform of the Museum of the Heroes.
That is, until a black getaway car appeared through a snapping red portal and screeched its tires across the platform’s brick surface. Eventually, the car came to a stop, resting at the very edge of the landing area, with its roof and hood smoking.
“Well,” Keplar said, his body contorted into a pretzel in the backseat, “we made it. Kind of. Did anyone follow us? ‘Cuz then we are really screwed.”
Orion let out a sigh. “No, it appears not. No one was in range to follow our portal, thankfully. Now the question is, where the heck did you send Tobin?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t have time to enter any coordinates into the portal pistol while I was running toward him. I just kept entering the same thing, over and over.”
“Which was?”
Keplar turned to Orion. “Lake.”
Five hundred miles away, a red portal opened in the night sky above the dark waters of Lake Okanda. With a SNAP! and red flash of light, the portal disappeared, leaving Tobin to float in mid-air above the lake.
However, as Tobin had learned the first time he used a portal pistol, it’s not the best idea to be on the other side of a portal that opens in the middle of the sky.
Screaming the whole way down, Tobin fell toward the freezing water and hit it with a SPLASH! Breaking the surface and reaching the cold night air, the boy caught his breath, gasping and shocked. After regaining his bearings, he quickly swam to the nearby shore.
“Okay,” he said, pulling himself up onto the sand and sitting down facing the water. “What the heck happened? Let’s see: I was fighting the Daybreaker. He beat the ever-living crap out of me. I remember that for sure. I think I fell off the bridge, and then I saw a portal. And now, I’m here. Only problem is...where the heck is here?”
Tobin looked around. Behind him, past the sandy shore, there was a thick forest of tall pine trees.
“Well,” the boy said. “I guess I better get walking.”
After taking off his cape and the blue vest that showed the white lightning bolt ‘S’ on his chest, Tobin rang the water from the items of clothing and then walked into the dark forest.
“Knowing my luck,” Tobin said to himself with a shiver, “something tells me I didn’t end up anywhere near a beach and/or bikinis and/or tropical drinks.”
Twenty minutes later, after hiking through the towering pine trees, Tobin finally saw a smattering of lights up ahead. It was a small town, filled with little log cabins with brick chimneys puffing out white smoke, and tiny, cozy shops, all of which were made out of wood and topped with pitched, shingled, snow-covered roofs. Lights were twinkling from each of the shops’ windows, and red-cheeked people in winter coats were strolling through the main street of town, sipping from cups of coffee and hot cocoa.
“Hmm,” Tobin said, emerging from the forest and stepping onto the snow-dusted street. “This doesn’t look so bad. Now to find a phone. And hope no one recognizes me.”
As Tobin made his way through the sleepy town, thankfully no one seemed to be concerned by his presence. Mostly they just seemed to be confused because it was the middle of winter and he was wearing clothes that were soaking wet. An older woman walking with her husband stopped and gave him a particularly long once-over.
“I don’t like to take off my shirt when I swim,” Tobin said, tugging on his drenched costume. “Self-conscious.”
After passing the bewildered woman, Tobin spotted a pay phone nestled in a little plaza in front of a bakery. He quickly made his way to it and dialed a number.
In the Museum of the Heroes, Orion, Keplar, and Scatterbolt had just finished bringing in the boxes of files and hard drives that Orion and Tobin had taken from the Trident.
“Okay,” Orion said, “before we start looking these over, I want to immediately start figuring out where we sent—” A buzzing came from Orion’s phone. He took it from his pocket and answered it. “Hello?”
“Here I am,” Tobin said. “I think I’m gonna take a short vacation, if that’s all right with you.”
Orion turned to Keplar and Scatterbolt. “It’s Tobin.”
“Oh, thank god,” Keplar said.
“Where is he, where is he?” Scatterbolt asked.
“Tobin, are you okay?” Orion said into the phone. “Where are you?”
“I’m okay,” Tobin said. “Soaking wet, but okay. Only problem is I have no idea where I am.”
“Do you see anything? Anything that looks like a landmark?”
Tobin looked around. “Not real
ly. I’m in some small weird town. It seems really safe and normal—for Capricious, anyway.” Tobin looked to his right. A seven-foot-tall penguin covered in shaggy, brown fur was walking by the payphone. The round, waddling bird’s eyes couldn’t be seen thanks to the hair draped over his face—the only thing visible was his protruding yellow beak.
“Hey, excuse me,” Tobin said. “Hi. What town am I in?”
“Holdenshmirth,” the bird mumbled, before continuing on his way.
“Thanks.” Tobin spoke into the phone. “Some furry penguin just said I’m in Holdenshmirth. So either that’s the town I’m in, or he swore at me.”
“I know Holdenshmirth,” Orion said. “You’re not far from Gallymoora, actually. I have a safety deposit box in the bank of Holdenshmirth.”
“You do?”
“Yes, I have safety deposit boxes all over Capricious, for situations just like this.”
Tobin rubbed his temples. “Of course you do. Remind me again to second-guess what I’ve decided to do with my life.”
“Go to the bank,” Orion said. “Give them the name of Ivan Murray, and this pass code: 068984. In the safety deposit box you’ll find clothes, money, and a communicator so we can talk more easily. Okay? Did you get all that?”
“Yup, sounds good. I’ll call you when I get there. By the way, is it okay if I take a coffee and cinnamon bun break first?”
“No.”
Ten minutes later, Tobin walked out of the First Bank of Holdenshmirth. Thankful to be in warm, dry clothes, he pulled his baseball cap down over his eyes, adjusted his sunglasses, and sat down on a bench in the middle of the village. Reaching into his coat pocket, he retrieved his communicator and dialed Orion’s number.
“Good,” Orion said, as the old man’s face appeared on Tobin’s screen. “I see you found my deposit box.”
“Yup,” Tobin said. “I look like a total dink wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night, but at least this way I’m a little more hidden.”
“It should do the trick. Just stay out of the public as much as you can and don’t interact with anyone—I’m sure Rigel already has every super-villain in Capricious looking for you. After we spoke, I contacted Wakefield, and we’ve arranged for you to meet him in Ruffalo Rock. It’s about a four-hour journey from where you are now.”
“Okay. What’s he doing there?”
“He’s been there working on a secret project the last few days. I want you to go there and help him with it, okay?”
“Sure. What kind of project is it?”
“You’ll see when you get there. It’s very important in what we have planned to counteract Rigel and the Daybreaker’s invasion. I’ve arranged a ticket for you for the next train to Ruffalo Rock. Can you see the train station from where you are?”
Tobin turned and saw a train station. A train was waiting there, with its smoke stack puffing, and passengers were waiting on the platform to get on.
“Yeah, I can actually.”
“Good. Remember my contact inside the Dark Nebula? The one that arranged for our identities in Harrison? He’s going to be on the train waiting for you.”
“Okay. What’s he look like?”
“It’s…complicated,” Orion said.
“What’d you mean?”
“It’s complicated. He’s complicated. He doesn’t like to tell me what he looks like. You’ll see when you meet him. I know this isn’t the easiest way, but it’s the only way he would do it. He’ll find you, he assures me.”
Tobin shook his head. Nothing was ever easy when it came to superheroes. “What are you guys gonna do?” the boy asked.
“Well, we are gonna stay here and sift through this information we got from the skyscraper and try to figure out more about the next two phases of Rigel’s invasion. Scatterbolt has already started looking over what he downloaded from the computer mainframe, and it doesn’t look good.”
“Great,” Tobin replied. He turned to the train. “So should I make my way over to the train station now?”
“Yes, I would. We’ll talk again soon, after you arrive in Ruffalo Rock and Wakefield tells you about his project. Until then, we’ll stay here and figure out what we can.”
An hour later, Tobin sat in the commuter section of the train to Ruffalo Rock and looked around. Surprisingly, the train was normal by Capricious standards; it ran on wheels along a track, rather than hovering above the ground, and it didn’t travel at speeds usually only reserved for space shuttles. The train seemed to be split into two sections: one for commuters, where Tobin was now, with twenty rows of identical, red, cushioned chairs, and another section for overnight travelers, which was beyond the commuter section and lined with dozens of private cabins with their own beds and bathrooms. Unfortunately, at such short notice, Orion wasn’t able to secure a ticket in the private cabins, so Tobin was stuck facing the front of the train, surrounded by all of the businessmen and women as they traveled to work.
Pulling up his jacket for the hundredth time to cover his face, Tobin focused on the rhythmic sound of the trains’ wheels chugging along the track and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Luckily for him, all of the businessmen and women were sitting in complete silence, with their eyes turned downward and focused on their newspapers and electronic tablets. The only people who spoke were a man quietly making some kind of deal on his cell phone, and the train attendants as they occasionally walked by to offer drinks and snacks. Tobin sighed, relieved; it appeared as if it was going to be a quiet, completely safe, event-free journey. If anything, it would be a good time for Tobin to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
But then, an hour into his trip, Tobin glanced toward the front of the train car and noticed someone staring at him. It was a gorgeous, twenty-year-old girl, sitting in a seat facing him, near the door that led to the next car. She had blonde hair that was pulled back behind one ear, full lips that were painted with a shock of red lipstick, and green, crystal-like eyes that were pinned directly on Tobin. She was wearing a yellow dress that showed off the curves of her body, with a low neckline that revealed just a hint of cleavage, and she was smiling.
Tobin looked toward the front of the car, puzzled. As the girl faced the rest of the train, she was definitely focused only on Tobin. She was also the only person not either reading, asleep, or texting on their phone. Tobin turned around to see if there was anyone else behind him that she was looking at, but there wasn’t anyone there. Then, when the boy turned back to the front of the car, the corners of the girl’s lips turned up even more and she waved at him.
Tobin’s eyebrows furrowed. He pointed to himself and mouthed “me?”
The girl laughed and nodded her head, mouthing “yes.”
Tobin squinted, smirking. He was surprised, but also very happy. Maybe this train ride wouldn’t be so bad after all. Things had just gotten a lot more entertaining, anyway. It had been a while since a girl who looked like her looked at him like that.
As Tobin smiled, the girl stood up and walked down the aisle. She was even taller than Tobin thought, with long, tan legs that carried her down the train as if Tobin was the only other person in the car. When she got closer, Tobin could see that her sun-kissed skin was spotted with tiny freckles.
“Hi,” the girl said, adjusting her pocket book. “My name’s Hannah.”
“Uh, hi,” Tobin said. “Are you Orion’s contact?”
The girl cocked her head, confused. “What? Who’s Orion?”
Tobin grinned. “Oh, okay. Never mind. I just thought you were someone else.”
The girl laughed. “Nope. Just me. Are you sitting by yourself?”
Tobin looked around. “Uh, yeah. Yeah.”
“Oh, me too. Would you like to get something to eat?”
“Right now? Uh, I don’t know if I should...”
The girl held out her hand and nodded toward the back of the car. “Come on. Get something to eat with me. This train ride’s so boring and I’m gonna go crazy if I don’t have someone to pass the time with.”
Tobin thought it over. He deserved a nice break like this. Especially if it involved someone as holy-crap-beautiful as this. “Uh...sure. Sure. Why not.”
The girl smiled. That smile could take over the world, Tobin thought. “Come on, follow me,” she said.
Pushing himself up out of his chair, and still not believing his good fortune, Tobin followed Hannah toward the rear of the train. But, before they reached the food cart at the door that led to the next car, Hannah stopped at one of the private cabins and began unlocking the door.
“Uh, the snack thing is down that way,” Tobin said, pointing with his thumb.
“I know. But I thought we could have something to eat in my cabin.”
“You have a private cabin?”
“Yeah. It’s much more comfortable in there.”
Tobin smiled. This had officially reached all kinds of levels of awesome. “Uh, okay.”
The girl opened the door and Tobin walked in first.
“I gotta say, this is pretty great,” the boy said. “To be on a train like this and have a girl like you ask me to—”
Suddenly Hannah slammed the door shut and spun around. Immediately, her face changed—her cheeks rippled and morphed, like silly putty folding in on itself. Within seconds, her blonde hair and red lips were gone, and her face was replaced with a rotting corpse, its gaunt, grey face covered in decaying skin.
“Are you really that stupid?” the corpse asked, its voice now that of a deep-throated man.
Tobin fell backward, tripping over a suitcase and screaming. “Aaaaaahhaaaahh!”
