by James Riley
“Lies!” the Dark shouted, his red eyes enraged. “Do not speak of such things again!”
With that, he picked her up by her neck and held her aloft, his shadows circling all around them, as Charm and Kid Twilight stepped to his side. “For such mockery,” the Dark said, his voice now low and terrifying, “I will forgo my shadows. Instead, you will suffer as no one else has, and then?” He nodded at her friends next to him. “Then I’ll let them destroy you for me.”
CHAPTER 43
Nobody’s giant hand curled around Owen, and he began to shake with fear, completely at a loss for what to do. Slower and slower, Nobody’s fingers closed in, cutting off any escape, and Owen shook even harder.
Then, weirdly, the fingers completely stopped, just like that. And that’s when Owen realized he maybe wasn’t shaking from fear. Or at least not only from that.
He glanced down at his body, which was vibrating faster and faster. Huh? How was this happening again? Hadn’t the speed power that Charm given him just transported him to this behind-the-scenes world?
Except no, it hadn’t! Nobody had done that.
So did Owen actually still have speed powers, then?!
With that realization something in Owen’s body clicked, and suddenly everything was vibrating at the same speed, and Owen knew. It wasn’t speed.
Time was standing still.
Owen grinned widely, then slowly began to climb up Nobody’s fingers like they were a disgusting, flesh-covered ladder.
When he reached the top, he found Nobody’s nonmouth closing slowly, ever so slowly. This was amazing! He was actually a superhero, with superpowers and everything.
Finally.
He climbed up over the fingers and down the other side, then slowly walked up to Nobody. “Is that how it is?” Owen shouted at him. “You’re going to trap me in a book? Well how about I punch you a million times a second instead!”
Owen leaped in close, under Nobody’s half-giant arm, then started punching the featureless man over and over at what looked and felt like normal speed, right in the spot which was probably his gut.
Unlike when Bethany’s father had tried hitting Nobody, this time every punch landed, and Owen began to enjoy himself. He even kicked Nobody’s knees in from the back, hopefully sending him falling to the ground when time moved again.
“This is for Bethany!” he shouted, punching Nobody in the nonface. “And for me.” Punch. “And Kiel too!” Punch. “And I’m going to keep doing this until you bring him back, and then bring me back, and then—”
Owen paused midpunch, tilting his head. What was that odd noise? It almost sounded like a very slow groan. He glanced up at Nobody’s nonface and watched his mouth moving.
Was he moaning in agony? Yelling out for help? Begging for Owen to stop?
“Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii caaaaaaaaaaaaaaan speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed uuuuuuuuuup tooo . . .”
No. Nobody could rewrite himself to have speed powers? That wasn’t possible!
But even as Owen watched, Nobody’s mouth moved more normally, and his hand began to turn around behind Owen, coming back toward him. And with every passing second, Nobody got faster.
He had to run, to escape! But to where? He’d spent the last few hours stuck here with nowhere to go!
But maybe with super speed, he could find something?
Owen took off at a sprint, running along the comic page wall as quickly as he could. The panels flew by, and for a moment he thought he might actually escape.
And then that moment passed as Owen slowed, his robotic heart beating so hard he thought it might explode in his body. He leaned against the wall, taking in deep breaths as he realized something. He might be running with time frozen, but that was going to feel like he was moving at the normal speeds to his body, meaning it’d still take him just as long to find any exit. And given how there was nothing around him here, that could be days, months, or years even, depending on how far this no-story dimension extended . . . if it didn’t go on forever! He could die of starvation before finding an exit.
But no. Nobody would catch up before that, as soon as his own super speed kicked in completely.
Owen wanted to go back to punching Nobody, but this time out of frustration. Here he was, as fast as the Flash probably, and the whole power was useless! All it gave him was a few extra minutes before he got thrown into a book by Nobody. And what could someone do in that amount of time that would actually make any difference?
And then Owen stopped, turned around, and stared at the comic panel behind him, where the Dark held Bethany up in triumph.
Okay, yes, there was no way to save himself. But maybe he could still help his friends.
Owen quickly moved to the wall and flung the pages, searching for something in the previous panels. Behind him Nobody’s words started sounding halfway normal.
“Youuuuu caaaan’t runnnn frommmm meeeeee, Owwwwweeeennn,” he was saying, but Owen ignored him, instead finding what looked to be an odd but perfect scene. He drew a thought balloon over Bethany’s head as fast as he could, then wrote, JUPITER CITY HAS BEEN REWRITTEN. ONLY VILLAINS WIN NOW. YOU NEED TO USE THE BAD GUYS IF YOU WANT TO BEAT THE DARK!
Then he flung the pages back, hoping back in the present that Bethany would now be standing over a defeated Dark. . . .
But no! Her father still had her in his hand, and now Charm and some other kid were at the Dark’s side. Owen had just made it worse somehow. This is what rewriting things got him!
Except . . . the Dark had been rewritten already, by Nobody. Could he somehow rewrite the Dark back into her father? Take away all of his evil and craziness?
Owen put a hand up to the Dark’s mind, trying to remember how Nobody had done it . . . and then stopped.
Did he really have the right to change who this person was? What if he made a mistake and completely erased everything that her father had been? What if he somehow made her dad worse, or changed things so that he no longer loved his family or something? It’s not like Owen knew who her father was supposed to be. Wouldn’t he just be making the same mistakes that Nobody had been accusing writers of making all along?
Or did none of that matter, because Bethany was in danger?
Owen gritted his teeth, having no idea what to do. Why did stupid moral dilemmas always turn up at the worst possible times?
Finally, he made his decision and put his finger over the Dark. He drew a thought balloon as quickly as he could as Nobody’s hands were rushing toward him, growing larger and longer as they did. Owen managed to finish writing and close the thought balloon on the Dark just as Nobody grabbed him.
“I hope you enjoy your time in Story Thieves: Pick the Plot,” Nobody said.
And then he threw Owen through the rift.
He landed hard on what felt like a rock, but turned out to be a cot of some kind. Weirdly, the entire world began to spin around him, like he was falling asleep or something.
“Bethany will find me!” he shouted through the opening, his vibrating slowing to a stop as he started to feel really faint.
“No, she won’t,” Nobody said. “Because without your assistance, I have no other choice. She’s going to have to be destroyed.”
“NO!” Owen said, reaching out for the rift just as it slammed shut, as if it had never existed.
CHAPTER 44
Bethany’s vision began to blur as she struggled against her father just to breathe. She slowly began to black out, barely able to think anymore.
And then, out of nowhere, the Dark released her barely enough for her to steal a breath. “ ‘She’s your daughter, genius’? Where did that thought come from?” he whispered, and for a moment, the red began to fade in his eyes as he looked at Bethany.
Had that been Owen talking to the Dark? Had he somehow planted a thought in her father’s mind?
But that moment passed, and the red returned, stronger than ever.
“My own mind mocks me now!” the Dark shouted, throwing Bethany to the f
loor. “This shall end, here and now. Take her. I’ve delayed long enough.”
As Charm and Kid Twilight advanced on her, shadows raced off of the Dark, moving to a familiar-looking machine that had been set up in the corner. A blue flaming circle appeared on one wall, and through it, Bethany could make out the basement of Murray Chase’s house, complete with glass costume cases.
Owen! Bethany screamed in her head. What am I supposed to do? I don’t know how to fix him!
But no thoughts came in reply. However Owen had come back, he was now gone again. Still, he’d given her a few seconds to do . . . something. But what?
“I’ve always hated you,” Charm said, her face distorted by anger as she drew closer. “You think you know Kiel better than me ?”
“He’s more my father than yours,” Kid Twilight said, his voice low and threatening. “I’m not letting you take him away from me now, not after all these months!”
A chill went through Bethany, and she realized that the shadows truly didn’t add darkness to a person so much as amplify what was there. Gwen had proved that, but having her friends attacking her like this . . .
But there was no time for that now. Owen had given her a few seconds. Think! There had to be some way to fix this!
“Shadows!” her father commanded. “Beyond that portal is a world of light that needs to be extinguished. Go now, and claim that realm for the Dark!”
“NO!” Bethany shouted, and jumped forward, only for Charm to grab one arm and Kid Twilight the other. They each began to pull her in opposite directions, and in spite of his declaration earlier, the Dark’s shadows climbed up her toward her mouth, ready to infect her, too. Just as before, she could feel their hatred and fear even before they’d taken her over.
“Bethany, you can do this!” Gwen shouted from the other side of the room. “Don’t give up, there’s always hope!”
But was there? Bethany’s anger flared up, and all she wanted to do was fight, to strike back against everything that had hurt her, to make up for all the sadness and guilt she felt inside. She struggled to release herself, but Charm’s robotic arm and Kid Twilight’s grip were too tight. Her friends both stared at her with hatred as the shadows climbed toward her mouth.
Fighting back with all her strength, her eyes fell on Charm’s ray guns, and she angrily wished she could reach one. Then she’d take them all down, every one of them!
You don’t need the light bullets, though, said a voice in her mind, the voice that used to yell at her constantly for breaking her mother’s rules, and for letting Owen find out about her in the first place. You have a power, so use it!
She froze as an idea filled her mind, pushing away the anger and despair. It might work . . . but what would happen to her? Would she be able to come back? Or would she be trapped forever?
Do it, and destroy those who betrayed you! her anger said.
You owe it to your father for losing him all those years ago, her guilt said.
Do it because you’re the only one who can, a weird, third emotion said . . . one that sounded an awful lot like Gwen.
Bethany closed her eyes as the shadows filled her, then nodded. “I’ll make this up to all of you,” she whispered, ignoring the rage and hate and sadness filling her.
And then, with one last POINK, she disappeared.
The Dark looked over in surprise. “Find her!” he shouted at Charm and Kid Twilight. Shadows exploded from his hands, searching all around the room. “Did you run, girl? Flee from your lies?”
“Oh, she didn’t run,” said a quiet voice, and Gwen picked herself up off the floor with a weirdly optimistic smile. “She’s still here, Mr. Dark. Don’t worry. She’s going to fix everything now.” And she pointed at the middle of the room.
The Dark whirled around, then stopped, a confused expression on his face.
Hanging in midair in front of him was a glowing ball of light.
“What is this?” he asked, raising a hand to send shadows at it.
“No!” the shadow-infected Charm shouted. “Light can be both a wave and a particle. She’s going to—”
But it was too late. The ball of light exploded all over the Dark, filling his entire mind with a brightness too intense to even look at. Charm and Kid Twilight covered their eyes, while Gwen just sat back with a smile.
“No!” the Dark shouted, somewhere inside all of that brightness. “Stop this! Get out of my head!”
The shadows around the room tried to protect their master, but as they approached the light, each one burned into nothingness. First Kid Twilight, then Charm fell to the floor, each of their shadows also disappearing.
Gwen quickly ran to them. “Are you okay?”
“That’s the worst idea ever,” Charm said, sounding sad for the first time since Gwen had met her. “She’s not going to change back, not from that. Why would she do it?”
“She didn’t have a choice,” Kid Twilight said, pushing himself to his feet. “If she hadn’t, none of us would ever have been free of the Dark again.”
Gwen helped Charm to her feet, and the three of them watched as the Dark writhed in pain.
“Christian?” Kid Twilight said, moving closer to the light without looking directly at it. “Let her burn away the shadows. Whatever turned you into the Dark, she’s trying to fix it. Can you hear me?”
“That’s not my name anymore!” the Dark shouted, then dropped to his knees, the light centered on his head now. All around them the room lit up as shadows began to burn away, leaving behind a still-gloomy but much more visible cavern.
“It is your name, Christian,” Kid Twilight said, slowly approaching the Dark with one hand held out. “Your daughter is trying to help you. Let her!”
The Dark started growling like a wild animal, scratching at his face. “What did she do?” he shouted. “Stop that! Get out of my head!”
The Dark’s head snapped left, then right, and he tore at the shadows all around him, revealing the same clothing he’d been wearing at Bethany’s fourth birthday party. “No!” he shouted. “This can’t be real. She’s not my daughter, I have no daughter. My family was taken from me!”
“She is your daughter,” Gwen said quietly. “And she’s with you now. She . . . she did this for you, even if she’ll never—”
The Dark screamed again, guttural and horrible, then fell silently to the floor, the light disappearing. Gwen gasped and rushed over to him, followed by Kid Twilight. Charm, however, grabbed her ray guns first.
“Turning into light,” Charm muttered, aiming her guns at the Dark. “This is the most Kiel Gnomenfoot–like garbage I’ve ever heard of.”
“She was beautiful,” Gwen said, tears filling her eyes as she hugged her arms close to her. “And look . . . it’s not just here. The shadows are burning up everywhere.”
They followed Gwen’s gaze to the monitors, which had previously shown both the shadow-controlled superheroes and the supervillain attack outside. Now, though, those heroes and villains seemed to be regaining control of themselves, their shadows fading away into nothingness.
And it wasn’t just the superpowered, either. A few of the monitors showed regular people stepping out of their homes and looking around in wonder as if seeing the setting sun for the first time ever.
“The sun is going down,” Kid Twilight said, putting his hands on Doc Twilight’s shoulders. “This is our time, our hour. This is when we helped save people, Christian. Now it’s time for you to save yourself.”
Bethany’s father looked up at him, his face contorted with fear and hate, looking like he wanted to push his former sidekick away. But instead, he shouted in pain and tore the rest of the shadows off of him, the remnants floating away into nothingness.
Now free of his costume, Mr. Sanderson collapsed backward, breathing like he’d been suffocating for hours. Finally, he looked up at the boy kneeling beside him.
“Hey, kid,” he said, nodding at Kid Twilight. “Been a while, hasn’t it?”
CHAPT
ER 45
Kid Twilight grinned, wiping at his eyes as he helped Mr. Sanderson to his feet. “It’s been way too long, old man.”
Though still shaky, Doc Twilight opened his arms and hugged his sidekick hard.
“You’re back,” said an older voice, and Murray Chase stepped in, still a bit woozy himself from the hit he’d taken. He stepped forward and shook Doc Twilight’s hand, holding it warmly for a moment. “Christian, I think Mason Black did this to you. He tried to reboot the comic, and your wife and I heard about it. I watched over your family as best I could, but then Bethany . . . well, she must have found out, because she came in after you. And now she’s—”
“She’ll change back,” Gwen said, nodding confidently. “She has to. I know she will.”
Charm silently shook her head, but this time didn’t argue.
“But this girl, if she’s really my daughter . . . why can’t I remember her?” Mr. Sanderson said, holding his hands to his head. “Or my wife, for that matter. Why can’t I—”
“Ah, Christian!” said a voice from the other side of the blue-fire portal. A featureless mannequin of a man stepped through. “I do have the honor of addressing Doc Twilight once more, don’t I?”
“Nobody,” Doc Twilight growled, pushing Kid Twilight out of the way and stepping in front of the group. “You did this to me, didn’t you?”
“Obviously,” Nobody said. Without any kind of effort, his arms extended out, grabbed Murray Chase, and tossed him up through the blue-fire portal. “Sorry, just wanted to get things a little organized. This is between us fictionals, after all.”
“What do you want?” Doc Twilight shouted, trying to get into a defensive pose but instead almost falling back to the floor. Kid Twilight jumped forward and lent his mentor a shoulder for support.
“Don’t you remember?” Nobody said. “I tried doing this years ago, and you stopped me. But now you don’t seem to have planned ahead.”
This time Nobody’s arms became as hard as steel and shot out right at the portal machine. The machine exploded, sending parts flying everywhere as the blue-fire portal immediately winked out of existence. “There we go,” he said. “That feels better. Now there’s just the one last portal to close.”
