by Bryan Cohen
Erica shook her head and approached. "I've been putting this off, but Dhiraj only bought us some time, Ted. Hiding in here isn't a permanent solution."
Ted faced the dome again. "You probably don't remember, but the human Erica and I used to have these epic games of hide and seek." He chewed on his bottom lip. "It was her idea, of course. We could hide anywhere in town. It was absolutely ridiculous."
Erica placed her hand on Ted's lower back. A chill went down his back. He couldn't recall the last time she'd touched him.
"I do remember. It would drive our parents – your parents and the LaPlantes crazy." She looked at him until he turned his eyes toward her. "Guess this bubble makes the game more complicated."
He nodded. "Only so many places to hide."
Ted looked into her eyes. He could tell she wanted to comfort him, but he wasn't sure he deserved it. "I killed people, Erica. I sent them to their death."
Erica pursed her lips. "That wasn't you. The General wiped your brain away. All those deaths are on him."
Ted rubbed at his temples. "I know you're right, but I could've fought harder. And now I can't stop myself from seeing their faces."
Erica touched his cheek. Her hand was so warm. She brought his eyes back up to hers.
"Ted. When we beat him, and we will beat him, he'll have to answer for everything he did to those people. For everything he did to us."
"I signed the treaty."
"You were just trying to save me and Nat."
"And I doomed us all. Now Travis is dead. Who knows what they did to Dhiraj." Ted looked away. "And I'm guessing he attacked Treasure with missiles just to get me off his back."
As he paced away, Erica walked by his side. "If I'd known the General wasn't you earlier, we still would've been okay. I assumed the Realm of Souls changed you. I was… blinded by love."
Ted stopped in his tracks. "That's probably why I signed the treaty, too. But what can you…."
Now he understood what was on Erica's mind, and he didn't have to use his powers to figure it out.
He fidgeted with his pockets. "You want to not be in love anymore."
"Want isn't the right word." Her breath caught. "But it might be what the world needs."
Just two years earlier, Ted never would've believed that Erica would want to date him, let alone love him. He never pictured a break-up, either.
Erica's nervousness came out in the form of words. "It's not like we've seen much of each other since spring. You were off saving people from hurricanes. Then you went through the portal. I saw you for about two seconds before the General.... It's like we've been doing long distance without even realizing it."
Ted squinted. "Just to get this straight, you want to break up with me even though we still love each other?"
Erica took his hands and rubbed her fingers into his palms. He wondered if it was the last time she'd ever hold his hand.
"No. I want to break up with you because we're in love. It's too dangerous."
Anxiety expanded in Ted's chest. A million thoughts went through his mind at once. One of them troubled him deeply.
She might be right.
"Am I completely off-base here?" She clenched his hands tighter. "Is what I'm saying totally crazy?"
He shook his head. "When most couples get together, the worst effect they have is making friends and parents feel awkward. Our relationship caused... a whole lot more."
Ted couldn't believe the words he was about to say.
"I think you might have the right idea."
Erica nodded as her eyes welled up. "Ok."
Ted tried to make his tears evaporate before they formed, but the emotions bubbling up didn't exactly give his powers fine motor skills. "Ok."
Erica snapped him up in a hug. He squeezed her back. They stood there for a long time. As they did, Ted thought of all the moments they'd spent together. He thought of her lips and her touch. He thought of the conversations and the late-night training sessions. It wouldn't be the last time for some of those things, but none of them would ever be the same.
They pulled apart only when they heard the sound of kiss noises in the distance. Jennifer smiled broadly, a rarity since Dhiraj's interview.
"Ted and Erica sitting in a bubble. R-U-B-B-L-E Rubble."
Erica kept hold of Ted's triceps. "What does that even mean?"
Jennifer crossed her arms. "It rhymes! You two should totally get your own bubble."
Ted tried to find a jokey reply, but the words left his mind before they could fully form.
Erica didn't have the same problem. "If you're not careful, I'm gonna put you in a bubble."
Jennifer snorted. "You and what army?"
Something hit Ted right then. An idea gained momentum in the back of his mind.
Erica kissed him on the cheek. "I think Jen needs some girl time."
Ted felt the impression her lips made on his face. The sensation faded away as quickly as it'd come.
He nodded. "Do your thing."
Erica pulled all the way apart and chased Jennifer. The two of them squealed with glee and slowly disappeared in the distance. As Ted tried to keep the sadness and pain at bay, the idea Jennifer sprouted came into full bloom.
The Sheriff, Jennifer, Erica, and Natalie gathered in what used to be the Finley dining room. It'd become an HQ of sorts for town decisions. This was the first meeting Ted had called since the bubble was erected. Natalie picked at her nails as she adjusted her feet on the table. "Is this gonna take long? I've got free throws to practice."
Sheriff Norris gave her a sidelong glance. "Expecting to play a game any time soon?"
Natalie growled. "Free throws relax me. If I don't relax, I can't be held responsible for my actions. Capeesh?"
The sheriff put up his hands.
Jennifer frowned. "Hey. Be nice to my sorta-dad."
"The sooner I get my practice, the sooner I'll make an effort."
Ted cleared his throat. "Thanks for making the 'sacrifice' to come here today. I thought you might like to know that I have a plan for saving the world."
Erica and Jennifer leaned forward as Natalie put her feet on the ground to do the same.
Erica smiled, which was making Ted nervous again. "Thinking outside the bubble?"
"Actually, Jennifer gave me the idea." He took a hearty breath. "The biggest thing the General has going for him is control of the military, right? When he gave me his brain, he didn't realize he was giving me the resources to fight back."
The silence in the room was exactly what Ted wanted. There was nothing quite like pausing for effect.
"Earth wasn't the only world he wanted. He wanted them all. I know every successful and failed military campaign the dark souls have ever waged."
Ted extended his hand and effortlessly formed a portal on the wall. "That gives us a lot of potential allies. A lot of people from a lot of worlds who have a grudge with our biggest enemy. A lot of people who, given the right convincing, might help us save Earth."
Erica's face brightened as she stood up. "So, you're saying–"
"The General has an Army. I say we get our own."
The Sheriff pursed his lips. "Ted, our people conquered planets. Any survivors became dark souls."
Ted's eyebrows danced. "That's only what he told you. The dark souls didn't win every war. Some races were too strong to be beaten. Too strong for the dark souls is what we need right now."
Butterflies of doubt fluttered in Ted's stomach as the team contemplated the plan in silence.
Natalie slammed her hand on the table. "A battle for the planet. I like it. This hiding in a bubble thing was giving me cabin fever."
Jennifer glanced at her faux father. "But what if they don't want to help?"
The room looked to Ted.
"We tell them that banding together is the best way to stop the dark souls forever. As a team, we can stop this war once and for all."
"And what if that isn't enough to convince them?"
&nbs
p; Ted shrugged. "I think it's our only chance."
Jennifer and the Sheriff began chattering to one another, as did Erica and Natalie. He looked toward the portal and wondered if the other worlds would listen to him. If they didn't, then they'd have much worse problems than living in a bubble.
Erica sighed and nodded her approval. "It's ambitious. The General won't see it coming. I say we vote on it." She looked around the room and let her gaze settle on Ted. "All in favor."
Her hand went up first. Ted's followed. Natalie and Jennifer lifted their hands before the Sheriff seemed to take the temperature of the room and raise his.
"It's unanimous!" Natalie raised a water bottle skyward. "Let's have a cheers for the man with the plan. Here's to not mucking it up again!"
The others lifted their various beverages and echoed the cheers.
Natalie gave Ted a look he could read immediately. It said, "You better know what the hell you're doing."
He didn't, but he knew the world's only chance was for him to figure it out.
Epilogue
The cave was damp and dark, but the little shirtless boy didn't seem to mind. The level of light hadn't ever been a problem for him, given the light green glow that constantly pulsed from his skin. The soft luminescence gave him just enough light to continue his drawing on the cave wall. He'd tried to finish his charcoal scene in a more public place, but the other villagers gave him the full outsider treatment. Only his parents knew about the cave, so he figured his re-creation would be safe.
He completed one line and then the next as he thought about his place in the world. No, the other kids would never accept him. Glowing wasn't the kind of trait that typically led to popularity. Despite it all, the boy was proud of his uniqueness. His grandfather had glowed, too, and he'd saved their lives from the Invasion. The details of his grandfather's heroism had grown and shifted over the last few hundred years. Legend crept in over fact, and now the details of how he protected them were too distorted to truly understand.
Something in the story never made sense to the boy until the last few weeks. His grandfather saw the invaders coming in a dream, which let his people prepare to fight back. The boy had never had a dream in his life until the vivid pictures took over his unconsciousness. The images didn't make sense, but they were burned in his brain just the same. As he approached completion of his drawing, he wondered if another attack was coming. But he wasn't afraid. He knew he was destined for the same greatness as his grandfather. It was the only thing that justified the torture from his peers.
"Son? Are you in here?"
The voice of his mother echoed through the cave, but the boy didn't reply. He was too close to the end of his drawing to stop now. He focused on completing the final charcoal strokes.
"There you are. I was worried." She looked up at the drawing, which glowed with the light from her son. "Should I be more worried?"
He completed the last mark and took a deep breath. They were people. When the isolated images came together, the dreams formed a group of five people.
"No. Don't be worried. Grandfather had dreams and now I have them, too."
Despite his request, she looked as worried as he'd ever seen her. He took his mother's hand.
"Who are they?"
He pulled her to one of the drawings. "Here is a girl with great strength. She has two minds, one of them wise and incredible." He showed off another. "This one is strong, too. An athlete. Angry but brave."
He pointed to the next in line. "A faithful daughter." His finger moved to the right. "A loyal friend and a fast-talker like Dad." His hand stopped for a moment before the final drawing. "And he's a boy with power. Just like Grandfather. Just like me."
His mother didn't say anything for a long time as she pondered the drawings. "They look so strange. Like they're from another world. Is this another invasion?"
The answer came to him moments before she asked the question. "No."
He turned toward her, a smile of purpose forming on his face.
"I think I'm supposed to save them."
Co-Authors’ Note
Who is that kid? What does it all mean? We’re not about to spoil you with answers to those questions right here, but we definitely are starting to get the chess pieces aligned for the endgame. That’s right, there are only two more planned books left in The Viral Superhero series.
At the time we’re writing this note, the sixth book is not yet ready. I know, how very George R.R. Martin of us. We do promise that book #6 is incredibly important to us, and we’ve finally put up the preorder for The Rebellion, which you can pick up by clicking this link.
This is really where we see if the grand experiment has worked. Reworking, retitling, and re-spending money on this series of five books will either have been worth the hours and dollars or not. It will have either shown us that an audience does exist for Ted and his merry band of heroes, or it doesn’t.
We don’t know what the future holds for sales of The Viral Superhero Series, but we do know one thing. We couldn’t do this without you. Thanks so much for keeping up with this crazy multiverse!
Sincerely,
Bryan & Casey
Legal Business & Acknowledgements
All contents Copyright © 2017 by Bryan Cohen & Casey Lane. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. This book identifies product names and services known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective holders. They are used throughout this book in an editorial fashion only. The publisher has used its best efforts in preparing this book, and the information provided herein is provided "as is." Bryan Cohen & Casey Lane make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Thank you to everybody who made this book possible. Especially Ashley Lankford, H. Claire Taylor, Sheridan Stancliff, Dan Brian, Tim Matson, and Julianne Clancy. Lastly, thanks to Amy for everything.
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