Post by Fire Bear on May 24, 2009 21:07:47 GMT
It is very disconcerting, losing your memory.
Perhaps some people have experienced the feeling, even in normal circumstances. Such as, coming across someone you have no memory of ever meeting, but who could tell you the date and time of when they saw you last.
Now take that feeling it and multiply it by having, say, several different people coming up to you all through the day, all of whom you don’t remember. A whole day of feeling like that.
Well, I woke feeling like that on the Tuesday morning, luckily in my own room. I silently got ready and my dad gave me a lift to the train station. In the relative privacy of the train, I read my texts.
The memories came flooding back. But only half a day’s worth. Up to getting ready for a night’s superheroing.
The rest was blank.
So, rather worried that none of my allies were texting back, I texted my back-up crew and asked me to come and help me find them later that night.
By the time I was coming to Writers, I was also rather worried about Hazel, who hadn’t turned up for any of the lectures in the morning and hadn’t answered her texts. I walked slowly up the stairs, feeling like it was still Monday.
Only Emma was there when I turned up. I sat down and we chatted a bit. We fell into silence as Emma, worried about Jenna, texted her once again.
Pete turned up. He sat down, asking the obvious question, “Where is everyone?” I shrugged in reply.
We waited a while longer. Finally, at five, James joined us, and, a couple of minutes later, Ross joined us. Five minutes late, but obviously not by his clock, Tom walked in.
Rather embarrassed by the hospital antics, I glanced away from him, just as Emma clicked her fingers. Not expecting this, I started, my heart hammering as she exclaimed, “Have you seen the paper?”
The previous conversation with Hazel popped into my head. Pleased I could remember something, I replied with, “No.”
Emma went into her bag as the others shook their heads. She handed us the Metro. The headline bore the affirmation: HEROES IN TROUBLE!
On the front cover was a picture of a large warehouse. In the middle of the floor were several chairs. These chairs each held a person; my allies. My team.
At the far end of the room, in the distance stood, from what I could make out, Curly Emma, McBain and the Overlord. A figure lay on the ground; another superhero.
They were wearing the same red as I usually do.
It took me a while to realise that it was me.
This realization came with an influx of memories. The previous night’s events came back to me.
Something also came to me in a flash. Most of the regular Writers were missing and most of the superheroes were tied up in a warehouse. The same number.
And three super-villains, one of which was Tom. The other two could equate to the only other two regular Writers who were here.
I tried desperately not to think about it, instead focussing on the few pieces which were there.
Afterwards, we separated; no point taking a trip to the Union tonight, said Pete, who could also be known as McBain.
I rushed along the streets of Glasgow, making for Argyle Street station. Halfway there, I slipped into a phone box to change into my costume.
Someone hammered on the door. Startled, I wondered if Tom had heard I could remember Monday again. Hesitantly, I opened the door.
I was immediately assaulted with several different greetings. For there stood Ice Bear, looking chilly. There was Yorkie, raring to go with her super strength. There was Dyson and Henry with their power over air.
I assured them all that I would be with them in a minute and turned back to the problem of my bag.
I had quickly learned, back when I started out, that I would need a safe place for my bag; I couldn’t leave it hanging around. Luckily, Doctor Zaze invented something for all of us – a device which sent our bags home. A mini-teleporter in essence. I asked her once if she could build a bigger version, but she said no in that squeaky voice she does.
I pressed the button and my bag disappeared. It would reappear in the hall back home.
I turned back to my crew. There was someone missing.
“Where’s the Invisible Banshee?” I asked.
“I’m here!” said a voice reproachfully from behind me.
I jumped and span round. No-one was there.
“Show yourself, IB!” I said, exasperatedly.
A tall, slim girl my own age appeared before me. She had long, straight, white hair. Her grey eyes surveyed her white nails which poked through her fingerless white gloves. These matched her white dress and her white heels. (Sorry for this description being so detailed. It’s just that I hardly ever see her and she’s been prompting me to be specific.)
“Sorry to scare you, Fire Bear!” she grinned, flicking her gaze to me, before disappearing again.
I rolled my eyes and led them towards the bus stop.
When we reached the warehouse, it had been put back to normal.
“What the-?” I gasped. I had spent the whole bus journey debriefing my troops about the plan of attack and it had been largely based on the fact that the grille would be off.
It was, in fact, on.
Extremely peeved, I turned to my colleagues. “They’re obviously expecting us to be going in that way. We’d better find another way in…”
“Do you want me to break down the door?” asked Yorkie, flexing her muscles.
“No!” I snapped. “Don’t be stupid! They’ll hear that!”
“Well, do you think Ice Bear will make a lot of noise?” asked Dyson.
“What on Earth are you talking about?! Don’t be daft!” I paused. “Unless, of course, she was to freeze the door before smashing it in.”
“You’d better stop her, then,” said Henry, simply.
I frowned at him before spinning round. Ice Bear had her hand against the garage door. I called out to her: “Wait!”
I was too late. The ice spread from Ice Bear’s hand until the whole door was covered in icicles. Then she drew back her hand. She balled up her fists, preparing to strike.
Her hand tapped the door lightly.
The door crumpled delicately.
Ice Bear turned to me. “What?” she asked my stunned expression.
We entered the compound cautiously. A few moments later, we came across a junction. We could go first left, second left, straight on, second right, or first right.
I decided to take charge. “Right. Yorkie; you go straight on. Dyson; second left. Henry; second right. Ice Bear; you take the right. I’ll go this way,” I indicated the left passageway. “IB…” I paused as I looked round for her. “You can go anywhere you want. If anyone finds anything, give us a bell and don’t do anything! We all need each other to take them all down…”
They all acknowledged my orders and hurried off.
My passageway was devoid of open doors. None of them budged as I pushed and pulled at them. The silence and emptiness of the warehouse began to creep me out.
Suddenly, after rounding a corner, I saw a door at the end of the corridor. Hurrying towards it, I saw that another corridor joined to my current one in front of the door.
Upon reaching the door, I noticed that the door was slightly open. I peered through it.
On the other side was my team. They seemed to be unconscious, tied to the chairs. McBain and Curly Emma were arguing.
“But I still don’t understand why we can’t just kill them all!” Curly Emma was exclaiming.
“I think the Overlord wants to get as much information out of them as he can,” was McBain’s reply.
“What information?” I muttered as Curly Emma asked the same question of McBain. He just shrugged.
Suddenly he glanced at the door I was behind and I ducked away. “Just keep watching the doors,” he said.
I couldn’t see how I was going to get in the room. If they were watching the doors, they weren’t just going to let me untie all my allies. Torn between just calling everyone and rushing in or making a plan, I didn’t notice the ice forming around my feet.
Suddenly, an arm grabbed mine and Ice Bear brought herself to a halt. She nearly banged into the wall, but I caught her before she did so.
“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped.
She looked at me reproachfully. “Going around quickly. What’s going on? What have you found?”
“The heroes are in there. We just need a distraction to get-”
I was interrupted by a yelling down the intersecting corridor. We both turned to look and watched as Yorkie ran past our small field of vision, followed closely by Dyson and Henry. While we gaped at the space where we had just seen them. A distant crashing told us what they were up to. I rushed to the door and peered through.
On the other side, Yorkie was shaking rubble off herself, while Henry and Dyson were clambering through the hole that had been created.
“I reckon that’s our distraction…” muttered Ice Bear. I glanced at her smiling face before pushing the door open and walking quietly through it.
Unfortunately, the movement caught Curly Emma’s eye and she turned towards us. “Ah, so we have the whole gang now!”
“Let them go,” I simply said, joining the rest of my back-up team. I muttered to them, “Yorkie, Ice Bear. Untie them, please. Dyson, Henry. Help me out, please.”
Yorkie and Ice Bear moved off among my allies as the rest of us confronted the two bad guys.
Curly Emma cracked her whip threateningly. McBain drew his gun. He glanced at Curly Emma and she struck.
I dodged the whip and caught it on its way back up. Gripping it tightly, I willed it to go on fire. It did.
Beside me, unfortunately, Dyson and Henry were taking deep breaths, sucking in the air around them. I was unwittingly close. They sucked in all the gases in the room, even the oxygen.
McBain lifted his gun.
I tried to fire a fireball at him but it never reached him. There was no oxygen left in my vicinity and my fire was going out. Curly Emma snatched her whip back. The fire went out. My breath caught in my throat.
“Guys?” I said, hoarsely. “This is not cool!”
A sudden crashing distracted me. I looked round at the other heroes. Ice Bear was strategically freezing the team’s bonds and waking them up by melting ice over their heads. Yorkie, however, was taking a less subtle approach.
Obviously, she had tried to untie Time Travelling Hero and Captain Formal whose chairs were tied together for some reason. Giving up on that, she had ripped the chairs apart, but had left the heroes tied to the backs of them. She then left them to wake up, stand up and wobble around, before landing in the remains of the chairs.
I tried to sigh but realised I couldn’t. I turned to Henry and Dyson at the same moment as McBain pulled the trigger twice. That was when they released the air they had stolen from me. I could breathe again! (Idiots.)
The bullets flew backwards and McBain ducked just in time. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t reckoned on the table being behind him and, as he twisted round and simultaneously ducked; he hit his head off the table and knocked himself out.
Curly Emma had been surveying her hands, not getting involved. Now she looked up and sighed. Before she could move, I knelt up and threw a fireball at her hand. She dropped the whip.
Sighing, she brought something from behind her back. It appeared to be a whip’s handle. I frowned as she moved her hand around in quick circles. Then she flicked her hand.
Suddenly, something struck me in the face so hard I was sent skidding sideways.
I swore and looked up, my face raw.
Curly Emma grinned and flicked her wrist. A crack sounded above me.
“She has an invisible whip!” I exclaimed. How did she make one of those? I thought.
“What should we do?” asked Dyson, looking worried and backing away.
I stood up and looked at the revived heroes; they looked a bit dazed, certainly not ready to fight.
“I could help,” said a voice by my ear.
“How?” I asked the Invisible Banshee.
“I can see the whip. I can dodge it and knock her out; she can’t see me or the whip.”
“How can she use a whip she can’t see?” I queried, exasperatedly.
There was silence for a moment before IB answered. “I dunno.”
I felt a small rush of wind and the Invisible Banshee was gone. We stood and watched. Curly Emma seemed to sense something was wrong, slowing down with her whip cracks, which really weren’t doing anything.
Suddenly, Curly Emma seemed to fall violently to one side, smacking her head off the desk. She crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The Invisible Banshee reappeared standing over her, grinning in triumph.
“Well, done, IB!” I grinned at her before she disappeared.
“What should we do with them?” asked Dr. Zaze. She had come up behind me and seemed to be back to her usual alert state.
“I don’t know…” I mumbled. I hadn’t thought we would ever defeat them, so I never planned this far. “Take them to the police station?”
“We should just kill them!” cried Floppy. I frowned at his suggestion.
“How about asking them where the Overlord is?” asked Miss Jen. “He is the most dangerous, after all.”
“That’s a brilliant idea!” exclaimed Ice Bear. We turned to look at her and she added, “Oh, sorry. Got a little over-excited…”
“That’s a brilliant idea!” repeated Zaze. I nodded.
We had a bit of difficulty waking the two evil-doers and when we finally did, they seemed rather confused.
“Where am I?” asked Curly Emma. “What’s going on?”
We looked at each other. “Do you mean you can’t remember anything?”
“No…” replied Curly Emma, hesitantly. “Who are you all you people?”
We got the same disconcerting questions from McBain.
“What’s going on?” I muttered to Zaze. “One bump to the head surely can’t make them forget that much!”
Zaze shrugged.
I turned to Ice Bear who was tugging at my cape. “Yes?”
“Doesn’t the Overlord do that mind thingy?” she asked me. I frowned. “Like read minds?” she continued. I nodded. “Can he do what Matt Parkman does, then?”
I stared at her for several seconds. Beside me, Zaze blinked in disbelief.
“You have got to be kidding me!” I finally exclaimed. “He’s got enough flaming powers without being able to control people as well! That is just totally unfair!”
“Why didn’t he just control the rest of us, then?” asked Zaze. “Maybe he can’t!”
I looked at the two confused villains. “Maybe we could just recruit them, instead of taking them to the police…”
“Are you kidding me?!” exclaimed Floppy, who had been listening in. “After everything they’ve put us through?!”
I looked at him, my expression blank.
“They could be spies,” added Spiky.
I sighed. What was I supposed to do with them? If they truly were innocent, then I would hate for them to be in jail. If they were spies they couldn’t come to our headquarters.
“How about, we let them join, but they aren’t allowed to come to our private places until they have proven themselves to us?” I suggested.
The heroes who were listening looked at each other before inclining their heads in agreement.
“Okay. Time, Formal; help McBain and Curly Emma out of here. Dr. Zaze; go with them and make sure that they’re alright and that they aren’t spies.” I ordered, adding as Zaze seemed about to protest, “Please don’t argue.”
Once they were gone, I told the others that it would probably be a good idea to try to find the Overlord before raising the place to the ground.
“You won’t have to look far,” said a voice from the door.
We all turned to find the Overlord standing there, McBain and Curly Emma standing either side of him.
“What have you done with our friends?” I snapped.
“None of your business,” he said in a sickly sweet tone.
Irritated, I clenched my fists, fire surrounding them.
The Overlord gestured to McBain and Curly Emma. “Take them alive where you can,” he muttered. The two hench-people jerked forward.
“Is he having a power trip, or what?!” called out IB from beside me, making me start.
I gave a small “ha!” before replying. “Power trip?” More like tripping over his own cloak!” This was followed, rather satisfactorily, by the Overlord, indeed, tripping over his own cloak as he tried to take a step forward.
“So what are we going to do about McBain and Curly Emma?” asked Kitty. In answer, I shrugged.
An idea suddenly occurred to me. I called out to the two advancing, bamboozled super-people. “Hey! You don’t have to do what he says! Fight him!”
They stopped and frowned at me before continuing.
“Well, that didn’t work,” said Mojojojoe.
I tried to think of something that would save McBain and Curly Emma while protecting ourselves. I was distracted by several of my allies readying themselves for battle.
Then I realised I probably shouldn’t be thinking.
I gave up at that point and strode forward. Stopping in front of McBain, I clenched my fist – and punched him right on the nose. I then turned to Curly Emma who looked mildly shocked and did the same.
They both fell to the floor again, looking extremely shocked.
“What the hell?!” cried McBain. “What was that for?!”
I looked up at the Overlord, hoping against hope that this meant he was no longer controlling them.
Damn it, said a familiar voice in my head. You may win this time, but I have other plans…
Before I could move, the Overlord disappeared.
“Quick! Search everywhere!” I called to them and they sprang into action. I stayed behind and helped McBain and Curly Emma to their feet.
I led them to the door, asking them which way they had went and where Zaze, Time and Formal had been ambushed. We met them halfway.
I looked around at the old warehouse. “Zaze…?” I said to her. “Could you put a demolition order in for this warehouse?”
“Um, no!” she cried. “I’m a scientist, not a hacker!”
I sighed. “Never mind. I’ll just ask Dyson. He’ll be able to; he’s hacked into a council’s computer before.”
“You mean you are working with a criminal?!” exclaimed Formal, indignantly.
I didn’t argue; the others had come back and confirmed what I feared. The Overlord was nowhere to be found.
“Right, let’s go home. No doubt the Overlord will show his ugly face again,” I told them, wearily. “Come on Ice Bear,” I added to my sister.
“That was a bit of an anti-climax…” muttered Floppy.
“That’s what she said!” exclaimed Bob. Everyone groaned.
As we exited the warehouse and Dyson assured me that the warehouse would be demolished by morning, I slowed and asked, “Has anyone seen the Banshee?”
“When have we ever seen her?” asked Yorkie, raising an eyebrow.
“You don’t think she’s been knocked out or kidnapped do you?” I was becoming concerned; usually when you talked about her as though she wasn’t there, she would let everyone know she was by speaking in someone’s ear! “Maybe we should go back and look for her…”
“Nah,” said Dyson. “She’ll be fine! No-one can see her, so she can’t have been caught! She’s probably away home!”
I frowned, doubting this. I glanced over my shoulder. No-one was there.
My wee sister started to enthuse how “amazingly fun” our adventure had been. This was repeated all the way home.
Perhaps some people have experienced the feeling, even in normal circumstances. Such as, coming across someone you have no memory of ever meeting, but who could tell you the date and time of when they saw you last.
Now take that feeling it and multiply it by having, say, several different people coming up to you all through the day, all of whom you don’t remember. A whole day of feeling like that.
Well, I woke feeling like that on the Tuesday morning, luckily in my own room. I silently got ready and my dad gave me a lift to the train station. In the relative privacy of the train, I read my texts.
The memories came flooding back. But only half a day’s worth. Up to getting ready for a night’s superheroing.
The rest was blank.
So, rather worried that none of my allies were texting back, I texted my back-up crew and asked me to come and help me find them later that night.
By the time I was coming to Writers, I was also rather worried about Hazel, who hadn’t turned up for any of the lectures in the morning and hadn’t answered her texts. I walked slowly up the stairs, feeling like it was still Monday.
Only Emma was there when I turned up. I sat down and we chatted a bit. We fell into silence as Emma, worried about Jenna, texted her once again.
Pete turned up. He sat down, asking the obvious question, “Where is everyone?” I shrugged in reply.
We waited a while longer. Finally, at five, James joined us, and, a couple of minutes later, Ross joined us. Five minutes late, but obviously not by his clock, Tom walked in.
Rather embarrassed by the hospital antics, I glanced away from him, just as Emma clicked her fingers. Not expecting this, I started, my heart hammering as she exclaimed, “Have you seen the paper?”
The previous conversation with Hazel popped into my head. Pleased I could remember something, I replied with, “No.”
Emma went into her bag as the others shook their heads. She handed us the Metro. The headline bore the affirmation: HEROES IN TROUBLE!
On the front cover was a picture of a large warehouse. In the middle of the floor were several chairs. These chairs each held a person; my allies. My team.
At the far end of the room, in the distance stood, from what I could make out, Curly Emma, McBain and the Overlord. A figure lay on the ground; another superhero.
They were wearing the same red as I usually do.
It took me a while to realise that it was me.
This realization came with an influx of memories. The previous night’s events came back to me.
Something also came to me in a flash. Most of the regular Writers were missing and most of the superheroes were tied up in a warehouse. The same number.
And three super-villains, one of which was Tom. The other two could equate to the only other two regular Writers who were here.
I tried desperately not to think about it, instead focussing on the few pieces which were there.
Afterwards, we separated; no point taking a trip to the Union tonight, said Pete, who could also be known as McBain.
I rushed along the streets of Glasgow, making for Argyle Street station. Halfway there, I slipped into a phone box to change into my costume.
Someone hammered on the door. Startled, I wondered if Tom had heard I could remember Monday again. Hesitantly, I opened the door.
I was immediately assaulted with several different greetings. For there stood Ice Bear, looking chilly. There was Yorkie, raring to go with her super strength. There was Dyson and Henry with their power over air.
I assured them all that I would be with them in a minute and turned back to the problem of my bag.
I had quickly learned, back when I started out, that I would need a safe place for my bag; I couldn’t leave it hanging around. Luckily, Doctor Zaze invented something for all of us – a device which sent our bags home. A mini-teleporter in essence. I asked her once if she could build a bigger version, but she said no in that squeaky voice she does.
I pressed the button and my bag disappeared. It would reappear in the hall back home.
I turned back to my crew. There was someone missing.
“Where’s the Invisible Banshee?” I asked.
“I’m here!” said a voice reproachfully from behind me.
I jumped and span round. No-one was there.
“Show yourself, IB!” I said, exasperatedly.
A tall, slim girl my own age appeared before me. She had long, straight, white hair. Her grey eyes surveyed her white nails which poked through her fingerless white gloves. These matched her white dress and her white heels. (Sorry for this description being so detailed. It’s just that I hardly ever see her and she’s been prompting me to be specific.)
“Sorry to scare you, Fire Bear!” she grinned, flicking her gaze to me, before disappearing again.
I rolled my eyes and led them towards the bus stop.
When we reached the warehouse, it had been put back to normal.
“What the-?” I gasped. I had spent the whole bus journey debriefing my troops about the plan of attack and it had been largely based on the fact that the grille would be off.
It was, in fact, on.
Extremely peeved, I turned to my colleagues. “They’re obviously expecting us to be going in that way. We’d better find another way in…”
“Do you want me to break down the door?” asked Yorkie, flexing her muscles.
“No!” I snapped. “Don’t be stupid! They’ll hear that!”
“Well, do you think Ice Bear will make a lot of noise?” asked Dyson.
“What on Earth are you talking about?! Don’t be daft!” I paused. “Unless, of course, she was to freeze the door before smashing it in.”
“You’d better stop her, then,” said Henry, simply.
I frowned at him before spinning round. Ice Bear had her hand against the garage door. I called out to her: “Wait!”
I was too late. The ice spread from Ice Bear’s hand until the whole door was covered in icicles. Then she drew back her hand. She balled up her fists, preparing to strike.
Her hand tapped the door lightly.
The door crumpled delicately.
Ice Bear turned to me. “What?” she asked my stunned expression.
We entered the compound cautiously. A few moments later, we came across a junction. We could go first left, second left, straight on, second right, or first right.
I decided to take charge. “Right. Yorkie; you go straight on. Dyson; second left. Henry; second right. Ice Bear; you take the right. I’ll go this way,” I indicated the left passageway. “IB…” I paused as I looked round for her. “You can go anywhere you want. If anyone finds anything, give us a bell and don’t do anything! We all need each other to take them all down…”
They all acknowledged my orders and hurried off.
My passageway was devoid of open doors. None of them budged as I pushed and pulled at them. The silence and emptiness of the warehouse began to creep me out.
Suddenly, after rounding a corner, I saw a door at the end of the corridor. Hurrying towards it, I saw that another corridor joined to my current one in front of the door.
Upon reaching the door, I noticed that the door was slightly open. I peered through it.
On the other side was my team. They seemed to be unconscious, tied to the chairs. McBain and Curly Emma were arguing.
“But I still don’t understand why we can’t just kill them all!” Curly Emma was exclaiming.
“I think the Overlord wants to get as much information out of them as he can,” was McBain’s reply.
“What information?” I muttered as Curly Emma asked the same question of McBain. He just shrugged.
Suddenly he glanced at the door I was behind and I ducked away. “Just keep watching the doors,” he said.
I couldn’t see how I was going to get in the room. If they were watching the doors, they weren’t just going to let me untie all my allies. Torn between just calling everyone and rushing in or making a plan, I didn’t notice the ice forming around my feet.
Suddenly, an arm grabbed mine and Ice Bear brought herself to a halt. She nearly banged into the wall, but I caught her before she did so.
“What the hell are you doing?” I snapped.
She looked at me reproachfully. “Going around quickly. What’s going on? What have you found?”
“The heroes are in there. We just need a distraction to get-”
I was interrupted by a yelling down the intersecting corridor. We both turned to look and watched as Yorkie ran past our small field of vision, followed closely by Dyson and Henry. While we gaped at the space where we had just seen them. A distant crashing told us what they were up to. I rushed to the door and peered through.
On the other side, Yorkie was shaking rubble off herself, while Henry and Dyson were clambering through the hole that had been created.
“I reckon that’s our distraction…” muttered Ice Bear. I glanced at her smiling face before pushing the door open and walking quietly through it.
Unfortunately, the movement caught Curly Emma’s eye and she turned towards us. “Ah, so we have the whole gang now!”
“Let them go,” I simply said, joining the rest of my back-up team. I muttered to them, “Yorkie, Ice Bear. Untie them, please. Dyson, Henry. Help me out, please.”
Yorkie and Ice Bear moved off among my allies as the rest of us confronted the two bad guys.
Curly Emma cracked her whip threateningly. McBain drew his gun. He glanced at Curly Emma and she struck.
I dodged the whip and caught it on its way back up. Gripping it tightly, I willed it to go on fire. It did.
Beside me, unfortunately, Dyson and Henry were taking deep breaths, sucking in the air around them. I was unwittingly close. They sucked in all the gases in the room, even the oxygen.
McBain lifted his gun.
I tried to fire a fireball at him but it never reached him. There was no oxygen left in my vicinity and my fire was going out. Curly Emma snatched her whip back. The fire went out. My breath caught in my throat.
“Guys?” I said, hoarsely. “This is not cool!”
A sudden crashing distracted me. I looked round at the other heroes. Ice Bear was strategically freezing the team’s bonds and waking them up by melting ice over their heads. Yorkie, however, was taking a less subtle approach.
Obviously, she had tried to untie Time Travelling Hero and Captain Formal whose chairs were tied together for some reason. Giving up on that, she had ripped the chairs apart, but had left the heroes tied to the backs of them. She then left them to wake up, stand up and wobble around, before landing in the remains of the chairs.
I tried to sigh but realised I couldn’t. I turned to Henry and Dyson at the same moment as McBain pulled the trigger twice. That was when they released the air they had stolen from me. I could breathe again! (Idiots.)
The bullets flew backwards and McBain ducked just in time. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t reckoned on the table being behind him and, as he twisted round and simultaneously ducked; he hit his head off the table and knocked himself out.
Curly Emma had been surveying her hands, not getting involved. Now she looked up and sighed. Before she could move, I knelt up and threw a fireball at her hand. She dropped the whip.
Sighing, she brought something from behind her back. It appeared to be a whip’s handle. I frowned as she moved her hand around in quick circles. Then she flicked her hand.
Suddenly, something struck me in the face so hard I was sent skidding sideways.
I swore and looked up, my face raw.
Curly Emma grinned and flicked her wrist. A crack sounded above me.
“She has an invisible whip!” I exclaimed. How did she make one of those? I thought.
“What should we do?” asked Dyson, looking worried and backing away.
I stood up and looked at the revived heroes; they looked a bit dazed, certainly not ready to fight.
“I could help,” said a voice by my ear.
“How?” I asked the Invisible Banshee.
“I can see the whip. I can dodge it and knock her out; she can’t see me or the whip.”
“How can she use a whip she can’t see?” I queried, exasperatedly.
There was silence for a moment before IB answered. “I dunno.”
I felt a small rush of wind and the Invisible Banshee was gone. We stood and watched. Curly Emma seemed to sense something was wrong, slowing down with her whip cracks, which really weren’t doing anything.
Suddenly, Curly Emma seemed to fall violently to one side, smacking her head off the desk. She crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The Invisible Banshee reappeared standing over her, grinning in triumph.
“Well, done, IB!” I grinned at her before she disappeared.
“What should we do with them?” asked Dr. Zaze. She had come up behind me and seemed to be back to her usual alert state.
“I don’t know…” I mumbled. I hadn’t thought we would ever defeat them, so I never planned this far. “Take them to the police station?”
“We should just kill them!” cried Floppy. I frowned at his suggestion.
“How about asking them where the Overlord is?” asked Miss Jen. “He is the most dangerous, after all.”
“That’s a brilliant idea!” exclaimed Ice Bear. We turned to look at her and she added, “Oh, sorry. Got a little over-excited…”
“That’s a brilliant idea!” repeated Zaze. I nodded.
We had a bit of difficulty waking the two evil-doers and when we finally did, they seemed rather confused.
“Where am I?” asked Curly Emma. “What’s going on?”
We looked at each other. “Do you mean you can’t remember anything?”
“No…” replied Curly Emma, hesitantly. “Who are you all you people?”
We got the same disconcerting questions from McBain.
“What’s going on?” I muttered to Zaze. “One bump to the head surely can’t make them forget that much!”
Zaze shrugged.
I turned to Ice Bear who was tugging at my cape. “Yes?”
“Doesn’t the Overlord do that mind thingy?” she asked me. I frowned. “Like read minds?” she continued. I nodded. “Can he do what Matt Parkman does, then?”
I stared at her for several seconds. Beside me, Zaze blinked in disbelief.
“You have got to be kidding me!” I finally exclaimed. “He’s got enough flaming powers without being able to control people as well! That is just totally unfair!”
“Why didn’t he just control the rest of us, then?” asked Zaze. “Maybe he can’t!”
I looked at the two confused villains. “Maybe we could just recruit them, instead of taking them to the police…”
“Are you kidding me?!” exclaimed Floppy, who had been listening in. “After everything they’ve put us through?!”
I looked at him, my expression blank.
“They could be spies,” added Spiky.
I sighed. What was I supposed to do with them? If they truly were innocent, then I would hate for them to be in jail. If they were spies they couldn’t come to our headquarters.
“How about, we let them join, but they aren’t allowed to come to our private places until they have proven themselves to us?” I suggested.
The heroes who were listening looked at each other before inclining their heads in agreement.
“Okay. Time, Formal; help McBain and Curly Emma out of here. Dr. Zaze; go with them and make sure that they’re alright and that they aren’t spies.” I ordered, adding as Zaze seemed about to protest, “Please don’t argue.”
Once they were gone, I told the others that it would probably be a good idea to try to find the Overlord before raising the place to the ground.
“You won’t have to look far,” said a voice from the door.
We all turned to find the Overlord standing there, McBain and Curly Emma standing either side of him.
“What have you done with our friends?” I snapped.
“None of your business,” he said in a sickly sweet tone.
Irritated, I clenched my fists, fire surrounding them.
The Overlord gestured to McBain and Curly Emma. “Take them alive where you can,” he muttered. The two hench-people jerked forward.
“Is he having a power trip, or what?!” called out IB from beside me, making me start.
I gave a small “ha!” before replying. “Power trip?” More like tripping over his own cloak!” This was followed, rather satisfactorily, by the Overlord, indeed, tripping over his own cloak as he tried to take a step forward.
“So what are we going to do about McBain and Curly Emma?” asked Kitty. In answer, I shrugged.
An idea suddenly occurred to me. I called out to the two advancing, bamboozled super-people. “Hey! You don’t have to do what he says! Fight him!”
They stopped and frowned at me before continuing.
“Well, that didn’t work,” said Mojojojoe.
I tried to think of something that would save McBain and Curly Emma while protecting ourselves. I was distracted by several of my allies readying themselves for battle.
Then I realised I probably shouldn’t be thinking.
I gave up at that point and strode forward. Stopping in front of McBain, I clenched my fist – and punched him right on the nose. I then turned to Curly Emma who looked mildly shocked and did the same.
They both fell to the floor again, looking extremely shocked.
“What the hell?!” cried McBain. “What was that for?!”
I looked up at the Overlord, hoping against hope that this meant he was no longer controlling them.
Damn it, said a familiar voice in my head. You may win this time, but I have other plans…
Before I could move, the Overlord disappeared.
“Quick! Search everywhere!” I called to them and they sprang into action. I stayed behind and helped McBain and Curly Emma to their feet.
I led them to the door, asking them which way they had went and where Zaze, Time and Formal had been ambushed. We met them halfway.
I looked around at the old warehouse. “Zaze…?” I said to her. “Could you put a demolition order in for this warehouse?”
“Um, no!” she cried. “I’m a scientist, not a hacker!”
I sighed. “Never mind. I’ll just ask Dyson. He’ll be able to; he’s hacked into a council’s computer before.”
“You mean you are working with a criminal?!” exclaimed Formal, indignantly.
I didn’t argue; the others had come back and confirmed what I feared. The Overlord was nowhere to be found.
“Right, let’s go home. No doubt the Overlord will show his ugly face again,” I told them, wearily. “Come on Ice Bear,” I added to my sister.
“That was a bit of an anti-climax…” muttered Floppy.
“That’s what she said!” exclaimed Bob. Everyone groaned.
As we exited the warehouse and Dyson assured me that the warehouse would be demolished by morning, I slowed and asked, “Has anyone seen the Banshee?”
“When have we ever seen her?” asked Yorkie, raising an eyebrow.
“You don’t think she’s been knocked out or kidnapped do you?” I was becoming concerned; usually when you talked about her as though she wasn’t there, she would let everyone know she was by speaking in someone’s ear! “Maybe we should go back and look for her…”
“Nah,” said Dyson. “She’ll be fine! No-one can see her, so she can’t have been caught! She’s probably away home!”
I frowned, doubting this. I glanced over my shoulder. No-one was there.
My wee sister started to enthuse how “amazingly fun” our adventure had been. This was repeated all the way home.