Heroes

Chapter 50: smashed phone

Karl POV.

I got in the most trouble that I had ever been in after disappearing for twelve hours. When I returned home and Bad found me he practically collapsed into my arms and cried from fear that something happened to me. His loud sobs caught Philza’s attention, but he wasn’t worried in the same way that Bad was.

For the next twenty minutes I was yelled at by Philza and by Techno, with the exact same argument as when Tommy had snuck out to hang with his friends. ‘What if Dream or Sapnap or Skeppy found you and George had to blow his cover to save you?’ I decided it was best not to say anything.

Thankfully, nobody in the house seemed to focus on the fact that I was wearing a strangers hoodie (or the slightly worse realisation that I was wearing an arsonist’s hoodie). But after a stern telling off from Philza I was sent to my bedroom, plus the threat he’d line my walls with steel so I couldn’t teleport anywhere.

Now I was grounded, can you believe it? Me, an adult, am not allowed to go out on my own and do what I want. Plus I am a superhero! which makes me able to look after myself better! It was way too unfair. Although at least my phone wasn’t taken away, that would be just embarrassing.

Since I had nothing else to do I just started scrolling through tiktok, watching whatever videos there were. There’d be a couple funny jokes, a couple cute animal videos, a couple video game videos, and a lot of fan edits of myself, George, Bad, and Techno. This was typical behaviour, and a couple of the edits I liked and commented on, which would drive everyone crazy.

As I was relaxing I got a phone call, which distracted me from scrolling mindlessly through videos. The caller ID was that of one of my friends and co-workers, a guy called Dr Gamers, but we just called him Foolish. “Hello? Foolish?” I greeted quietly, not wanting to risk having anyone overhearing me and taking my phone away.

“Yeah, it’s me. Sorry for calling you so late. I hope I didn’t wake you,” My friend said from the other end of the light. There was the sound of rustling in the background so I presumed he was moving as he spoke, but I knew that he worked late on Fridays so he might have been leaving work.

“So I was just wondering if there was some kind of fire or something that I didn’t know of. I haven’t gotten an email to steer clear of the building, but the place is deserted,” Foolish explained. “I figured that if anyone would know anything it would be you and so I was-”

“What do you mean the place is deserted?” I cut him off.
“I mean what I’m saying.” I replied. “I was working late in the cafeteria, so I could snack while I did, and when I walked out the place was a ghost town.” My eyebrows furrowed at his words before an idea popped into my head, telling me a possible solution.

There had been no case of the building ever having had this happen, I mean all of the staff just disappearing without warning could only be the work of magic. Actually… It could also be the work of some super criminals.

I muttered a swear word before standing up, knowing I needed to go get him. “Stay where you are,” I instructed firmly before realising it might not be the best idea. “Actually, lock yourself in the lab where you work, or in a cleaning cupboard or something. Don’t move, don't talk, just keep the door shut and I’ll call you when I’m there.”

“But Karl, I don’t understand what’s going-” the phone cut off, and I was confused. I hadn’t hung up on him, did he really hang up on me mid sentence?
I took that as a cue for me to hurry up. I switched out my clothes, and considered changing into my supersuit but then I’d be more likely to get caught by Philza who was absolutely terrifying.

I grabbed a pocket knife that was sitting on my desk, deciding I could probably use that to defend myself since I was in a rush to find my friend. He had told me that he was in the cafeteria, so that is where I teleported too. The second movement was sensed in the cafeteria, the lights flickered on.

Most people if they were in my situation would be worried that someone would check the cameras and see me teleporting into the building. However, there was a program on the cameras, when something would change suddenly, for example an employee teleporting into the middle of a cafeteria.

When that happened, the footage was sent to one of the executives or CEOs who knew who I was, they’d simply delete all footage of me in the building. So I wasn’t hesitant at all as I began sprinting down the hallway in the direction of the elevators that Foolish used to get to the section of the car park where he parked his car.

I tried calling him several times as I ran through the hallways, but I couldn’t get an answer, I couldn’t even leave a voicemail or text either! My first thought was he was in the elevator but it was coming up from the ground floor towards the level I was on, so I figured it would be safer if I took the stairs.

The building was eerily quiet, which I guess could make sense after all I never came here at night, it would obviously be a lot quieter than it was in the day. When I was running down towards the ground floor I heard the shuffle of footsteps as I passed the eighth floor. So I decided the best idea was to teleport to the far end of the hallway on the floor to have a look.

Sure enough I did that, ducking behind a corner of the hallway, looking towards the elevator and seeing a group of six masked men carrying something heavy. I took a step closer towards the action, a microscopic step closer, and found my foot bumping something small, causing me to look downwards.

Foolish’s phone was on the floor, or at least it looked like it was Foolish’s phone. It had been smashed in, but I recognised the brand and the gold and blue coloured case which he’s owned for as long as I’ve known him.

When I turned my attention back towards the elevator I looked closer and saw that the men were carrying an unconscious person. However by the time I was about to teleport over to fight them the doors slid shut and I swore. The elevator was made of steel, meaning I couldn’t teleport inside it and beat them all up before the doors reopened like in an action movie.

Instead I figured the best idea was to teleport onto the ground floor, or into the carpark, to ambush them when they stepped out. So that’s what I did. It was a lot more difficult since I didn’t really use the car park, after all I lived nearby and if I was running late I could just teleport. However I teleported to the corner of the room, and was in time to see the elevator doors open.

Turns out there were more masked assailants down here, waiting with guns loaded surrounding what looked like an armoured mail truck. I was about to start running in the direction of Foolish when someone grabbed my waist and pulled me to the ground while clasping a hand over my mouth.

In an instant I began thrashing, trying to get out of the strangers grip as fast as I could, and I knew that teleporting while I was in contact with an object usually meant they’d teleport with me (which is part of the reason I never ended up naked when I teleported).

But my option to do that was taken away when a cold bracelet was slapped around my wrist, causing me to whine in pain. The hand around my waist slid under my hoodie and shirt, making me shiver as the person began making patterns on my bare skin. I finally looked over my shoulder to see Sapnap as the one who was holding me.

When his eyes met mine, the arsonist gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry Karl,” he muttered in my ear, before moving one of his hands to brush a stray strand of hair out of my face. “But we need to borrow your friend. I can’t let you stop this.”
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1470 words

Damn it, so close to 1469