Origins

Chapter 7. Dark Truths

Shade

The building collapses. Raid holds the chunks of ceiling back with his gloves. "Hurry!" he manages to choke out in the poisoned air. I finish the portal and stand back up. "Done," I say wearily. Raid lets go of his magic, and both of us jump into the darkness, just before I black out. Nightmare. It feels like a nightmare that never happened. But I know it isn't. I know it's real. Norman is dead. Raid and I barely managed to escape with our lives, breathing that poisoned air. Dead. I should be dead. But I am alive. My dad, Hades, kept me and Raid alive. Ozone might've betrayed me. Might've tried to kill me. That might be why all of this happened. But that might also be why I escaped. Why I'm now in a coma, but still breathing? I can't distinguish friends from enemies. Is Ozone a friend or more, or is he an enemy? I can't tell anymore.

I wake up. I connected to 3 different machines, but they've done their job and kept me alive. Itachi walks into the room. "So the sleeper finally wakes up," he jokes, good-naturedly. "I was in a coma, that's not fair," I joke along with him. "Well, I think Static and Cosmo have something for you, but they couldn't find, you, and you and Raid never contacted base," he says. "My communicator was broken, and Norman had just died. There was nothing I could do," I say while trying to sit up. "Arrgh," I cry "Easy there, you've got at least two bruised ribs, don't make it more," Itachi says. I can't deny the truth in his words, so I lay back down. "Just saying, Ozone came back just now. Don't know where he is, but he looks mad," Itachi says, trying to comfort me. "Well, that means he found something," I say. "Well, I wonder what it is," I say.

The King

I must give them a command soon. They will succeed, or I wipe them off the map. Nobody will ever have known them or ever will know them. I will make the new heroes suffer for what the heroes of old did to me. I will prevail.

Ozone

Static seems to try and get me off track. I decided it would be best to go with him. "Then fine," I say, after he swears to bring me to Chris. "But first, you're gonna have to put this on. Can't explain now, it's supposed to help you," He says. I agree and put on the watch. The beast inside me retreats, and I feel so much better. But I don't show it. He might not take me If I do. We keep walking, and Static tells me to wait, right outside the medical bay. "Wait here, I'm gonna go get Shade," he says. "Ugh. Fine," I agree, just cause he has leverage over me, and We've only been here for 4 days, so I still don't know my way around. He comes out with a bed, and three machines, and Shade. "Why the bed?" I ask. "I've got more than 2 bruised ribs, and I need pure oxygen. I've been breathing air mixed with bits of dust, rock plaster, oh yeah, and deadly chemicals," he says. 'Ok, geez," I say, trying to preserve my friendship with Shade. "Speaking of Shade, where's Aura?" Static asks. "I don't know, out exploring?" I say. "Ok then, now you asked for Itachi, Cosmo, and Chris?" Static asks. "Yup, and the rest of the guys," I say, repeating my request. "Ok, I'll call 'em over," He says. Static and I walk, while Shade grabs a wheelchair, rehooks up his machines, and rolls after us. After getting the rest of the guys, we meet Cosmo, Itachi, and Chris in the meeting room. I decided to say something. "Who is The King? Why? Why would you have betrayed us?" I ask. "Woah, woah, woah. What do you mean Ozone? They've never betrayed us," Ocean says. "Oh, but they have. They've betrayed us before they even recruited us," I say. "Ok, you caught us," Chris says before Itachi can object. "We'll answer both of your questions since we have to," Cosmo says. "First, we don't know his name, but what we do know is that he is the force of all evil, and has soul powers. He's also a son of Hades." Itachi tells us. "Now answer the last question. Why did you side with those maniacs?" I say. I look over at Shade and he looks weak and devastated. I forgot that he just popped out of a severe coma. "Well, we thought they would spare our planet, and our hometowns. We worked with them and fought for them because we thought The King would then see how hard we worked and spare our loved ones. But he destroyed the whole planet in the bloodiest way possible. That was our breaking point. That was when we broke our alliance. And now, he might come after you guys. We put you all in danger without knowing," Chris says. Shade's eyes start to close. "Shade!" I run over to him, in his wheelchair. The heartbeat monitor goes flat. "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" it goes. I know I won't be able to generate enough power to shake him back to reality unless I... I rip off the watch and put on my gloves. He's still alive, and I know it. I rub my hands together, and yell, "Clear!" and transfer all of the electricity to him. The monitors and machines start to flicker. "Oh father," I whisper. "Give me the strength," I whisper once again, as a prayer to my father, Zeus, Shade's hands start to jerk. Drag steps back, and has a seizure. Not again. His seizures are like the end of humanity. Shade's eyes start to open back up. The lights in the base flicker. They finally pick a side and turn off. The only source of light is the electricity visibly running through my arms.

Denise

I get a sudden pain in my head. It's giant and feels like somebody is smashing my skull in with a rock, but I won't die. "Aarrgh!" I cry out, I can't help it, the pain is too strong. "Denise, are you okay?" My boyfriend, Shaun, runs to my side. "It's Shade, something's wrong with him. Shaun's worried eyes were the last thing I saw before I blacked out.

Blip, Blip, Blip, Blip. The heart monitor makes that sound every time my heart beats. I've been here for a while, I know it. The sensation that something is wrong fades. Shaun is still standing over me. "Bae, I thought you died," he says, worried. "It's Shade, but he's fine now," I say before he leans in for a kiss. I try to resist, but he eventually gets it. The kiss is warm and soft. He never treats anybody else this nicely. It's part of the reason why I fell for him. "Come on, let's go. We're having a meeting," He says while leading me there," I go on with him and join the meeting. "Are you alright?" Aurora asks. "Yeah, I'm fine now," I say. "Aurora starts the meeting. "We have my brother. It's heartbreaking for me to see him in a cage, but we're going to erase the wrong that our former allies have done. The King visited me and said that he would help me make this wrong right. And that means, Shaun and Denise, that we will bring back our family from the evil that The Queen has done," she continues. " I will show you all this future." Aurora creates a ball of light in the palm of her hand and tosses it up. It implodes, blinding us while showing us the future. I see me. I'm happy standing next to my mother. Shade is running around with Ozone, looking happier than I've ever seen him before. Shaun is standing near me, with Cosmo at his side. He also looks happy. Aurora is standing next to her family smiling. Bradley, though, is looking toward the sky. The picture vanishes, and we're returned to reality, more determined than ever. The meeting is dismissed, and Shaun comes in. "Are you sure you're ok? I'm worried. You might not live through the battle if you don't let go of him." He said. "I'll try," I say. "But it won't be easy."