Earth Overcome: Part 4, Sara Raft

  I walked quickly but briskly down the hallway.  I was needed for a meeting.  A meeting with my team.  It had been three months since Wade Howlett's last attack, and now he was trying again.  This time it was more.  More help, more plan, and a bigger desire to carry his plan out.  That just made my desire to stop him bigger.  I had spent three months putting together my team, and now I was about to talk to them.  To tell them the problem, I was about to them just why I needed their help.  Funny, what three months can do.  I wasn't scared anymore, I was determined.

  I pushed through the giant doors and into the small conference room.  I'm not at liberty to say what our location is, technically this is a government operation. 

  "Gentlemen..." I started, trying to sound professional. "Welcome to the team.  I assume you've already met each other?"

  Gallatian was standing in a corner and not saying anything, and Agon was slumped in his chair.  That seemed about right.

  "Cut to the chase, Sara." said August. "It's really just us, and Space Face here doesn't talk.  Like, at all."

  "Fine." I grumbled. "As you both know there is a crisis that threatens this world and I need you to..."

  "If you would stop being ominous  we would help."

  "Please shut up and stop interrupting August."

   "Fine." he grumbled.

  "Now the problem is a supervillian named..."

  "She said supervillian!"

  "August!  If you don't shut up I will tear those wings off your back and feed them to you."

  "Shutting up now." he said quickly.

  "Good.  Now, a supervillian named Wade Howlett, has a viable plan to control all the animals on Earth and make them attack the American government."  August sat up and Jeph kept staring.  I had their attention now.

  "He can do that?" asked August.

  "Using a form of telepathy, yes."

  "So like mind control."

  "That is what I implied, isn't it?"

  "Query:" said Jeph. "Couldn't humans be considered animals?"

  "So you can talk." remarked August.

  "Let me answer him August."

  "And who says query?"

  "Shut up!" I yelled. Then I turned back to Jeph. "Yeah, humans are animals, but we're basically too smart to be controlled."

  He nodded like it made sense.

  "So he's powerful, right?  Cause there are a lot of animals on Earth." asked August.

  "Powerful he would be." I nodded.

  August looked around nervously like he thought Howlett was in the room with him.  "What do we do first?" he asked.

  "Well there's one more member of our team we need to rescue.  I had sent her to spy on Howlett but he found out about her.  I haven't heard from her in two months."

  "So we rescue her?" asked August.

  "Yes, her name is Yukino Pichelli."

  "What can she do?"

  "She's a painter." He snorted. "Who has multiple personalities." He laughed. "With the other personality being a ninja."

  He stopped and looked at me.  Then he said, "You plan to save the world with a teenager, an astronaut, a painter, and a CEO?"

  "No.  My plan is to save the world with a Dragon, A higher Cosmic Power, a Ninja, and a Butt-Kicker."

  "When you put it like that..."

  "Glad you agree.  Mission start in 0800 hours, but you need codenames for the operation."

  "Wow codenames?  What are we? Two?"

  "Just pick one."

  He shrugged, "Agon."

  "Gallatian." said Jeph from his corner.

  "Yukino is Sheath."

  "And yours?" asked Agon.

  "Scar.  I'll see you two at the mission launch."  Then I left.

  Video Log: Agon

  Sara, I mean Scar (I wonder why she calls herself that) wants us to do these video logs as part of mission reports.  I'm too lazy to write so these video logs work just fine.  She asked for our thoughts on the other members.  They seem okay, but Gallatian creeps me out and Scar is way serious.  People aren't that uptight without a reason  I wonder what's hers?

  Video Log: Gallatian

  -Error-  Codename: Gallatian has not recorded any logs.

  Video Log: Scar

  My thoughts on this team?  lord help us all?  I only really considered power hitters and not personalities.  I'm not naming names but one of us in particular was annoying.  I guess maybe a mission will whip them into line.



 

The Bullet

Introduction:

  School's back (boo!), but I'm homeschooled (yeah!), so that means that I get awesome assignments like this.  So when we decided to study Benjamin Franklin we found out that he taught himself to write by taking poems and turning them into short stories and then taking short stories and turning them into poems.  Then he wrote a "Autobiography" but that's a different story.  So that was my assignment.  Turn a poem into a story.  So here's a link to the poem "Richard Cory": http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174248
And here's the story, so you can compare.

  The Story:

 

In hindsight I should have seen it coming.  In hindsight it should’ve been obvious.  Though I never really paid attention.  I never really cared in the first place.  I was jealous of him.  Just like everyone else.  My name is Steven Cory.

All my life I’ve been jealous of my older brother, Richard.  It seemed Richard got everything.  He was handsome, tall, and he had the undying love of our parents.  I didn’t have any of that.  I didn’t have anything.  As we grew Richard continued to receive love from our parents.  I was ignored.  Then our parent died.  Of old age.  Thank God they weren’t murdered.  Richard inherited the entire company and the house from them.  I didn’t get a cent.  I had to live in the village streets, while Richard got to live in the house on the hill.

I was mad.  Mad is an understatement.  I was furious!  Furious at my parents, furious at the world, but most importantly furious at him.  Richard.  At any one point, did he ever think of me?  No!  He didn’t!  Did he ever say, “Times are tough, why don’t you live with me Steven?”  The least he could’ve done was give me a job at his big, beautiful company.  But he never did that, did he?

I wasn’t alone though.  Almost everyone in town hated him.  They hated the way he lived in his house on the hill.  Lording above them.  They hated his money, and they hated the way he sauntered into town and causally said “Good Morning.”  Everyone wished they had his education, his luck, his money.  But they couldn’t.  So everyone ignored him.  If they couldn’t be him, they would pretend he didn’t exist.  Richard didn’t have a wife, he didn’t have any friends, but he didn’t care.  He was rich.

In hindsight we were wrong.  We were wrong in hating him.  We were wrong in shaming him, but it’s not our fault.  How could we have known what was going to happen.  How could we have known what he was going through, what he was about to do?  I didn’t know.  One summer night, we were drinking in the local tavern.  Then we heard a BANG!!!  A shot rang out from the top of the hill.  We ran there.  For once in our lives caring about what had happened to Richard, but it was too late.  We found him in a pool of blood in his library.

               

Earth Overcome, Part 3: Sheath

  Yeah, so... where to start?  It had been two months since the whole Sheath fiasco and a lot had changed.  For one I was now a spy.  For another I lost my job, and to top it all off I had to share a mind.  Though I may be getting ahead of myself, how about we go back?  You see, about two months ago Sara Raft came to me and told me about some terrible problem that threatened to destroy Earth.  then she told me where Wade Howlett was hiding.  She wouldn't tell me her source, but she did send me into their base so I could spy on them.

  I haven't painted in a month, but what was worse was that I got no sleep.  You see me and Sara figured out that Sheath was triggered by me closing me eyes.  which meant if I wanted to control her I had to keep my eyes open. I can't sleep.  I can't.  If I do Sheath will kill everyone.  My name is Yukino Pichelli and I need... sommmme sleep.

  Looking back, I was bound to screw up.  The human body needs sleep.  I remember being dragged into Wade Howletts office (which was really a curtained off corner, but that's not important).  Wade was a tall, scraggly, thirty something year old man  Who hadn't shaved in quite awhile so he had hair everywhere.  Just wild hair growing every which way.  He smelled like old cheese, which I was told that was all he ate, but what I immediately noticed about him was: despite all his hair his ears still managed to stick out.

  "How long did you expect me not to know?" he asked me in his curtain office.  At first he seemed so calm, so serious.  Then he threw his head back and cackled like a hyena! "I'm a freakin' mind reader girly!  You can't hide anything from me!"

  I didn't say anything to him.  Though it wasn't much help.  He really is a mind reader.

  "You've been here for two months.  Sara trained you to clear your mind, and you can't sleep or the ninja in your head will kill everyone correct?"

  I didn't say a thing.

  "I am correct." he said triumphantly. "You know my dear, you really are an interesting person.  Seeing as how you have two minds to read."

  Then he stopped, and looked at the guards, "Do we have a dungeon?"

  "No sir?"

  "Do we have a basement?"

  "Yes?"  The guards seemed just as confused as I was.

  "Then throw her in there."  Both guards nodded and stood me up.  Then they started to walk me downstairs.  I didn't struggle.  I didn't even try.  Sara had taught me so many different things and one of those was how to pick my battles.  Even Sheath couldn't take on a full warehouse of thugs.  They did throw me into the basement and I do mean threw.  It took all my willpower to keep my eyese opened as I tumbled down the stairs. 

  "GAHH!!!" I screamed.  When I landed flat on my back.  I lay there for awhile and wondered what I was doing with my life.  Then I sat up and looked around me.  I've been down here since.

Charlotte new book

Prologe:

I wish I was normal, but unfortunately, I'm not.  Honestly, no one in this world is considered normal anymore.  It's the end of the 22nd century, year 2197, WWIII has essentially ended.  The last battles for our side are still being fought.  I am one of those soldiers who are fighting the last battles.  I am from the last country yet to be taken over from the Yorkine Union, Maykodonion.  It is a dominating power aimed at uniting the world, in bloodshed.

When I was young I was a victim of the first raiding party of the Union.  I died, but I was given a second chance.  I amputated my left arm as I rose from the grave.  I was only alive again when I joined the force against the Union, so I will die again when they win.

I am information officer Myck Kae, I was kept underground and tortured after I faced the real side of the Union's coin.

Every Night

Introduction:

*Sigh*  I both love and hate this story.  I love it because I consider it to be my best but I hate it because of why I wrote it.  Let's start from the beginning (a very good place to start).  About a couple months back I heard about the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.  I decided to enter this story.  I think it's pretty good, and I spent a lot of time editing it, but the judges didn't think it was so great.  In other words I lost.  Still, I'm not holding any grudges and I do think it'd be fun for you guys to read.  So here it is.  Pull up a seat, get some popcorn and enjoy: "Every Night".

The Story

 

Every night, it happens.  Every night, I lie in bed and wonder if she’ll come home.  Every night, I hope she returns safely.  Every night, I wonder how long this can go on.  Every night, I cry myself to sleep.  Every night.

 

My wife, there’s no real way to say this without sounding like I’m bragging.  My wife is superhero. “Techno Girl”; maybe you’ve heard of her?  Of course you’ve heard of her. It’s impossible not to hear of her. It seems I can’t take a step without seeing her on a newspaper, a TV screen, or even on the internet.  I didn’t marry her knowing this, since we’ve only been married two years, but I found out about what she was soon enough.

 

She has this… gift: the ability to make technology fight for her.  I think this is what qualifies her to dress up and rush off to fight crime.  Her career choice leaves me at home alone.  I should probably thank her or even be proud of her.  Without her I’d be enslaved to some evil overlord.  That doesn’t keep me from worrying though, and I always do. 

 

When she finally does come home (and so far she always has), she’s always covered in bruises, and sometimes there are burns.  I always pretend to be asleep when she comes home wounded.   If I tried to say anything, my problems wouldn’t go away.  It would just make matters worse.  Sky, which is her real name, is stubborn like that. Though what other kind of person would do what she does?  She claims that she helps people, and I have no doubt that she does, but it always seems like I’m the third wheel.

 

            The problem is that… I want to help her.  I just feel this need to help and protect which is what husbands should do. She may protect the city, but who protects her?  That role should fall to me, but have you seen the people she fights?  How am I supposed to protect her from the guy with lasers coming out his eyes?  How can I protect her when she has the power to protect herself? 

 

            Sometimes I feel like a useless bag. It holds everything in it and then is tossed to the side.  Then other times I feel like a luxury, something only for when she has extra time (which isn’t often, At least she’s not one of those heroes that have big, bright signals in the sky.  I’d never see her again).  There are other times when I feel like I’m being unreasonable and needy, like a child.  Then sometimes I feel like I should have left long ago, but there’s a problem with that:  I love her.  I love every single part of her, and I just can’t leave her.

 

            There was one time I almost showed myself the door.  The one time I didn’t pretend or lie.  I didn’t know when she was going to be home that night, so I was in the living room, trying to calm my nerves by watching TV.  It was some reality show about people who worked in a hospital.   Right in the middle of it, she crawled in through the window.  I could barely recognize her!  Her hair was frayed and singed.  Every time she moved there was a crunching sound, and her skin was charred black, like she had fallen into a barbeque pit.  The smell was horrid.  She smelled like smoke and ozone.  Though despite all that, she was smiling, and I knew she was smiling because of what she had just done.

 

“Hey sweetie.” she croaked.  “Mind if I join you?”

 

“Oh my god!  What happened?!”

 

            “Oh, just a little run in with Bolt.”  She sounded like one of the patients on the hospital show.

 

            She tried to get up and walk but instead fell down on the floor.  As I looked at her trying to get up once more, I realized how much it hurt me to see her like this.  Whenever she came home hurt, I always hurt too. 

 

“Who’s Bolt again?”  I never kept up with the people she fought; I think I’d worry more if I did.

 

            She coughed and managed to croak, “The lightning guy.”

 

            “You were hit with lightning?” I screamed.

 

            “Only five times.” This time she smiled.

 

            “Oh my god,” I whispered.  I covered my eyes for a moment, and then I really looked at her.  I looked at her lying on the floor.  Her costume was torn, her pale skin was burned to a crisp, and it smelled like fire.  In spite of all the damage, she was still smiling.  I sat down on the floor beside her, and gently lifted her head into my lap.  “Who’d you save this time?” I asked.

 

            She grinned even bigger.  “Bolt was robbing a bank, he even had a hostage, I put an end to that.”    

 

            “How’d you beat him?”

 

            “The bank,” she struggled for breath. “Was giving out,” she coughed and choked a bit trying not to laugh.  “Toasters,” she grinned again.  “Ever had your hand toasted?”  Then she coughed, and I looked down at her and decided I couldn’t do it anymore.

 

            “I can’t handle this.”

 

            “Handle what?  Handle me?” She started to ask.

 

            “Stop!  Just listen; I just want you to listen for once!  I-I can’t handle you coming home hurt every night.  I don’t like to see you like this!”  I gestured at her wounded body.  The TV was still going, but no one seemed to care.

 

            “Troy…”She whispered, but she never finished.

 

            “I love you” I said.  “But I can’t stand to see you hurt!”  She was quiet; for once I had actually stopped her. 

 

            I was still thinking about walking out, but then I looked around our apartment.  We were sitting in the tiny living room where the couch took up half the space.  Just a step away was our kitchen with a table squeezed into the corner.  Down the five foot long hallway was our bed and bathroom.  We didn’t really have a lot; she wouldn’t have a lot if I left.  All we really had was each other.  How much would leaving change?  She would still be a superhero, just a depressed one.  She wouldn’t smile as often, and I really do love her smile.

 

            “Troy,” she tried again.  “I do these things to help people.  You know why I can’t just quit.”

 

            “I know!” I cried.  “I know,” I said quieter.

 

            I did know what she was talking about.  Sky hadn’t always been a hero.  When she had first started out, she was a villain.  Not an insane one, but she still hadn’t been acting like a good person.  All she really did was rob banks, and she never hurt anyone.  She just threatened, or that’s what she told me.  She says no one was ever hurt, except for one person.  One person was all it took.  One day, Sky went too far.  She didn’t know the extent of her powers, and she accidently killed someone.  It was terrible.  I think that was her wake up call.  She got a new costume along with a new name and set out to try to make up for it.  She was never punished because no one ever made the connection between retired villain Technora and brand new superhero Techno-girl.  I think Sky is still beating herself up over it though.  She didn’t tell me until our second year together.  No matter how many lives she saves, her sins as Technora still loom over her. 

 

            “Sky, I just… I just wish I could be there for you more.”  I said.

 

            She smiled at me and said, “Troy you are there for me, every day and every night.  You give me a reason to come home.” We were both quiet again.  “You know, when I’m in those fights, I always think of you.”  She paused and smiled, “That’s what gives me the strength to win every time.”

 

            Now it was my turn to smile. She really did need me.  So I reached over, turned off the TV and said, “We might want to get some sleep.  It helps to heal the broken body.”

 

            “Yeah, yeah, Thank God It’s Friday, I wouldn’t want to go into work looking like a piece of wood out of a campfire.” She laughed and I laughed, we laughed for a long time. We when we stopped I got up to go to bed, but she pulled on my arm and whispered: “Stay.”  So in the end we fell asleep on the living room floor.  We did argue after that we argued a lot, it’s hard not to, but from then on we understood each other just a bit better.  And I never thought about leaving again.

Earth Overcome, Part 2, Gallatian

  Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to attend your own funeral?  Well I can tell you first hand.  It sucks.  You can see everyone, your family, your friends, anyone who ever cared about you, and you can't tell them that you are alive.  I really couldn't tell them, I can't speak.  My name is Jeph Wolfman, I'm also Gallatian. Everyday I hear everything.  Literally everything.  I know everything, but only as it happens.  I can't see into the future, I can only hear the present.  You'd be surprised at how much of it is bad.  You'd be even more amazed at what I do with this ability, I ignore it.  I ignore so I can wallow in self-pity at my funeral.  I have the power to right every wrong in the world, and I do nothing.

  So I stood far away, under a tree, and I watched my family.  I watched and heard as my brother, Michael, got up to speak,  "Jeph... um... Jeph was brave.  The bravest person I had ever known.  He pushed the boundaries, beat the odds, and achieved his dream of going into space.  It's... terrible that he was taken away from us, but he will be remembered.  Thank You."

  It hurt.  I wanted to tell them that I was here, that I was alive, but I couldn't.  I'd ruin their lives.  So I kept watching as my mother took the stand, "Jeph was  not only brave, he was kind.  the second he heard that something was wrong, he'd do anything in his power to help.  He always helped, no matter what.  Thank-You." 

  A piece of me fell apart after that.  Had I changed that much?  Had I just become greedy and self centered?  I continued to stand there and watch.  When I had got back to Earth, I had expected to welcomed with open arms.  After seeing the funeral the reality was setting in.  Not only was I covered in stars, but I had come back from the dead.  It would be selfish of me to come back into their lives now.

  Then I heard a voice behind me, "So what's the universe really like?  I mean, you'd know."

  I whipped around, ready to blast whoever was there.   But it was... Sara Raft?  There was an awkward silence, for some reason the suit wouldn't let me speak. 

  "You don't talk huh?" she asked.  "Why don't I skip right to it?  There's a matter of national security and we need... superheroes.  A team of superheroes to be exact, and you'd be perfect."

  A matter of national security?  She said I was needed?  The Creators had told me about a disaster on Earth.  Was this it?

  "I'll help." I thought. "I will assist you." I said.

  "Good." she nodded, "You should come with me."  Then she left, and I followed her.  Though I did look one last time at my family.  I was leaving that life behind.

Earth Overcome, Part 1: Agon

  "Why the name?"

  "What name?" I asked.

  "Agon."

  "That?"

  "Yes."

  "It's the greek word for anger."

  "Your powers come from China."

  "I'm a superhero." I said. "I think I have the right to name myself."

  "Stop being a smart-@#$."

  "It's better than being a dumb one." I retorted.

  "This is what I mean."

  "Let it go." I said. 

  Yeah, that's the kind of conversation I have everyday.  Don't worry I'm not talking to myself, I talk to Long my... friend.  Well that's note entirely true.  Long is a little old Chinese man, who just happens to live in my head.  I'm not kidding, though I probably am crazy.  Though I'm not lying about the super powers, those are real.  I can breathe fire, I have wings, and a tail.  That also comes with strength and durability, which seem to be the stock superpowers.  I also have a Chinese man in my head, and that's one of my better assets. 

  My name is August Summers, and I'm... half-dragon and half-human.  I'm still not kidding.  I look like a Dragon on two legs.  Being a superhero (if I can even call myself that) is way different from the movies.  Iron Man never accidently killed someone, and J.A.R.V.I.S. is way cooler than Long (the guy in my head).  It had been two months since San Francisco where I fought Dark Sage, and I was poor.  Here's a shocker, no one wants to hire a half-dragon guy.  Trust me I tried.  Most people scream when they see me.  If they have a weapon they try to kill me.  I'm not exactly well loved.  So instead I live on roofs where nobody could find me.  that's where I was when my life changed for the millionth time.

  The whole reason I'm this ugly is because Long chose me to find the lost Dragon civilization.  I had no leads on where to look, besides that they were underground.  I had no family (except for my sister but she didn't want to see me) and I had no friends.  That's when the change came.  I guess somebody had heard my brooding because I was on my roof, when I heard someone behind me.  I sat there, and pretended to be oblivious.  Then I whipped around and slashed with my claws!  Whoever it was managed to roll out of the way.  I swiped again but she stepped back.

  "You always this friendly?" she asked.  I swiped again, but she just sidestepped.  "Don't you even want to know who I am?"

  "No." I grunted. "I want you to leave!"

  "My name is Sara Raft." 

  "You must be deaf." I said. "I said for you to leave!" I yelled bringing my claws over my head and down on her!  Again she just simply stepped out of the way.

  "We need you... August."

  That hit hard, "H-how do you know my name?"

  "I know a lot about you." said Raft.

  "Probably more than you want to know."

  "Don't be a smart-@#$!"

  "People keep telling me that, I haven't stopped yet."

  She sighed, "The point is there's a threat to national security.  Something that we've never seen before, something that we need heroes for.  Heroes like you."  She pointed at me like I had no idea who "you" was.

"I don't know..." I said. "Maybe I just want to fight you some more."

 "You can try." she said.

 "Let me check with Long."

 "Who?"

 "The Chinese man in my head."

 "Okay?"

  I could almost see her locking me in some asylum so I really didn't want to get on her bad side.

  "Long, what do you think?" I thought.

  "I think you should kill her and keep looking for the dragons."

  I sighed, "Good talk, Long."  Them I switched from thinking to talking, "Miss Fury..."

  "It's Raft."

  "Miss Raft I'm in."

  She put out her hand and I shook it, "Two down, one to go." she said.

  "What?" I asked.

  "You'll see." she smiled.