Tough Thoughts - Mildcard - We Can Be Heroes the Threequel

Chapter 14 || The Power Source

MISSY MORENO

I glanced at the rock again. We were moving in the darkness, covered by leaves and really stinky mud, and I saw some Velocrians. I halted and everyone else did, not daring to breathe. So I eavesdropped. They talked in English, but it was heavily accented, so I had to listen very carefully, not wanting to get the wrong information.

"These children are very powerful," one said.

"Yes, but no match for the power source we have," another one scoffed, "They'll be dead like flies within minutes. All winds, storms, traps... they're all controlled by Crystal."

"She's the purple one?"

"We only have one Crystal on this planet. She's always purple."

"So that's what's making the winds and storms and tables turn?"

"Yep. And they will never find out."

"What about the robots? The ones we're sending to invade Earth?"

"Nah, those robots are plentiful. They can destroy these children and we can sit back and watch. They're indestructible."

The two Velocrians laughed, walking away, unaware of their overheard conversation.

"That's it," I whispered when I was sure they were gone, "The gem is a power source!"

"They were talking about a kid named Crystal," Rewind shook his head, "They were referring to the power source as 'she' and 'her'."

"Yeah, but don't you remember that movie we watched last year in Social Studies?"

"Which one?"

"The one about the Holocaust."

"Oh, that one! The Great Escape?"

"These 'Velocrians' don't just do stuff. They do it based on our history of things that worked to confuse people."

"History?"

"Well, a couple times, that is."

"But how can you be sure--"

"Got a better plan?" Guppy raised an eyebrow.

"But remember, the prisoners all named the tunnels so it acted as if they were talking about people. I don't know why, but these Velocrians are stupid enough to name their gem 'Crystal'."

"So, we need to find that gem, break it, and cut out their power source?"

"They have robots attacking at every corner," I said, "And they're indestructible. If we shut off the power source, it's the only way to kill them."

"Smart," Noodles nodded.

"Okay... someone climb up into a tree. Noodles?"

"Yep."

Noodles swung himself up and looked around.

"See anything?" Rewind hissed.

"Nope... but faintly I see a tiny purple speck."

"Where?"

"That way," he pointed in the direction and we all followed him.

I held Guppy close to me and she held my hand. If we lost Guppy because she was too small and we couldn't see her, I'd kick myself forever. Suddenly, there was shaking.

"What's that?" Noodles asked, scared.

Back with the Heroics...

They watched as the whole area began to shake.

"What was that?" Guppy asked, clinging onto Missy like she was a life raft.

Suddenly, a tree branch came and stabbed right through Missy.

"Oh my gosh," A-Capella dropped.

"REWIND! QUICK!" Noodles yelled and Rewind apparently rewinded time and pushed Missy out of the way just as the tree branch almost stabbed her.

"Phew! Thanks," she said before grabbing her sword and cutting off the tree branches as they fell, "WATCH OUT FOR FALLING WOOD!"

Guppy was in shark mode, punching at any tree branch out to get her. A-Capella held onto Wheels' armrest, clearly scared by the fight. The trees were bending and thrashing like the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter!

"AHHH!" Red Lightning Fury screamed as the tree branch almost got her son.

Everyone then screamed again when the tree branches almost got them all. Suddenly, all the tree branches grabbed at Rewind and shoved him down their trunk.

"AHHH! MISSY!" he yelled before he was gone.

"REWIND!" she screamed, reaching her arm out to grab him but he slipped, as the tree flung her back.

The Heroics watched in horror and the trees stopped and the children got up. And Rewind was gone.

"Oh, no..." Missy paced, "This is bad... Rewind can't rewind time anymore!"

Then, Rewind came crashing through the ceiling.

"Is that..." he looked at the monitor.

"There are security cameras that let us see footage here."

They watched as the screen switched over to Wildcard and his team.

WILDCARD

We were busy putting food in our pockets and even in our clothes. We were so starved, it was like seeing gold in front of us.

"So how are we supposed to get out again?"

"Teleport?"

"I don't know, but we'll figure out a way," Fast Forward nodded.

"Okay. Well, staying in this Velocrian form is killing me. It's like watching a real beast form right in front of my eyes."

Facemaker changed back into his normal form.

"Okay, we've just gotta--"

"HEY! YOU!"

"Oh chizz..." I stopped, staring at the Velocrian.

"Why were you just an Velocrian?!"

"Oh my gosh..." Fast Forward sighed, "This was a bad idea..."

"SMUGGLERS! SMUGGLERS! IMPOSTER!"

He grabbed Facemaker and I instinctively reached out.

"WILDCARD! TELEPORT OUT! TELEPORT OUT!"

"I'm not leaving without--"

"TAKE THE FOOD AND TELEPORT OUT!"

"Okay..." I sighed and teleported out with Fast Forward before we could get caught.

They were after us.

"KEEP RUNNING!" I heard Facemaker scream as he was dragged away.

"Come on!" I yelled, grabbing Fast Forward's arm.

FAST FORWARD

Years ago, I would've died if Wildcard put his hand on my arm. I would slowly faint into the softness of it and cherish it. Now, I was feeling like we were going to get killed and just die off. So I held on, running as fast as I could. They fired and we dodged, hoping not to get killed. Wildcard eventually teleported us to a mountain, but they were there, too.

"OH MY GOSH THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" I screamed when I saw them assembling all around.

"WE'VE GOTTA HIDE!" Wildcard yelled and teleported us.

"Why are we here?" I whispered, "Are we in a--"

"Shhh!" he hissed, "We're in a tiny crack in a rock. They can't see."

"So we're inside a rock right now?!" I exclaimed.

"SHHH!" he hissed again, "Just keep calm. We may need to be here for a while."