Tough Thoughts - Mildcard - We Can Be Heroes the Threequel

Chapter 19 || Alive But Dead, On And Off

MISSY MORENO

I woke up to a purple glow in my eyes. It was so bright, I felt like dying. Wait... where was I? I looked up in the sky to see stars and a pitch black canvas. You could do anything you wanted with it. But where was that purple coming from? I tried to get up. And it didn't work. So I grunted, rolling over and checking out what I had. I was lying at the bottom of a gorge. With the cold black stone beneath me. With the light of a purple substance I didn't know about. And with Ojo's iPad, which was cracked in places. But not broken.

So I opened it, looking through the drawings and ignoring the glass cracking my fingers. I scanned through her drawings.

WILDCARD

I watched as Ojo stared in dismay at her stylist.

"That's it. I drew my last three drawings to her."

"She's dead," Wheels turned to face her, "She won't get them anyways."

"I wouldn't say she's dead," Ojo pointed at the monitor.

And there she was. Missy. She was rolling over and checking out the iPad, scrolling through the drawings. So I let the tears fall. She scanned through them, furrowing her brows like she does whenever she's thinking about a plan. And she slowly stands up, limping forward. And I see it. A gem. Bigger than her. Brighter than anything. And glowing purple.

"The gem..." Noodles gasped, "It's at the bottom of that gorge!"

Missy took a good look at it, matching it to Ojo's drawings.

MISSY MORENO

I saw three new drawings. One of me along the tightrope, falling in, one with me next to the broken gem with purple electricity all over me, and one with me with my hands up, and floating objects all around me. Must be me in heaven. I took out Ojo's flashlight and began to look for any way to get the gem out of the wall so it'd be easier for me to break. Then, I felt engraving. So I read it.

Missy Moreno - child of Marcus Moreno, Heroic.

"What?" I whispered.

Why was my name on the rock? How'd they know me? Did they know I was here? I looked around but found nothing. Only myself and the black walls with the glowing gem. But it wasn't important. I had to smash the gem. I frowned again and checked out any other way. Then, I saw it. A little square on the other side. And it said 'Touch ID'. What? What creatures do this?! Then, I realized. It must belong to the king.

So just because I was being stupid, I put my finger on the square. It couldn't hurt. And I was grateful for that stupid act. Because turns out, the Touch ID belonged... to me. The gem was loosened and I almost got smashed as it toppled onto me. I grabbed my sword and began to hack at it, but found it was no use. It wouldn't break. So I grabbed the heaviest rock I could find and began to smash it. And it worked.

I cracked it once.

Twice.

Thrice.

And it burst open. I cut it again as the purple energy surrounded me. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven eight--and I was hit right through the chest with the purple light. It didn't feel good. I screamed, not wanting to feel the pain, but my legs were rooted to that spot. I screamed again as the pain increased and I felt myself hit the floor at some point.

And I was out like a light.

WILDCARD

The purple light filled the screen and we couldn't see anything. Then, finally, the camera went black. And we saw nothing.

With the Velocrian King...

The Velocrian King snickered when he realized he could do whatever he wanted.

"ROBOTS!" he yelled, "ATTACK EARTH!"

He laughed maniacally and suddenly, the robots all died.

"What?" he gasped, "Impossible... the robots are powered by the..."

He suddenly realized what might've just happened and ran to the security camera footage of the gorge, which was the only one not severed. He didn't see a purple glow. He did not see any radiating energy. He saw black. Pitch black. And he knew what had happened. Someone had put out the gem. They had destroyed it. But who?

The Heroics had all been captured! The Junior Heroics were captured! The trainer of Heroics was captured! The head of the Heroics' program was captured! Missy Moreno was dead! She fell down in the... The Velocrian King suddenly reeled.

"What? Impossible! Missy Moreno should be dead! She fell down the gorge! She couldn't have..."

He trailed off again. Then, he summoned his guards and army.

"Guards! Army of Velocrysis! March to the Black Mountain!"

"B-But sir... That'll take one full day--"

"I DON'T CARE HOW LONG IT TAKES! YOU NEED TO FIX THAT GEM AND KILL WHOEVER DESTROYED IT!"

"Sir, the gem cannot be fixed once broken," his assistant said.

"How'd you know?"

"Because I found it..." his assistant said again, "You can't fix it. The power's out."