Brent Cosmos: A Hero's Quest

Chapter 18: Plan B

    My friends all stood around looking at each other. None of them knew what to do. Everyone then started to glare at Adojo.
    “Nice going Adojo,” said Fang.
    “Hey, I was just trying to make a point,” Adojo replied.
    “Well you made it,” said Misty, “And you also completely destroyed Brent’s self-confidence!”
    “Oh come on,” Adojo said. “Did I say something so wrong?”
    “Some hero you are?” said Fightbot.
    “Yeah Adojo why don’t you just crush his dreams while you’re at it?” said Ruby.
    “You know being a hero means everything to Brent,” said Misty.
    “Why do you always have to give Brent such a hard time anyway?” said Mighty.
    “Yeah, I mean he has his problems, but he’s a good guy,” said Diablo.
    “Why is everyone mad at me?” said Adojo. “He’s the one who keeps getting himself and us into trouble just because he can’t calm down.”
    “We all know Brent’s not perfect,” said Fightbot. “But he does his best. When he makes mistakes we have to be there to help him fix things and make it through. NOT make him feel worse about them.”
    “Yeah, Brent doubts himself half the time anyway,” said Ruby. “The last thing he needs is you making him feel even more worthless.”
    “Remember, we’re not just Brent’s team, we’re his friends,” said Misty. “We have to be there to support and believe in him or else, he won’t believe in himself.”
    “And considering everything Brent’s done for you, you’d think a little encouragement wouldn’t be too much to ask,” said Fang.
    “Please,” said Adojo. “What has that freak ever done for me?”
    “Well let’s see,” said Fang. “He made you a hero and gave your life new purpose, gave you a home when you didn’t have one; and not just any home, but a penthouse with an art studio, and a pool, and a water slide!”
    “Alright! Alright! I get it!” said Adojo. “Look, I know you guys think that I pick on Brent because I don’t like him, but the truth is I give him a hard time because I care about him.”
    “Huh?” Fang said. All the Super Fighters looked confused.
    “You guys were right when you said that Brent needs support and encouragement,” said Adojo. “But there are also times when we need to be tough on him. If we don’t make him realize his mistakes, then he’ll just keep making them and keep getting himself into trouble. He’ll never become a true hero like that.” My friends all looked at each other. None of them were agreeing with Adojo, but none of them were disagreeing with her either. “But maybe I did go a little too far at the end there. Brent acts so angry and crazy all the time that I forget that actually does have feelings that can get hurt pretty easily. Maybe I should talk to him.”
    “Good idea,” Misty said.
    “But how are we gonna find him?” said Fightbot. “He could be anywhere by now.”
    “Don’t worry,” said Misty. “I still have this!” Misty held up the crystal ball that Mighty had given her to help find me in the fortress.
    “My crystal ball!” said Mighty. “Cool!”
    “Wait a minute,” Diablo said. “What’s that?” They all looked at the crystal ball in Misty’s hand. A picture was beginning to form within it. It was blurry at first, but as it cleared up it revealed something strange. It looked like a strange, sinister-looking castle flying through the skies of the Dark Lands.
    “It looks like some sort of flying fortress,” said Fightbot.
    “But why is the crystal ball showing us this?” Ruby asked.
    “Maybe it’s trying to tell us something about our future,” said Mighty.
    “When would something like that possibly appear in our future?” Adojo asked.
    “I’d say in about 20 seconds,” Fang replied.
    “What?” said Adojo. Fang then pointed up at the sky above them. There, floating menacingly towards them, was the flying fortress that the crystal ball had shown. It was a big as a mountain. It had cannons and turrets and all kinds of weapons on it. It was black and purple and I’ll give you one guess as to who it belonged to. Soon the doors on the bottom levels of the fortress opened and Ballista and Primech walked out.
    “Oh no,” said Ruby. Primech’s robotic arm morphed into a megaphone.
    “Attention Super Fighters,” he said in a demanding voice. “We, the Dark Legion command you: surrender Princess Misty or face dire consequences!”
    “Oh would you give it a rest already monkey face!?” Fightbot shouted. “We already beat you guys!”
    “Yeah!” said Ruby. “You’re in no position to order us around!”
    “Very well,” Ballista said. “Since you will not cooperate, we must resort to force!” Ballista then pulled out a remote. She pressed a big red button and a huge laser rose up from the fortress. It pointed at Misty and a piercing red laser blast came down and before Misty had a chance to dodge, it hit. As the energy surged through Misty body, she screamed in pain. She then fell over unconscious, dropping Mighty’s crystal ball and shattering it on the ground.
    “No!” Mighty yelled. “My crystal ball! I didn’t even get the warranty on it!”
    “Mighty!” Diablo said irritated.
    “What!? Oh…yeah…Misty!” Ballista then raised her hand. A giant green hand made completely of magic energy appeared. It started to come down on Misty.
    “Misty! NO!” Ruby and Adojo said in unison. They both ran towards Misty and tried to pick her up, but before they could the hand came down, grabbing all three of them! The hand began to pull the all up towards Ballista.
    “Well lucky me,” she said. “Three for the price of one!”
    “Ruby!” Fightbot yelled.
    “Adojo!” Fang shouted. Their faces of worry turned to looks of pure anger. Without thinking, Fang jumped up to try to get the girls. He leaped so high, he could’ve made it to the fortress. He would’ve made it, if it weren’t for what happened next.
    “Chimera!” Ballista shouted. Suddenly, Chimera jumped out of one of the doors of the fortress. He spread his black wings out and tackled Fang in midair. Fang never saw it coming. He got clawed and scratched all the way to the ground, which he hit with a slam. As Fang laid there beaten and knocked out, Chimera flew back up to Ballista. Ballista patted it’s head affectionately. “Good boy…er, girl…er, thing.”
    “That’s it!” Fightbot yelled. He then blasted off with his rocket feet. He sensors were locked on Ballista. Just as he was about to get to her, Primech pulled out a strange ray gun and blasted Fightbot with it. A crazy blue laser hit the airborne android.
                     GZZZZZZRT!
    “How do you like my newest invention ‘Fightbot’?” Primech said. “I’ve been saving it just for you. I call it the Deconstructer!” As Primech spoke, Fightbot’s began to fall apart. His arms and legs came of his torso and his head came off too. Once he was nothing but pieces, they all fell to the ground. Fightbot and Fang were down and Ruby, Adojo, and Misty were captured. Only the Mystic Brothers were left.
    “We’ve gotta do something!” said Diablo.
    “What’re we supposed to do?” Mighty asked. Diablo thought for a moment.
    “Good point,” he replied.
    “Well I think we’re done here,” said Ballista.
    “But what about Cosmos?” said Primech.
    “Forget him for now. We have everything we need,” Ballista, Primech, and Chimera all retreated into the flying fortress, bringing the girls with them. The entire fortress began to glow and with a flash, it disappeared. The Dark Legion had struck back.