The Modern Four

Chapter 18

The two pulled up to the empty car lot, leaning their bikes against nearby poles. They then hide behind one of the junky cars remaining in the lot, looking around the area. Violet sighed, shaking her head.

"What did Hiro see here? All there is is hunky cars covered in tarps and stuff. There's nothing here." She said, looking around. They both got out from behind the car. Wilbur shrugged.

"Maybe it was just an accident? Maybe..." Wilbur racked his brain for possible excuses. He leaned up against a car covered in a tarp, sighing. "This was a waste." He sighed. "Let's just, check under a few tarps and see if anything here." He looked at Violet, who nodded, making her way over to a few cars covered in tarps. She peaked under the tarp of some of them, frowning. She shook her head, looking at Wilbur.

"Nothing. What happens if you don't find it before your dad comes back?" She asked, looking at him. He sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't even want to think about that." He muttered, peaking under the tarp of the one he was leaning on. His eyes widened. "And I don't have to!" He laughed, pulling back the tarp to reveal a cherry red time machine. Violet looked over at him, her eyes widening.

"No way!" She said in surprised. Wilbur smirked, nodding.

"Yes way. Oh man, this is awesome!" He gave out a whoop and ran over to Violet, giving her a hug. Quickly, realizing what he was doing, he pulled away, blushing. "Uh, uh..sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his next. Violet smiled, blushing.

"It's okay..." She looked at the time machine, frowning a little bit. "How are you gonna get it home?"

Wilbur deflated a little, then straightened. "My dad taught me a little about how to fly it. I can probably do well enough to get us home. C'mon, put your bike in the back. Let's get home." He ran over to where their bikes were, grabbing his and loading it into the back of the time machine. Violet quickly followed suit, loading hers in right after him. She smiled at him, and they got into the time machine, ready to head back. Wilbur looked around at all the different levers and sighed. "Okay, okay, give me a minute, it will all come back to me." He muttered, putting his hands on the different levers slowly he started to turn the key, which was conveniently left in the machine. The machine light up, and the engine started up. The machine started to hover. Wilbur eyes widened, and he pumped his fist in the air. Violet smiled, laughing a little in amazement. "Woo! Yes! Alright, let's get going!" He was just about to start driving off when a voice from behind them stopped them dead in their tracks.

"You're not going anywhere." A smooth voice said. The two of them slowly turned around to face a lanky man in a bowler hat, holding onto what looked to be a remote control. Wilbur swallowed his fear, shaking his head.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice cracking. The tall man laughed.

"You don't need to know." He said mysteriously. Violet shared a look with Wilbur, raising an eyebrow. She mouthed 'let's go.'

Wilbur nodded and slammed the lever forward, speeding after. The bowler hat guy hopped onto what Violet saw to be a moped, and sped after them. While driving, bowler hat guy started to press a few buttons on his small remote. Suddenly, his head rose off his head and started to fly after the kids on the machine. Violet blinked, shocked at what she saw, but quickly composed herself.

"Uh, Wilbur..." She said, tapping him repeatedly on the arm.

"What? Violet I-" He glanced back and saw the hat following after them. He blinked, and turned back around, cursing. He felt around for a lever and found it after a couple seconds, and flung that forward. Violet and Wilbur were thrown back into their seats, as the machine sped toward at a turbo speed. The hat speed after them. Quite a ways behind them, the lanky man narrowed his eyes.

"Two can play at that game." He said, and pressed another button on his remote.

The hat all of the sudden started to launch little ninja star-esque things. Violet eyes widened as she saw one going straight for Wilbur's head.

"Duck!" She shouted, and she pulled him down with her in order to avoid losing their heads. Up in front of them, the star hit a tree, and exploded. Their eyes widened, and Wilbur sped the machine as fast as they could. Behind them, bowler hat guy laughed with glee.

"Oh I love this new technology." He said, almost giggling. He pressed the same button again, this time targeting for the back of the machine. Violet glanced back and saw the hat once again.

"Brace yourself!" She yelled. Wilbur shook his head.

"Violet, make a force field!" He shouted, again grabbing onto the turbo switch. Violet's eyes widened, and she looked at Wilbur, scared.

"I've never made one this big!" She said, her voice shaky.

"I need you to try!" He said, grabbing her hand.

"But I-I can't!" She said.

The hat, which was still a ways back, geared up to release another exploding star. Wilbur glanced back and looked at Violet, his eyes big. He grabbed her hand. "I believe in you."

She bit her lip, nodding. She took a deep breath and put her hands on the machine, and, almost in slow motion, a blue force field started to form around the ship. At the same moment, the hat launched the star. Just in the nick of time, Violet managed to form the force field. Wilbur threw forward the thrusters, leaving bowler hat guy and his bowler hat to eat their dust.

They soon pulled up into Wilbur's house. Upon seeing the house still dark, Wilbur let out a sigh of relief and flew the machine into his backyard. They unloaded their bikes and pushed the machine into the shed. Wilbur turned to Violet and smiled. "We did it."

She laughed, nodding. "Yeah, yeah we..we did." She looked at him, and grabbing his hand. "Thanks for like, believing in me." She laughed a little. He grinned.

"Gosh, that sounds cheesy. Are we really that cheesy?" He asked, laughing. She smiled, nodding.

"Yeah, I guess we are really that cheesy." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow." She grabbed her bike, and heading out of his backyard and to her neighborhood.

Wilbur blushed, touching his cheek and watching her go. "Bye..."

Soon after Violet left, Wilbur heard his mom pull into the garage. His eyes widened, and he ran inside, getting into his room right as she opened the door. Success.