A/N: Sheesh, it's been a while since I've worked on anything for Super Why, huh? Well, you'll be happy to hear that I haven't forgotten about this story in the least. More on that in the author's note below.
Disclaimer: As usual, I must point out that I don't own Super Why. I only own the original characters I created.
Super Readers' Biggest Adventure Gaiden
Darkness Rewrite
Part 3: Agents of Darkness
Whyatt jumped to his feet when he heard the door open. Davit and several of the Council members walked out of Woofster's room, their faces haggard. They'd ben in there for over an hour, questioning him. Though Jeremiah hadn't wanted them to interview the puppy when he was in that condition, Davit was having none of it, saying he wanted to get to the bottom of this immediately.
Fearing the worst, Whyatt asked, "Is he alright?"
"Yes. He's been injured pretty badly, but I have no doubt that he'll live," the man said.
Red, who was sitting next to Whyatt, said, "Well, isn't that nice?"
Princess Pea, sitting to Whyatt's left, shouted, "Red!"
"I'm not talking about Woofster getting hurt! I'm talking about how the person who did this to him got away!" Red replied. She turned to Davit. "Are you seriously going to do nothing about this?"
"Of course we're going to do something, Red. But I had to confirm what Woofster said," Davit said. "The Evil Reader is back, and we've got to move if we hope to catch him."
"Are you sure it's the Evil Reader?" Princess Pea asked.
"That's what we're going to find out. And we're going to speak to the Evil Reader himself," Davit answered. His gold eyes were hard. "Jackson may not be entirely repentant after all."
With that, he and the other council members walked off. The Super Readers stared after them, followed by Red angrily folding her arms.
"Well, this is just great," she said. "Now they're going after everyone else instead of the guy who did this!"
"I don't think Jackson had anything to do with it," Whyatt answered. "The last person to talk to Jackson was Muse, remember?"
"That was a few months ago, when she had to deal with that case in Major Land," Pig said. "Jackson was in jail then."
"He's still in jail now," Princess Pea said. "But why would they think that he was responsible for it?"
"Well, he was evil before, and he took over most of the fairytale world," Whyatt offered. "I don't think a lot of people trust him, even though he apologized to everyone."
"I just hope that things go alright for Jackson," Pig said.
"Yeah," Whyatt answered. "Me too."
Major Land Detention Center
The sound of the doors opening caused Jackson to raise his head slightly. He'd just woken up from the middle of a nap, and his upper shoulders were aching with soreness. He raised his eyes to look at the guards. "Is it time for breakfast?"
"No," one of them replied, and Jackson immediately picked up how serious he sounded. "The Superhero Council wants to see you."
That woke him up. Jackson sat up quickly, sending pain racing through his upper shoulders, his eyes blinking open. "What? What for?"
"They're runnin' an investigation or somethin'," the guard said. "That's all I know. You'll have to ask them for details."
The guard's serious expression was enough to silence him, although he couldn't help but frown as his cohorts walked over and roughly hauled him to his feet, followed by slapping the handcuffs on his wrists. He winced as the metal pinched his skin. Although the accommodations in Major Land were better than he thought they'd be, he could still see their resentment and bitterness in spades. And although it wasn't him who'd attacked Mephisto and his kingdom, he had been the one to start the war against the Super Readers in the first place.
Was that what this meeting with the Council was about? Jackson knew that they, especially Jeremiah, had been nothing but forgiving ever since learning of what had happened to him. But there were some on the Council who considered him a threat or even wished death upon him. People had been doing so ever since he'd become the Evil Reader, after all.
Jackson shook that sneaking doubt out of his head. I'll just wait and see what's going on first, he thought to himself.
They marched him out of the cells, past the gathering area, and into a private room, where two of the members of the Superhero Council, Davit and Samuel, were sitting in their chairs. Davit's deep blue eyes were fixed on Jackson as he stood in the doorway, flanked by the two guards.
"Jackson," he started curtly, uncrossing his leg. "How are things here?"
"Fine, sir," Jackson said. "I admit that I wasn't expecting good treatment from the people of Major Land."
"Hmm," Davit said. He motioned to the chair across from them. "Please, sit."
"Thank you," Jackson replied, allowing himself to be led into the chair. Once he was comfortable, he looked up at them, Davit mostly, who was still studying him. "I heard that there's an investigation going on. What can I do to help?"
"Well, you start by confessing to your crime," Davit said.
Jackson blinked once. "What crime?"
"Davit, you can't start accusing him when he doesn't even know what's going on," Samuel said, holding up a hand to silence his companion.
"Very well," Davit said. He focused his gaze on Jackson. "I want you to tell us the truth. Are you responsible for the erasure of thirty stories from the Fairytale Realm?"
Jackson's stomach dropped. "W-What...?" he gasped out, his eyes widening.
"Are you deaf?" Davit replied, his calm tone losing its edge. "I want to know the truth. Did you do this?"
"No, I did not. I haven't had my powers ever for six months!" Jackson replied. "Did you think I had something to do with this?"
"Well, considering your past, and your powers, we have every reason to think so," Samuel said. "We don't mean to accuse you-"
"Which you just did," Jackson snapped, his eyes narrowing. "You've been accusing me of things alongside the people of Major Land. You aren't the first to start doing so as soon as I get put in jail."
"Did it ever occur to you that they're not all making baseless accusations?" Davit replied. "You've committed so many wrongs against this realm, doing so many terrible things to innocent people. Who knows how many have been damaged by your actions!?"
Jackson snarled angrily, his green eyes darkening. Samuel looked at Davit, who was returning that glare with the same level of intensity. He could see Davit's point, but something in his eyes was setting off warning bells. He put a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Davit-"
Samuel's hand was slapped away. Davit continued to stare down Jackson, who was glowering with anger. "You may have helped the Super Readers save this realm, but there's no telling that you haven't changed. Your selfish actions brought the world to ruin once, and now you seek to bring it to ruin again," he said. "I hope to the Holy One that you get what's coming to you one day."
Jackson stood up so abruptly his chair clattered to the floor. His eyes were locked on Davit, however. "We're done here," he snarled and turned around so the guard could snap on his handcuffs.
"Oh, I can assure you, Jackson, we aren't," Davit replied, his tone cold. "I'll get the truth out of you, one way or another." He motioned to Samuel, and the two stood up as the guard turned Jackson around to face them. The men glared at each other before Jackson was led out.
As soon as the doors were closed, Samuel turned towards Davit. "What the devil are you doing?" he hissed. "You had no reason to personally attack him like that."
"I did, Samuel, and even if I didn't mention it, everyone knows it's the truth," Samuel said. "During his tenure as the Evil Reader, he not only destroyed stories, but he killed dozens, maybe even hundreds of people. He has possibly broken more people than anyone in the history of the fairytale world."
"You do know that most of his most horrible acts were Chaos' doing? The courts even proved that he was under the effects of possession!"
"But was he when he first turned into the Evil Reader? No, Samuel. You know just as well as I do that Jackson fell by choice. Yes, he was forced to give up control over his own body...but that does not change the fact that he became the Evil Reader out of his own choice. He chose to hate Super Readers. And he chose to destroy his own story in his pitiful revenge plot. I don't care what you say, Samuel-nothing will ever redeem Jackson Flatts in my eyes."
Davit stormed out of the prison room, leaving his cohort stunned. After a few seconds, Samuel followed him, although his eyes held nothing but bitter discontent.
From a technical standpoint, I can see why you said what you said, Davit, he thought. But I do believe that you must get all of the facts before accusing him directly. Because if it turns out to be someone else, then this mistake will end up staining your conscience...
Storybrook Village
"It was this place where you met your defeat, wasn't it, Master?" the Evil Reader said, looking down at the peaceful town below. He hadn't felt any of the energies that Material-S had been telling him about. He scoffed at the thought of her. "Figured she'd be lying. That's all that snake's good for."
A ruffling of fabric next to him told him his partner had arrived. "Hey, quit insulting her," the other said, looking over at him with dark blue eyes. He was a pig with dark pink skin, wearing a black one-piece suit with orange markings on the sleeves and legs. His shoes were blue with black shoelaces, and his cape was black with orange lining. Construction goggles with an orange and blue strap sat atop his head, and across his waist was a toolbelt with a hammer. "She's got skills."
"Yeah, ones that get us stuck with the dirty work," the Evil Reader scoffed. "Hence why I called her that."
"And hence why I told you to quit trashing her."
"I don't have time for her or your feelings for her, either," the Evil Reader snapped. "We've come here for a job, Material-B, not to go on about your terrible love life."
Material-B's response was to punch him in the arm. "Shut up. Just get into disguise already. I'm sure the Super Brats are on their way back, and we don't have much time to do this."
The Evil Reader rolled his eyes. "I don't take orders from a pig," he said. "Only my Master."
"Well, we work for the same guy, so get used to it," Material-B said. In a flash of blue light, he disappeared.
The Evil Reader groaned but vanished after him all the same. I swear, I can't wait until he gets his...
The sound of thunder made the Big Bad Wolf look up. He frowned in confusion at the weather; it had been clear a moment ago. Now, it looked like it was going to dump a flood on them. "Strange," he muttered. He turned to his son, Wolfy, who was playing with a few flowers. "Come on, son. Let's go. We don't want to be caught in the middle of the rainstorm."
"Sure, dad," Wolfy replied, running over to his father. He was about to take his father's hand when he looked past him and shouted, "Hey, there's Whyatt and Pig! I'm gonna say hi to them real fast."
The Big Bad Wolf looked up and saw Wolfy's friends walking over to them. They smiled at the wolf cub as he ran over to them, but the Big Bad Wolf hesitated in waving to them. His police instincts were telling him that something was off, especially with Whyatt. He stood in place, watching the boys with a neutral look so as to not draw attention to himself. The last thing he needed was Wolfy worrying about him.
He caught Whyatt's glance, and the boy's inquisitive green eyes locked with his across the street. He gave him a sugary-sweet "everything's alright" smile, and then inclined his head at Wolfy, beckoning him to follow him.
Wolfy turned to his father. "Dad, you don't mind if I chat with them for a little bit, do you?" he said.
The Big Bad Wolf shook his head. "No, but make it quick," he said.
"OK!" Wolfy, Whyatt, and Pig ran in the other direction down the street, heading towards the library.
The police instincts were starting to tingle again, and this time not in a good way. Now he was surer than ever that something was off about those two.
His eyes widened as he realized something.
Whyatt doesn't have green eyes...
"H-Hey!"
"Quiet, cub!" Pig snarled, holding the boy around his waist, pinning his arms at his sides. Wolfy struggled to fight, but Pig's grip was like a vise. He didn't remember Pig being this strong.
"Whyatt, stop him!" Wolfy shouted, turning to the other boy. "He's hurting me!"
"That's the point, idiot," Whyatt snapped, looking at him briefly before turning to look at the street. "The coast's clear."
"If you're going to test out your new powers, you'd better do it fast," Pig said, tightening his grip on Wolfy. "His father's going to come after us soon enough."
"Don't worry. I have ways of dealing with him," Whyatt said.
"W-Whyatt, what are you talking about?" Wolfy asked. "W-What do you mean you're testing out new powers-"
"I'm only going to say this once: shut up," Whyatt snapped, turning around to face him. "Honestly, I'm amazed you've got friends. You're so annoying you make Material-S almost look like a saint."
Wolfy's eyes widened. "M-Material-S?" he repeated. "Who the heck is that?"
"If she ever gets here, you'll find out," Whyatt answered. "But first thing's first, we need to make sure that this new power works."
"W-What new power? What's going on? Why are you guys doing this?!" Wolfy shouted.
"Hey," Pig said quietly, "you aren't planning to use it now are you?"
Whyatt turned to glare at him, although his green eyes locked onto Wolfy. "If this cub doesn't shut up, I-"
"Let go of my son."
All three boys looked up to see the Big Bad Wolf standing there, his hands on his hips and a scowl crossing his face. Wolfy's heart soared. "Dad!" he shouted.
"Crap," Whyatt grumbled.
"You took too long," Pig retorted.
"You boys mind telling me what's going on here?" The Big Bad Wolf focused on Whyatt. "Whyatt?"
Wolfy looked at his friend as well. He was in the dark as much as his father was, so an explanation was definitely in order.
Rather than give him an explanation, however, Whyatt began to chuckle darkly, his whole frame shuddering with laughter. Wolfy stared at this with wide eyes. "W-Whyatt?" he asked. The laughter became more distorted as another gravelly voice mixed in with Whyatt's. He started back, but that was when he heard Pig's laughter mix in with Whyatt's. He turned to face the younger pig. "P-Pig?"
Pig opened his eyes, and dark blue eyes met his. It then occurred to Wolfy that this wasn't Pig-he didn't have dark blue eyes. Dark blue and black energy raced along the pig's skin like lightning, and like wet paper, his light pink skin peeled away to reveal dark pink skin underneath. His yellow shirt and blue overalls melted away to reveal a black and orange one-piece suit, an orange and yellow cape filling out behind him. Wolfy looked up to see a similar change happening to Whyatt, except that he was clad in a black version of his Super Why costume with green sleeves and decorations at the end. He turned to Wolfy, his bat-like mask making him look eviler than he had earlier.
"Surprised?" he asked.
Those clothes...they look really familiar, Wolfy thought as he stared at Whyatt. But I can't figure out-
"T-The Evil Reader!" The Big Bad Wolf shouted. "You were defeated!"
"Well, I'm not the Evil Reader," 'Whyatt' said, "but let's just say that I have a good portion of his original powers."
"More like we all do," 'Pig' answered. "We're here to do a very special assignment, but we needed a willing volunteer."
"And thankfully," 'Whyatt' finished, a smile coming on his face, "you two have just volunteered."
'Pig' shoved Wolfy towards his father, and the Big Bad Wolf wasted no time in scooping up his son and taking off running.
'Pig' chuckled and raised his hand. "I don't think so," he said.
A wall of blue and black energy sprang up in front of the two lupines, stopping them in their tracks. A cutlass materialized in Material-D's hands, and a wave of his sword called up chains of energy from the ground to bind the two by their legs and wrists.
"Material-S isn't here yet," Material-B said.
"I told you she wouldn't show!" Material-D snapped. "Well, let's go ahead and cast the spell already. You can only hold up that wall for so long before someone notices." A snap of his fingers and a wallet-sized book appeared in his hands, turning to the fifth page of the book. He smirked. "Hey, when she does get here, tell her how awesome this spell was. And make it sound really good."
"Just start already, for crying out loud!" Material-B shouted.
"Alright, alright..." Material-D rolled his eyes and then turned towards the Big Bad Wolf and his son. The former glowered at him, while Wolfy was crying into his father's shoulder. "Stop crying. It'll be good, I promise."
He closed his eyes, and stretching out his sword, he began the invocation. "By the powers of the Dark Prophecies, I call upon you, O great master of destruction. Lend me your power, and in return, I give you a part of my soul. Fear...Horror...instill those feelings in these lowly souls!"
When he opened up his eyes again, his eyes glowed with ethereal power, briefly coloring them orange, making him look like a demon. "Give your souls to my master! Soul Reaping!"
There was a bright flash of green and black light, and then screams filled the air as the two wolves were overcome by the power. Material-B allowed the wall of energy to fall, exposing them to the group of villagers that had gathered. Screams of shock filled the air as they gazed upon the horrific sight.
As fast as the light had appeared, it died away. The murmuring was replaced by horrified screaming as the Big Bad Wolf and Wolfy, their bodies black as charcoal and eyes glazed over, fell to the ground, lifeless. Material-B walked over to them, sliding on his goggles. Calculations whizzed across his screen, eventually ending with a blue zero in the middle.
"It was a success. You captured their very souls," he said, looking up at Material-D.
Material-D smirked. "Master Chaos will be pleased," he said.
"...Chaos?" Both Materials looked at the speaker, Papa Bear, who was standing there and staring at them like they were things of horror. "D-Did you just say Chaos?"
"Are you deaf, or are you stupid?" Material-D snapped. "You heard me loud and clear."
"You're stealing souls for Chaos now?!" Papa Bear shouted. "This is an outrage!" He stormed past the crowd. "Wait until I tell the Super Readers-"
He stopped in his tracks, as someone had just appeared in front of him. If it weren't for the light pink eyes and the short dress lined with hot pink, he would've easily mistaken her for Princess Pea.
"Not so fast," she said, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. She then kicked him backward, sending him skidding across the store floor and crashing into the shelf.
"Material-S, you made it," Material-B said.
"Finally," Material-D scoffed, glaring at her. "You could've shown up earlier."
"And miss the chance to make my grand entrance? You've lost your mind," she said, flicking her hair and causing some of it to hit him in the face. Material-D snarled, but she simply smirked.
"Well, I'm glad you're here, though," Material-B answered.
"Aw, thanks," she said, pinching his cheek. "How'd the experiment go?"
"It was a smashing success," Material-D said, looking disgusted at the show of affection. "And I did it without your fancy backup powers."
"Sorry, I didn't hear that," Material-S replied, shrugging. "But at least you didn't screw up this time."
"Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way," Material-B said, "let's continue with our mission." He smirked as he and his teammates turned to the rest of the citizens, who were fleeing in horror. "This is going to be fun."
Superhero Council Waiting Room
The sound of the portal opening made Whyatt sit up and stand to attention. Davit and Samuel came out, the latter with a wary look at the former, who was scowling.
"Well, what happened? Did Jackson say anything?" Whyatt asked.
"Not a thing," Davit said. "Even more, he claims he doesn't know who's responsible for it." He scoffed. "And he acted all so surprised when I told him that the stories were erased."
"Well, of course, he'd be surprised!" Whyatt said. "Who wouldn't be?"
"Someone who was formerly a menace to this world, that's who!" Davit shouted.
"But that's impossible! Jackson doesn't have his powers anymore," Whyatt protested. "He wouldn't hurt anybody."
Davit scoffed. "I doubt that."
Samuel looked over at him, worry about his features. "Davit, please-"
"I will prove that Jackson Flatts is responsible for this madness," Davit said.
"You haven't even found any proof of that!" Samuel snapped.
"Watch me," Davit said darkly.
Before he stormed off, the doors opened and Ethan rushed in. "You two just came back, didn't you?"
"Yeah, why-"
"Good. I need you two and Whyatt to come with me," Ethan said. "Jeremiah wants to see you."
Whyatt jumped up. "What's going on?" he asked.
"The rest of your friends are already there," he continued, ushering them through the gate. "The situation is quite serious already..."
"Ethan, what is going on?" Davit demanded, pulling the dark-skinned man to a stop. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me!"
Samuel looked at him with a worried expression, as did Whyatt. "Ethan?" the boy asked.
Ethan sighed, and then looked down at Whyatt. His brown eyes held a grave expression, and Whyatt immediately felt that it was bad news.
"Whyatt...Storybrook Village is under attack once again."
"B-By who?" Whyatt choked out.
"From what we gathered, it's the same person who attacked Woofster," Ethan said. "And apparently, he's brought some friends along."
"H-How-"
"I'll explain everything when we get in there, Whyatt," he said. "But for now, please follow me."
Whyatt did so, as did Davit and Samuel, swallowing back a worried sob. Oh, no...please don't let the same thing happen again. Mom, Dad, Jack, Joy...please, be safe.
"I can't believe this!"
Red's angry shout echoed through Whyatt's ears as he entered the boardroom. "Jeremiah, what's-"
He stopped when he got a good look at the screen in front of him. The sky above Storybrook Village was black as the night, clouds swirling in a large vertex and green and pink lightning bolts striking houses with explosive force. The people below were screaming in horror, scrambling to escape the bolts that continued to rain from the sky.
Red had her hands on the console, and even from where he was standing, he could see the tips of her red ears. Pig was staring in dumbstruck horror, and Princess Pea was shuddering.
"W-What in heaven's name?" Davit yelled. "This is Jackson's doing, isn't it?"
"No," Jeremiah answered. "This is the Evil Readers' doing."
"The Evil Readers?" Red said, turning to face him. "Isn't there only one Evil Reader?"
"Yeah! And we defeated him!" Pig said.
"No...the Evil Reader is one out of many. He's a famous one-or should I say, infamous-but there are more who take on the title of the Evil Reader," Jeremiah said. "I told Whyatt earlier that there were many Super Readers who didn't use their powers for good. The kids who caused problems eventually became known as Evil Readers. Thankfully, most of them were petty thieves...but none of them ever got to be the level that Jackson or Chaos was."
"Chaos..." Whyatt murmured. The name was all too familiar to him; even though it'd been months since defeating him, the mention of that name made him shudder.
"Why do you bring up that madman?" Samuel asked.
"Because the power that I'm seeing is definitely his power," Jeremiah said. "There's no mistaking it. These Evil Readers must have tapped into Chaos' power."
"Are you sure it isn't Jackson?" Davit asked. "He did have crystallization magic when he first became the Evil Reader."
"I'm positive. Jackson did have that power, which is what he used the first time," Jeremiah answered. "But Chaos only enhanced it. And only Chaos has the ability to create a magic that removes someone's soul."
"What?!" Whyatt's shocked cry startled everyone, and they turned to face the boy, who was staring at the sight in horror. "W-Why would they want to steal their souls?!"
"I remember a long time ago, Chaos used them to make himself more powerful," he said. "If these Evil Readers are doing the same thing, and if they're left unchecked, they'll become unstoppable."
"We have to go after them," Whyatt said.
"He's right!" Red said. "We can't let them take our families again!"
"So, what do you think we should do?" Pig asked.
"We'd send you out there," Jeremiah said, "but they're targeting you four. We know what they did to Woofster..."
"Then send one of us out there," Davit said. "I have enough power to take on the whole lot of them."
"Davit-"
"Sir, it's about the only chance we have. The Super Readers could use our assistance," Ethan said. "I would call on Muse, but she's away on royal business."
Jeremiah sighed. "Very well. Samuel, you're free to go with him, if you'd like," he said. "But don't get carried away."
"I won't," Davit answered. "Leave it to us. By the time we get finished with them, they'll wish they never showed their faces."
With that, he and Samuel disappeared into thin air.
Storybrook Village
"This is perfect!" Material-D cried, watching his handiwork on the village below. He looked up at the vertex. "I guess you are useful for something, after all, Material-S."
Material-S, who was supervising the vertex, turned to glare at him, her pink eyes sparkling with lightning. He returned the glare, a challenge in his green eyes. "Something you'd like to say?" he asked coolly.
Just as she opened her mouth, Material-B flew over to them. For the first time since they'd gotten here, he looked worried. "Material-D, we've got a problem."
He turned away from her to focus on the pig. "What's that?"
"I'm detecting incredible power coming in," he said.
"Obviously, it's not the Super Readers. Then again, maybe Whyatt decided to cut loose," Material-D replied.
"We're talking power at the same level as Jeremiah's," Material-B said.
Now that was interesting. The Superhero Council's champion was coming to face them himself? He smirked. "Well, then, let's see what-"
The air came alive with a loud, keening hum, increasing in volume to the point where Material-D had to cover his ears. Material-S dropped out of the sky, and Material-B screamed in agony, pulling his ears over his head to block out the noise.
"What is going on?!" Material-D shouted. His demand was quickly drowned out by the horrible noise.
High above the trio, out of sight, and out of hearing range, Davit uttered one word:
"Judgment."
The world went gold as a pillar of concentrated light the size of a skyscraper dropped down on the three Evil Readers. The ground detonated, sending trees, buildings, and chunks of earth into the air with violent force. Somehow, the roar of the blast wasn't enough to drown out the Evil Readers' screams. It gave him a small sense of satisfaction.
As a pillar of smoke rose into the air, Samuel turned to face Davit, a frown on his face. "Was that really necessary?"
"Look at what they've done to the village already, Samuel," Davit said, pointing down at the ground. "We need to show them that we're not playing around. Such crimes will be dealt with harshly."
"That's true, but-"
Davit's peripheral vision caught a flash of green bursting through the clouds. "Samuel, move!"
Samuel did, and not a moment too soon. A stream of green fire shot at them from below, tearing through the pillar of smoke. Below were the Evil Readers, smoke rising from their damaged costumes. All three of them looked enraged, Material-D most of all.
"I'll make you regret that!" Material-D shouted.
Davit's only response was a raised eyebrow. "I'd like to see you try," he said.
That was the only exchange they shared. With that, Samuel and Davit charged for the three Evil Readers, and the fight was renewed in earnest.
"Are you sure that we're supposed to just sit here and watch?" Pig asked, looking at the screen. He wasn't even sure if they could call this a fight anymore; it was now an outright melee, with the village taking most of the damage. It wasn't really Davit and Samuel's fault; though they tried to deflect the attacks away from the homes, the Evil Readers were purposely aiming at the people and buildings of the town, causing them to go up in flames.
"I'd send you out there, but I don't want a repeat of what happened to Woofster," Jeremiah said somberly. "If his injuries are anything to go by, these Evil Readers are here to kill you. And I don't want that to happen to the world's last Super Readers."
"I see..." Princess Pea's green eyes were filled with distress. "I just hope my mom and dad are okay..." Tears started to fill her eyes as she remembered how her possessed father had looked; the experience had given her nightmares for weeks afterwards. "I-I don't think I could bear to see that again!"
Pig put a hand on the princess' shoulder. He could understand how she felt. Already, he was thinking of his father when he'd been possessed by the Evil Reader. "Don't worry, Princess Pea. I'm sure that Davit and Samuel will protect them."
Princess Pea could only nod, too overcome with worry. Pig's ears flopped sadly. As much as he wanted to help her, all he could think about were his father and brothers suffering. He couldn't begin to imagine how Whyatt was feeling, or Red, for that matter.
His eyes widened and he gasped. "Oh my chinny chin chin!" he shouted.
"What is it?" Princess Pea asked.
"Princess Pea, w-where's Red?" he asked, looking urgent.
"Well, the last time I saw her, she left to cool off. She was so angry about Samuel and Davit going-"
"We haven't seen her since then!" Pig exclaimed. "She's been gone for five minutes!"
"Five minutes doesn't seem like that long," Princess Pea said. Upon seeing Pig's frown, she added, "But for Red, she'd never..."
"We've gotta find her!" Pig said. "Come on!"
"Okay, I'll-oof!" Princess Pea almost tripped as Pig pulled her out of the chair and started pulling her down the hall. "P-Pig, hold on! I could fall!"
No sooner had they disappeared than Whyatt walked out of Woofster's room, eyes red with tears. He saw the door slam, and then looked at Jeremiah, who looked worried. "J-Jeremiah, what's going on?" he asked.
Jeremiah sighed. "I think Red has gone and done something foolish..."
"What do you mean?" Whyatt asked. "Red's a little hot-tempered, but-"
The door slammed open again, almost jolting Whyatt out of his skin. Pig hung over on his knees breathing heavily, while Princess Pea was leaning against the wall, catching her breath.
"P-Princess Pea? Pig? What's going on?" Whyatt asked.
"It's bad, Whyatt," Pig started, his voice cracking on his name. "Red's..."
"What's wrong with Red?" he asked. Any mention of the brunette, especially if she was in trouble, always sent him on high alert. "Is she hurt?"
"No..." Pig finally had regained enough composure to speak. He looked up at Whyatt with worried blue eyes. "She's gone, Whyatt."
"...what?"
Storybrook Village
This is impossible! Material-D, why did you challenge the Council?! Material-S thought angrily as she swerved to avoid contact with Davit's lightning bolts.
She wasn't scared per se...just that those lightning bolts were coming a little too close. If Davit's earlier attack was anything to go by, he wasn't going to subdue them peacefully. If they got hit with one more of those bolts, they'd be lucky if they managed to escape this with their lives.
A rush of air sounded behind her and immediately gathered a sphere of pink magic in her hands. It probably wouldn't do much against Davit, but darn it all if she wasn't going to go down without a fight.
She whirled around, prepared to shoot him in the face...and met fiery brown eyes instead of cold, yellow ones.
Where in the world did she-?!
Wonder Red quickly took advantage of Material-S's moment of surprise, by rushing forward and kneeing her in the gut. With the air driven out of her lungs, she was sent flying backwards and crashing into the ground, digging a trench several inches deep. Her back burned from the collision, but she was too busy trying to get a read on her newest opponent.
"Where in the devil did she come from?" That was Material-D, and he'd seen the whole thing, too. For him not to mock her about this meant that he was just as shocked.
"I want to know the same," Davit boomed sternly. He and Samuel came down from the heavens, their armor blazing with gold lightning. Davit looked down at Red, furious. "I told you and the others that we would handle this."
"I'm not going to sit back and let you two fight these Evil Readers. They attacked Woofster and our families! I'm not letting them get away with that!" Wonder Red shouted.
"Red, you need to return to the Council, now," Samuel said, looking at Davit, who looked ready to explode.
"I'm not going anywhere!" Red argued. "They want a fight from us? That's what they're going to get!"
Material-S sat up, groaning as she rubbed her back. "Seems they weren't counting on her appearing either," she muttered.
"Either way, it's just like Material-D said." Material-B appeared next, floating next to her. "Destroying their precious village would bring them out of hiding."
"Granted, she's not the one we want," Material-S replied. "But she'll have to do for now. At least she's got more power than the runt Material-D made short work of."
"That is true..." Material-D said, monitoring Red, who was arguing with Davit. A small smile came upon his face. "Actually, this is a blessing in disguise. The other half of our mission involves her."
"How?" Material-S demanded.
"In time, my dear," Material-D said. He chuckled darkly. "Oh, I can't wait to see what Whyatt will think of this..."
"HEY!" The Materials looked up at the three heroes hovering above them. While all three were angry, no one was more so than Wonder Red, whose hands were alight with orange fire. "Are you going to keep talking, or are we going to fight?!"
Material-D laughed. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Wonder Red," he answered. "We were just beginning to warm up. I'm certain this fight will be more fun, now that you've joined us!"
Signaling to his cohorts, he got into a battle stance. His cutlass glowing bright green, he taunted, "Show us your best, little one."
He didn't have to wait long. With a furious growl, Wonder Red charged past Davit and Samuel, her fist slamming into his sword, and the battle began.
Man, it's been two years since updating this story, huh? I wasn't planning for it to take this long, but other interests, moving, starting all over at a new school and family stuff caused the story to disappear from my radar for a while. But don't worry, I am planning on finishing this little story (which honestly should've been finished a while back XD).
In any case, I personally think this is better than the last two chapters. I really wanted to do more of the fight, but I was losing steam and I couldn't bring myself to write even more filler or lame fight scenes. I honestly wasn't planning on having Red interrupt the clash between the Evil Readers and Davit and Samuel, but it came to me while I was adding some stuff to the chapter. Red's the type of person who wouldn't sit by and worry all day, instead wanting to find the people responsible and make them pay...even if it goes directly against Davit and Samuel's orders.
The other two Evil Readers make their appearance, and you might've noticed that I made their appearances look similar to Princess Pea and Pig. That, and the reason the Evil Readers are there, will be revealed in the final chapter, which will definitely be longer than this.
...I actually don't really have much to say here. But everything else regarding the Evil Readers' plot, to Woofster's condition, to Davit's beef with Jackson, and the state of the fairytale world, will be revealed in the final chapter!
Until then, please leave a review below! Constructive criticism is most welcome!
God bless, iheartgod175
