Hey! Sorry for the long break. Here's the next chapter!
When all is said, What needs to be done.
Karen
Weeks later was the showcase. Of course, I was excused from participating, but I thought this would be a nice tribute to my mom. I was in purple tights and leotard and Zach helped me put on the glittery yellow wings. I had to be careful of who was behind me lest I knock 'em down.
"You look beautiful," Zach said when he got a chance. He was in a fat white costume that he could glow through and was supposed to hang from above. He bent down to kiss me lightly and then ran off to get strapped in. The music started and the show began. About 15 minutes into the show was my turn. I chaineed very tight and small turns to the center of the stage with 3 other fairies and we pas de bourreed and pirouetted around. It was hard to see the audience with glare of the lights, but even in the darkness, I recognized him.
He was here to frighten me. He wouldn't be stupid enough to harm me in front of all these people, but my instincts were going crazy. I kept on dancing without breaking a step, but my eyes were searching for my brother now. I was scared. I needed to tell someone everything in case I never was able to. Even after our dance, we remained on stage for a good portion of the show until intermission. I was relieved yet afraid at the same time. Now I could find Warren, but he could also find me, and the latter was frightening. Even though I wasn't supposed to, I took off my wings and ran to find Warren sitting with Magenta and the others who were luckily sitting near the front, so they couldn't leave as easily.
"Warren!" I called panicking.
"Hey Karen, you were pretty good," he complimented. I shoved it to the side.
"Warren, he's here."
"Who?"
"Chameleon."
"Yeah, he's the police escort," he said confused. "There's other cops here too." I shook my head, frustrated that I couldn't tell him everything fast enough.
"No, no. It's him. He killed my mom. He's the one that framed Dad. I saw him.." I looked up to to see if I could spot him, but he was gone. If he knew I was telling the secret, he would do anything to hurt me. He was a chameleon, changing himself to perfectly match the background of anyone's perspective of what they think they see, so it was hard to see him when he powered up. I motioned for everyone to follow me and led them into a small room. Zach saw us and followed. I led us into a small classroom.
"Warren, torch everything around us," I instructed. He did as I asked quickly with flame thrower fire, so I knew that the Chameleon wasn't here. "When I was 9, a little bit after I came to live with you, I stowedaway in Dad's car because he told me that he was going to visit my mom to tell her how I was doing. But he lied. He and two others apparently had been planning to break into the hero museum to steal The Rock."
"Whoa, so it was your dad who took it?" Ethan interrupted. Everyone turned to glare at him before he shrank back.
"I followed them in. The Chameleon snuck inside and turned off the security cameras while the other guy, The Vortex, flew them in so they wouldn't set off the weight sensors in the floor and then turned off that system as well. When I saw the lights go out, that's when I ran in. They took turns doing their parts to get past the security system. Out dad regenerates, so fast he doesn't even bleed. That's why he lives so long. I saw him take the arrows when the system shot him when he reached for the Rock. When he got back to them, they started to argue about who was to keep it. They all of a sudden had different opinions of how it was supposed to be used or something and began fighting. Chameleon changed into his lizard form and killed Vortex. I don't know what his plan was with Dad, since he knew he couldn't kill him, but Dad grabbed the Rock and ran. Before I knew what was going on, I was caught and Chameleon threatened to kill me if he didn't give him the Rock. The sirens were getting louder, so Dad gave it to him and Chameleon fled. But Dad gave him a fake. He told me to hide the Rock and to say that only Dad and Vortex were involved. He told me I would understand when I got older why I had to do this.
"When the Chameleon realized he had a fake, he went to Dad and Dad told him that he would only exchange our silence for his family's safety."
"But now he's done the exact opposite with your mom," Warren said. I nodded.
"So now he has little reason to think I would keep his secret."
"And he's already in hot water because of the investigation," Will pointed out.
"We should tell someone," Layla suggested.
"He wouldn't do anything tonight, would he?" Will asked. "There's so many people here."
"Then maybe we should stay in sight of those very many people?" Magenta suggested. We agreed and headed out.
Everyone stopped before I realized why.
"Well, well, well," I heard him say. "Looks like someone doesn't know how to keep their mouth shut." He was dressed in a hero police outfit that seemed unusually villainous and ironic.
"Funny how a deal can break when the other side doesn't keep up their end," I said nervously behind my brother's large back.
"Well it seems we're in a bit of a jam, aren't we? I can't say things are going to end well for me, are they? I am already being investigated, and a few murders and robbery won't look very good on my record." He tapped his fingers on his chin as if thinking of a solution. "I suppose it will just be your word against mine." He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving us flabbergasted and shaking in our leotards. Oh wait, that was just me.
"So what do we do now?" Ethan asked.
Warren
Everyone went back to the auditorium where everyone was already seated and ready for the second half the show. We decided to stay with the crowd since Chameleon was least likely to make a move in front of an auditorium full of heroes. I stayed with Karen backstage until she was ready to go back out for her next dance. She did her little things on the tips of her toes that made my own toes hurt. She was pretty good and she seemed to really enjoy herself. Just then she lifted into the air and had a scared face on before she flew to the other side of the stage. That didn't seem like that was supposed to be part of the show and the other dancers looked at each other like they didn't understand what just happened. I ran out the back to the other side of the stage, but she was gone. The others were already there.
"What happened?" Layla asked.
"Wow, he really did do something right in front of everyone," Magenta said. "He literally just picked her up and took her off stage."
"We have to find her," I stated. "Magenta, Ethan, can you guys search the vents? It'll be easier for you to hear where they are."
"We're on it," Ethan said melting into the vent on the ground. I pulled Magenta to me and kissed her.
"We'll find her," she assured me. I threw a fire ball off the cover of the vent above and Magenta shifted and climbed up into it.
"Follow the vents," I instructed to everyone else. We spread out and tried to listen in vents to see if either Ethan or Magenta found her.
Karen
My kicking and attempts to scream were useless. Chameleon was tall, taller than my brother and his big hand was covering my mouth completely. He opened the principal's office and threw me into a chair, pinning me down and wrapped a generous amount of tape around my wrists. I huffed and gave up fighting while he tied me to the chair.
"Scream all you like, little girl, no one will hear you from here," he taunted me.
"You won't get away with this," I said trying to flail my feet at him. He got a hold of those too and wrapped the tape around my legs. "Killing me won't keep my dad quiet."
"Oh, I think a cop's testimony, even if he is a bit shady, still outweighs an alleged murderer whose own daughter turned him in." I kicked and struggled in vain, trying to use my power to throw him or release me, but I couldn't with my hands bound.
"Why would you attack my mom?" I demanded. "Why didn't you just stay hidden? You wouldn't even have to think twice about me."
"I admit that probably wasn't my best idea. Your mom decided to do some digging for her latest scoop into some of my cases. She was the one who instigated the whole mess with my career. Not too many others figured out that the cases I was assigned and solved, or didn't, tended to work out in my favor. So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, figuratively, of course. She wasn't supposed to die." Anger and fury burn in my veins. I almost didn't noticed the melted mess that seeped through the vent on the floor. Chameleon was turned away, looking out the glass wall of Principal Powers' office. I motioned for Ethan to get to her desk, hoping he would understand what I wanted him to do.
"Why would you want the Rock anyway? What did you and my father want it for?"
"Well, we all had different reasons for wanting it. I let Vortex and the Baron think I was helping them achieve their uses for it. The Baron felt that it belonged to the Russians who created it, and the Vortex was interested in the reward. But I.." he turned to look at me. "want world domination," he shouted with a fist in the air.
"Then why did you kill Vortex?" I asked. "I saw you use your claws. There's no way my dad could have made an injury like that if the police cared enough to check."
"That wasn't planned. I merely wanted to safeguard the Rock, but Vortex started to get suspicious with me. Now, you seem to have something of mine."
"You won't find it," I said. He crouched down to my level so that we were eye-to-eye.
"Oh, I think I will."
Warren
"Guys, I think I hear them," I heard Magenta say in the vent. "Principal Powers' office." We started heading off in that direction. As we were running, we heard a voice over the PA
"Why would you want the Rock anyway? What did you and my father want it for?"
"Well, we all had different reasons for wanting it. I let Vortex and the Baron think I was helping them achieve their uses for it. The Baron felt that it belonged to the Russians who created it, and the Vortex was interested in the reward. But I.." he turned to look at me. "want world domination," he shouted with a fist in the air.
"Then why did you kill Vortex?" I asked. "I saw you use your claws. There's no way my dad could have made an injury like that if the police cared enough to check."
"That wasn't planned. I merely wanted to safeguard the Rock, but Vortex started to get suspicious with me. Now, you seem to have something of mine."
Somehow Karen got a way to put their conversation over the PA system. I kept running, hoping we would get to her before it was too late.
I almost stopped, but then ran even faster. There was a sound over the PA, the ultimate cry for help. A scream.
:D