A/N: I'm sorry this took so long, but this chapter was a pain to right. I didn't know how long I should concentrate on the assault on the hospital, or how to bring up some of the plot twists. I did my best, so give me some credit.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fic. The term superhero copyright DC and Marvel.
Crocktopus, grinning like a madman, let loose a huge blast of magical energy. The students, now feeling less tired, jumped out of the way. The energy hit the couch in front of the TV, turning it to a pile of ash.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Sparky demanded.
"What's it look like I'm doing? Annihilating all of you!" Crocktopus declared gleefully, lashing out his mechanical tentacles. The metal appendages flew straight at the heroes-in-training, who scattered in every direction to avoid the attack. Cleft pulled out his staff and jumped in the air, hoping to slam down on the evil teacher. However, Crocktopus saw him coming and grabbed him in midair with one of his tentacles.
"You're actually trying to fight me? ME? The great descendent of Alden Bitterroot, the greatest witch that ever lived? You really are a fool," Crocktopus said. And with that, he threw Cleft at the wall with great speed. However, Wonder Gal leapt up and caught him in her arms before he made impact.
"Whoa…thanks," Cleft said. Then it dawned on him that he was in Trixie's arms, and he blushed. Trixie blushed too when she realized what she was doing.
None of the their classmates noticed this, because they were preoccupied with staying alive. Sonic jumped forward and let out one of his ear splitting shrieks. The sound waves hit Crocktopus with full force, causing a ringing in his ears.
"AAAAHHH! You annoying little BRAT!" Crocktopus yelled, lashing out one of his tentacles and wrapping it around the young hero. "I'll squeeze the life out of you!" With that, he tightened his hold on the Indian hero. Sonic couldn't scream since he couldn't breath.
Sparky attempted to shock the mad teacher with a huge static bomb. Unfortunately, he saw it coming and put up a magic shield to save him. "Nice try…but you can't hurt me!" he bragged, lashing out another tentacle and catching Sparky in an iron grip. He then proceeded to crush him.
Crocktopus smiled triumphantly then suddenly flew a few inches to his left, which was because Fatale was right behind him and attempting to sink her claws in his back. "You think I couldn't hear you coming?" he asked mockingly, grabbing Fatale with another tentacle. "I've eliminated heroes much more powerful than you insignificant insects. By the time I'm done with all of you, you'll either be dead, or wish that you were!"
Princess attacked next. She let loose a mini blizzard at the teacher, who, instead of putting up a shield, brought up his only empty tentacle to block. The top of the metal appendage was encased in ice, but Crocktopus wasn't phased. He simply swung his tentacle like a club and struck the heroine with it. The ice shattered and Princess was knocked to the ground because of it. Smiling, he took the dazed girl in his final mechanical limb.
"HA! None of you can stop me!" he boasted.
"Wanna bet?" Wonder Gal said before rushing at him. Having none of his tentacles available, he put up a magic shield to block her. Trixie let loose several punches in rapid fire, hoping to pierce the shield.
"HA! You can't break my shield!" he said, before putting another one behind him. This one was to block a chin-a-rang Cleft had thrown at his back. "You fool, that won't…" Crocktopus began, but he was cut off, because the moment Cleft's weapon hit the shield, it exploded. Crocktopus wasn't hurt, but the explosion caught him off guard enough for him to loosen his grip on his captives.
Now able to breathe again, Sonic inhaled and unleashed the loudest scream he could muster directly at the villain. Again caught off guard, Crocktopus dropped his captives and, out of reflex, brought his hands to his ears, which caused him to drop his shields as well.
The students took advantage of this distraction. Fatale jumped at him and slashed him with her claws. The claws cut across his stomach, but not very deep. Annoyed, Crocktopus grabbed her by the collar with one of his tentacles and threw her off. Wonder Gal came in next and jabbed him in the gut. This pushed him back a bit, and into a stream of debris being spat out by Muncher Lad, who had munched the TV. Crocktopus was caught off guard by the attack, which left him open for Cleft to attack with his staff. He slammed into the teacher's side, which pushed him to the side, allowing Princess to fire a few icicles at him. Unfortunately, the mystic arts master had finally got his guard back up, and blocked the attack with a shield. He then fired another ball of mystic energy at the kids, causing them to scatter.
"You annoying little pests! I was considering just killing you quick and painlessly, but now I'll make your demise so agonizing, they'll have to think of new words just to describe it!" With that, Crocktopus raised all four tentacles and summoned magic from each of them. He then flung them forward and threw four discs of magic at the heroes. The first one headed for Sparky, who managed to avoid it by knocking it off its path with a well-placed static ball. The second headed to Princess, who quickly created a shield of ice to protect herself. The shield was shattered, but she remained unharmed. The third headed toward Fatale. She had enough reflexes to dodge it. The forth headed toward Wonder Gal, who performed a Matrix style dodge. However, it wasn't completely effective, as a disc grazed her arm, cutting near the shoulder.
She winced, but ignored the pain. Crocktopus began firing more magical blasts. Cleft ran for cover, and ended up diving into the kitchen. Muncher Lad popped out from under the floor, having tunneled underground to avoid damage.
"There's no way we can fight him," Muncher Lad declared. "We have to run!"
"Where?" Cleft asked. "There's nowhere we could hide from that guy. And every hero that could help us is defending the Chin. We have nowhere to go!"
"Yeah, but if we split up, he can't follow us all! At least some of us would survive, unlike all of us dying if we stay here!"
Cleft thought a minute. "I guess that's our only option. OK, tell the others we fight our way outside the dorms, then split up.
"Got ya," Muncher Lad said before tunneling back underground. Cleft readied his staff and rushed out back into the fray.
In battle, Crocktopus was dodging the heroes' attacks with relative ease. Wonder Gal tossed her lasso in an attempt to wrangle the villain, but Crocktopus caught it with one of his tentacles. He then gave the rope a tug, causing Wonder Gal to tumble toward him. He then thrust out another tentacle and rammed the young heroine in the chest with it. She went flying back, hitting the wall and going through it, leaving a Wonder Gal sized hole in it.
Cleft jumped at Crocktopus and attempted to slam his staff into his enemy's face. However, the cruel educator saw him coming and dodged the attack with ease. He then lashed out one of his tentacles in an attempt to inflict damage the hero. But he underestimated Cleft's speed, and the boy chin wonder leapt to avoid the attack, landing on top of one of the tentacles. He then leapt straightforward and swung his staff, attempting to hit him in the side of the head. However, he didn't get close enough, as another tentacle grabbed him by the cape. Smiling, he lifted him above his head and spun him around like a helicopter blade before throwing him through the same wall he threw Wonder Gal through.
Sonic inhaled to let loose another scream, but Crocktopus saw him. "Oh no, not this time!" he said, lashing out one of his tentacles and wrapping it around him, making sure to cover his mouth. "Now, the only screams you'll make are ones of PAIN!" he said, trying to crush him. However, before he could, Sparky leapt forward with an electric attack ready. He tossed approximately three hundred volts at his opponent. However, a magic shield stopped the attack from doing any damage. Crocktopus snaked another tentacle out and caught the electricity-generating hero.
"HA! You lose!" Crocktopus gloated. However, Sparky just smiled and began to charge up. "Trying to shock me? HA! You do, and your friend gets shocked too!" Sparky powered down. He was right. Since Crocktopus was still holding Sonic, any current he sent through him would also hurt his classmate. "Good, you're beginning to understand your situation. Now, be still while I kill you!"
However, what he didn't notice was that Sonic had managed to struggle enough to free his mouth. Now that if wasn't covered, he inhaled and let loose a sonic scream. The ear splitting noise shocked the villain and allowed the pair to escape. They quickly ran to a safe distance
Sparky turned around and threw a static ball at his enemy. However, Crocktopus summoned some magic around his hand and batted it away as easily as one might swat away a fly. Following that, Princess tried tossing a few icicles, but the insane teacher fired a few tiny magic blasts, each of which made contact with an icicle, destroying them. He then lashed out another tentacle, grabbing Princess and slamming her into the ground, his tentacle still holding her down. A.J. fired a brain blast, but Crocktopus shielded himself, then grabbed the ten-year-old genius and slammed him to the ground right next to Princess.
"Now, hold still while I crush you," Crocktopus said, readying his to empty tentacles to crush his captives heads. But before he did, he suddenly lashed one of the metal appendages behind him and caught Fatale in mid-air, who was trying to land an attack on his back. "Didn't you learn the first time you tried that?"
To Crocktopus' surprise, Fatale smiled. "As a matter of fact, I did!"
Suddenly, the evil teacher was bombarded with debris, courtesy of Muncher Lad. The attack caught Crocktopus off-guard, as he was busy gloating over his capture. Out of surprise, he released his hold on his hostages. They quickly decided to put distance between them and the raving psycho. They ran (or, in A.J.'s case, floated) to Muncher Lad, who was standing at the entrance to the dorm. Crocktopus looked at them with a glare that showed pure anger. "You…little…"
Muncher Lad smiled, revealing the digging devices attached to his teeth. "Catch us if you can!" he taunted, before he and the other three ran into the hallway. At that point Crocktopus realized that none of the students were in the dorm. Angrily, he floated out into the hall.
"You can run, but you can't hide!" he declared, then caught a glimpse of Fatale rounding a corner. Smiling, he flew after her. "I'm coming for you!" he taunted, rounding the corner. The students were no longer in sight, but he could still hear their footsteps. Smiling, he followed the sound. He would find them eventually. It was only a matter of time.
Bender watched through the window at the carnage in the streets down below. He was grinning like the Cheshire Cat at the thought that eventually the villains would overpower the heroes. He turned and leisurely walked out into the hospital hallway. There was no hurry. Nearly every villain in a hundred-mile radius had shown up for the attack. It was inevitable that they win.
"Sir, what are you doing?" an aged voice asked. Bender looked over his shoulder and saw Catman, a little damaged from battle but otherwise fine, running toward him. "Why aren't you in the doctor's safe house? The hospital's under attack, and our force field is down! They could break in at any second!"
Bender continued smiling. "I'm aware of that. But I can't get to safety. I don't want to miss the part where the Crimson Chin is eliminated once and for all!"
Catman's eyes widened in shock. "You…you're a villain! You're the one who disabled the force field!"
"Bingo! You're a lot smarter then that bozo guard I chopped to pieces. Of course, that doesn't mean I won't do the same to you!"
With that, Bender ejected one of his buzz saws from his backpack and thrusted it at Catman. The aged hero dodged, but Bender had a second blade ready. He brought it forward and managed to hit his opponent in the arm. The blade cut through the hero's armor with ease leaving a deep cut on the side of his arm.
Smiling, Bender withdrew his weapons slightly, the blades still spinning on the ends of the mechanical arms holding them. "It would be best to give up. My weapons are specially made to pierce body armor. Not to mention, these blades aren't my only weapons. WATCH!" With that, two more arms came out of the pack, both of them topped with drills instead of saws. Smiling, Bender thrusted these drills forward, hoping to pierce Catman's chest. Fortunately, he dodged, then quickly pulled out a cat boomerang and tossed it at the doctor. However, he intercepted it with one of his blades, cutting it in two. He then threw the other blade at Catman, who dodged and pulled out his chain. He tossed it out and wrapped it around one of his legs. He then pulled hard, causing Bender to lose his balance and begin to fall.
But he never hit the ground, because he was surprisingly agile, he performed a full flip and landed on his feet. The then came in and slashed at Catman with his blade. Catman dodged the swipes, then tossed his chain again. This time it wrapped around one of the blade's arms. Annoyed, Bender tried to cut the chain with his other blade. But, to his surprise, the chain remained intact. Surprised by this, it gave Catman enough of a distraction to run in and kick him in the face. Bender went flying toward a wall, but before he hit he performed another flip and hit the wall feet first. Then he shot from the wall and toward Catman, blades swinging.
Catman dodged the initial attack, but Bender landed feet first and immediately began a series of attacks at the hero. He was thinking clearly now, and had remembered what he had been taught about Catman, and how his chain was infused with the same magic that made Wonder Gal's lasso unbreakable. He would remember that now. He continued to swing his blades and jab his drills, hoping to inflict mare damage.
After dodging another blade, Catman threw his chain again. This time, however, Bender dodged it and thrusted his drill forward. Catman pulled out his grappling hook and shot it at the ceiling. The grapple hit its target and pulled Catman up, causing the drill to miss him. "You can't hit me up here, villain!" Catman declared, tossing three more cat boomerangs. Bender cut these with his blades, then smiled.
"Actually, yes I can!" With that, he pulled out two more arms, both with magnets at the ends of them. Bender continued smiling as sparks began generating from them. After a few seconds, a bolt of electricity came from the weapon and headed straight at Catman. He quickly let go of his grapple and dropped to the ground. The bolt hit the ceiling, leaving a scorch mark where it hit. Bender scowled at missing, but his mouth quickly twisted back into his eerie smile and he shot another bolt from the other magnet. Catman dodged this one too, and quickly tried to decide what to do. His boomerangs would be cut in two before they reached their target, hand-to-hand combat would be too dangerous, and Bender had learned to dodge his chain. Going over those options, he decided the chain was the only thing that could possibly work, so he readied it again.
He lashed it out at Bender, who dodged and countered with a blast of electricity. Catman ducked to avoid it and lashed his chain out again. This time, it hooked around the arm of one of his drills. He pulled forward, causing Bender to lose his balance for a split second. Catman took advantaged of this temporary distraction to run in and attack. First he kicked him in the stomach, then the face. Bender was sent back, where he hit the wall behind him. Catman ran in and attempted a flying kick. However, Bender regained his senses and saw it coming. To counter the attack, he swung one of his blades and hit Catman in the side. The aged hero let out a yell of pain and fell to the ground. Now back on his feet, Bender smiled and jammed both of his drills in Catman's back.
As said before, Bender's weapons were specially designed to pierce body armor. That meant that both drills were drilling right into Catman's back. Needless to say, the veteran hero was in a great deal of pain. As Catman let out a cry of pain, Bender let out a sadistic laugh. "Look at the mighty Catman now!" he said, as his malicious laughter echoed through the hospital's hallways.
Fortunately, Catman was spared from any further pain by a blast of tie-die colored energy, which hit the mad doctor in the side. Bender went flying into a wall, hitting it hard. When he regained his senses, he saw Power Flower helping Catman up. "Well, well, well, another loser hero for me to pound."
PF glared at Bender. "You monster! Even though I oppose violence, I will still fight you nail and tooth," he said, tossing two more tie-die beams at Bender. The doctor, however, dodged these with ease.
"HA! A stupid hippie couldn't beat me if his life depended on it. Which, unfortunately for you, is the case here!" And so, the two opponents leapt at each other, and a new battle began.
The students ran through the hallways of the dormitory in a desperate attempt to lose their enemy. They reached the stairs and began to descend them. However, before they got more than three steps down, the stairway burst apart, and Crocktopus rose from the wreckage. "Going somewhere? Let me answer that for you: NO!" he laughed, thrusting his tentacles forward. The class scattered in all directions.
"How'd you get in front of us?" Muncher Lad asked, dodging another tentacle swipe.
"Foolish child! Have you forgotten that I have the power to teleport?" he laughed, firing magical blasts in every direction. Sparky jumped at him with a blast of electricity ready. However, Crocktopus grabbed him with one of his tentacles. But, instead of panicking, Sparky smiled. It was at this point that Crocktopus realized his mistake. He wasn't touching any of Sparky's classmates, which meant nothing was stopping him from shocking the teacher.
Sparky took advantage of this and sent out all the electrical energy he could muster. Crocktopus screamed, more in surprise than in pain, and dropped his hostage. He was temporarily stunned, allowing the students to get past him and jump to the bottom floor.
Well, not all the students.
Cleft, who was bringing up the rear, had just jumped and was falling to the floor when suddenly he felt his cape tighten around his neck. "You're not going anywhere, Turner!" Crocktopus laughed maniacally.
Gasping for breath, Cleft looked down at the lower floor. To both his relief and horror, his classmates had already run out of sight. That meant they were safe, but it also meant that he would have to face Crocktopus alone. He looked up at his opponent. He was holding his cape in one of his tentacles while aiming with the other three. In seconds, he would fire and the boy chin wonder would become the boy chin ash pile.
However, he didn't fire, because Cleft pressed a button on his utility Cleft and three chin-a-rangs flew out and hit the mechanical limbs, knocking them in different directions. The blasts fired harmlessly into the walls. Crocktopus was about to say something in anger, but never got the chance, because Cleft had shot a fourth chin-a-rang right at the teacher's face.
Caught off guard by the attack, Crocktopus failed to block it. The weapon slammed into the side of his face, severely cutting his cheek. He screamed in pain, dropping Cleft.
Ordinarily, Cleft was very nimble, and would be able to land on his feet. However, in this case, the fall was too short, and he was busy trying to catch his breath again. He landed on his leg at an odd angle and heard a painful snap, his ankle feeling a surge of pain. He let out a yell. Grabbing his ankle.
"TIMMY!"
Cleft looked in the direction the cry came from, and silently thanked whoever was running the universe. Wonder Gal was speeding toward him as fast as she could go. "Timmy, I heard you yell. What happened?"
"Crocktopus grabbed my cape when I jumped, but I managed to get away," he replied. He tried to stand up, but quickly fell to the ground with a cry of pain.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned. She looked at Timmy's foot and got her answer. "Timmy…you're ankle is twisted.
Timmy looked down. Indeed, his foot was ninety-degree angle. "I can walk…we gotta get away…"
"Don't give me that! There's no way your walking on that injury!" With that, Wonder Gal grabbed Cleft and held him in her arms. Then she turned and ran toward the exit.
Good news, she managed to make it outside before Crocktopus recovered from the attack.
Bad news, that didn't make much of a difference, as Crocktopus teleported directly outside the school. Wonder Gal, with her superior speed, managed to get out of sight. No matter. He simply hovered up to a high altitude.
From this point, he could see the whole town. He saw the mass amount of carnage that was occurring below the hospital. He saw that all the students had scattered in different directions. He gave a growl in annoyance. Which one should he follow?
Then he noticed Wonder Gal was carrying Cleft.
Two heroes in one location.
Giving a sadistic smile, he floated after the two. The attack on the hospital would take hours. He had plenty of time to take them all down.
After all, every hero would be too busy defending the hospital.
The city had been evacuated.
He would hunt the kids down and destroy them eventually.
It was only a matter of time.
Bender and Power Flower were caught in a stalemate. Bender may not have has super powers, but he was remarkably agile, and his weapons were durable. PF had hit one of the saws with a direct blast of energy. The blade was singed and a little dented, but it still functioned well.
Currently, Bender was running at his opponent, jabbing his drills forward like punches. PF dodged the attacks, or put up shields to block whatever he couldn't avoid. Finally, after a few seconds of dodging and blocking, PF finally struck back with a beam of energy from his hand. Fortunately, it struck the blade he had hit earlier. The weapon was blown of its limb, leaving a singed and sparking limb.
Bender was caught off guard by the effectiveness of the attack, enough so that PF's next attack nailed him right in the stomach, knocking him off his feet and slamming him into the wall, effectively knocking the wind out of him. When the attack stopped he slid down to the ground, trying to get himself back together.
PF took advantage of this pause to disarm him farther. With two well aimed blasts, he blew one of the drills off its limb, leaving him another weapon short.
PF tried to blow one of the magnets, but by this time Bender had recovered, and jumped out of the way, letting the blast hit the wall. He charged up both of his magnets and fired, causing two bolts of electricity to fly straight at the hippie hero. PF quickly put up a multicolored shield to protect himself.
Before he could drop the shield, Bender ran up and began slashing at him with his remaining saw and jabbing him with his remaining drill. PF held his shield up with al his might, but he was beginning to tire. He had fought outside the hospital before coming in to challenge Bender, and he was showing signs of fatigue.
Bender's barrage lasted a minute, but it felt like an hour to PF. Finally, he gave in to his exhaustion, and the shield dropped.
Instantly, the drill came in and bore right into PF's shoulder. The teacher cried out in pain, a cry that got louder as the saw came down and ripped through his other shoulder. As PF's screams echoed through the hall, Bender smiled as though he was hearing beautiful music.
"Ah, it's times like this that makes the job worthwhile," Bender said happily.
He would have continued enjoying the cries of pain if he hadn't noticed Catman walking up to him. He was staggering, as Bender had tore into his back very deeply minutes earlier. He looked more like a drunken boxer than a great hero. Bender laughed.
"You idiot. You can barely stand up. What could you possibly do to stop me?"
Catman responded by pulling out a small capsule and throwing it. Bender merely laughed at this and chopped the tiny projectile with his saw.
Big Mistake. Because that single capsule turned out to be filled with pepper spray.
Instantly, Bender's eyes burned. He yelled in pain and immediately closed his eyes, stumbling back. Of course, this left him open for attack. Catman threw a few exploding boomerangs, while PF, mustering all the strength he had left, threw out a few more energy blasts. Soon, Bender was completely unarmed.
By this time, the mad doctor was beginning to recover, but it didn't matter, without his weapons, he was pretty powerless. Catman tossed his chain and wrapped it around Bender, effectively restraining him. By the time he regained his sight, he was tightly bound.
"Thank goodness that's over," PF said. At that point, Catman collapsed on the ground. PF, alarmed, ran over to him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…I just keep forgetting I'm not as young as I used to be," he said, through ragged breaths.
"You should sit the rest of this battle out," PF said, helping his fellow hero up, then supporting him, as he was to week to stand. "I'll take you to the safehouse the doctors are in." With that, he began walking Catman down the hall and to safety.
The battle to defend the hospital was long and hard. Several heroes had turned out for the battle.
The Academy Teachers. The Power Pals. Skull Squishier. Sergeant Strength. Sonic Siren. Every hero in the immediate vicinity had responded to the call for help. They had all come to defend the hero that had given so much for so many. They would fight vigorously to protect him, just as he had done for so many.
However, the villains showed just as much vigor in their fight.
The Body of Evil. H2Olga. Country Boy. Spatula Woman. The Bull-E. The Baby Shredder. Dr. Bender. The Rocker. Dogzilla. The Iron Maiden. Mike the Evil Living Building. All the mysterious villain had to do was announce his plan to destroy the Chin, and every member of Dimmsdale's villain community joined in, all wanting more than anything to see the biggest obstacle in their way destroyed.
They had a great desire to see the Chin suffer death.
And thanks to the mysterious villain, they were prepared.
Any and all equipment that they used was upgraded thanks to the twistedly brilliant mind of Dr. Bender.
But more importantly, after the area was evacuated, the one in charge ordered a previously placed force field to be activated around the city. It served two purposes.
First, it stopped any further help from reaching the heroes.
But more importantly, it stopped the students from leaving the city.
They had purposely waited until after the evacuation to be sure the kids had no one to turn to.
It was a perfectly planned assault.
It was a long battle. An epic one.
But that's not the focus of our story.
This is about the students. So let's get back to them.
Wonder Gal finally managed to find a safe place to rest. It was in an abandoned apartment building. She ran inside and entered one of the rooms on the top floor. There was an old couch there, abandoned by the final residents of the room. This is where she laid Cleft down. "We should be safe here, at least for a while. Now, we should do something about your foot," she said. "I don's suppose you have any medical equipment in that cleft of yours, do you?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," he said, pressing a button on its side. Instantly a mechanical hand popped out, clutching a box of medical equipment. Wonder Gal took it and pulled out a roll of bandages. She then began to treat Cleft's wounds.
"Listen…thanks for coming back to save me," Timmy said nervously.
"It…was nothing," Trixie said. Both kids were trying to act cool, but they were both blushing from being so close to one another.
"…How long do you think we'll be safe here?" Timmy asked.
"I'm not sure," Trixie answered.
There was an awkward silence for a moment. Finally, Trixie spoke. "Listen, Timmy, we may not make it out of this one alive. So…there's something I want to tell you."
Timmy looked over at her. "Yes?"
"Well…I had a lot of fun with you the other day…I really liked spending time with you…"
"I liked spending time with you too."
"I'm glad. You see, I had fun…more fun than I'd ever had before. Timmy…I…"
BAM!
Timmy and Trixie snapped their heads in the direction of the noise. To there horror, Crocktopus was standing in front of a large hole in the wall that he himself created. He had his tentacles ready and his mouth in a wicked smile.
"Well, well, well, look what I've found," he said mockingly, then he thrusted his tentacles forward in attack. The pair jumped in different directions. Cleft landed on the ground, gasping in pain as his twisted ankle felt the impact. Wonder Gal landed gracefully, then immediately rushed as the evil teacher, hoping to land a punch. However, the villain was much faster. One of his tentacles lashed out, grabbing her and wrapping around her waist, lifting her in the air.
"Cleft, RUN!" she shouted.
Cleft didn't even consider doing what Wonder Gal had suggested. Instead, he pulled out his staff and got in a fighting stance. This caused Crocktopus to laugh.
"You foolish child! I am a master of the mystic arts, and you are a child with a twisted ankle! Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"
Cleft didn't say a word. Trying to ignore the pain in his ankle, he leapt up and swung his staff. He had horrible form due to his ankle, and even if he didn't, it wouldn't have mattered, because Crocktopus was more than ready for him. He simply swung a tentacle and knocked him out of the air. He slammed into a wall, which cracked upon impact but didn't break. Cleft landed on the floor in a great deal of pain.
"Insignificant insect. I'm going to enjoy squashing you," he said. He lifted his tentacle, powering up a magic blast.
Suddenly, Crocktopus screamed in pain. Yellow energy surrounded him. He released his hold on Wonder Gal, causing her to fall to the ground. She landed on her feet, then quickly ran to Cleft's side.
After a few seconds, the energy disappeared. Faint trails of smoke rose from Crocktopus' costumes. Angrily, he turned around to face his attacker. Cleft and Wonder Gal looked past him, expecting to see one of their classmates.
Instead, what they saw were two short beings standing in the hole Crocktopus had created earlier. They were both clad in white cloaks with hoods that covered their faces. The only facial feature of these two were pairs of glowing yellow eyes, which pierced the otherwise total darkness from underneath their disguises. One of them had their hand sticking out, revealing white sleeves that ended with white gloves. In the gloved hand was a black rod with a star at the end of it.
"I really don't think this fight is fair," said a female voice from under one of the hoods. Immediately afterwards, the one pointing the rod turned and aimed it at Cleft. The star resting on the tip suddenly began glowing.
Cleft winced, as he expected another energy attack to emerge from the strange device. Instead, he suddenly felt the pain in his ankle disappear. He looked at his foot. The bandages Wonder Gal had placed their were gone, and his foot was perfectly straight and not an once of pain came from it.
Next, the stranger pointed the device at Cleft's staff, which was laying on the ground next to him. The weapon glowed, then returned to normal. Cleft picked it up. I seemed exactly the same.
Finally, both interlopers tossed something at both of the heroes in training from the depths of their robes. They threw them so quickly, they flew past Crocktopus before he realized they were coming. It was out of sheer luck that the two heroes caught them. They then saw that the objects were shields. They were both shaped like typical medieval shields, but an unusual feature about them was the fact that they were both pink, the same color as Cleft's civilian clothes.
"That should even the odds," the female voice said.
Crocktopus' face twisted into an even angrier expression. "WHO ARE YOU?" he demanded. He didn't wait for an answer, instead he lashed out with his tentacles, hoping to strike them. However, he failed. Before he could hit either of them, they disappeared in a poof of smoke.
Crocktopus growled in anger and annoyance. He turned his wrath back toward the students. "No more delays! You will perish!" he said. He powered up a ball of blue energy in his hands. It reached the size of a basketball before he fired it at great speed, aiming it directly at Cleft's head.
Cleft, petrified with both fear of Crocktopus' attack and confusion over what the two hooded figures were and what they did, did the first thing that came to mind: he held up his newly acquired shield, praying that it would do what he thought it did. He closed his eyes and braced for the attack.
He felt the attack hit his shield. He felt it push against his only defense for a split second, then it was gone. He heard the sound of something hit the ceiling. He opened his eyes. Crocktopus was glaring at him with a look of angry shock. He looked at the ceiling. There was a basketball sized hole where the mad teacher's attack had hit. There was silence in the abandoned room, as all three of them pondered the significance of this new development.
"...magic shields," Crocktopus said at last. He expression became even angrier. "I don't know who those freaks were, or why they'd want to give you such a thing, but I doesn't matter. Even with their help, you will still die."
With those words, he dashed at the two heroes, tentacles lashing directly forward. Wonder Gal jumped to the side. Cleft, prepared this time, swung his staff. Crocktopus, however, grabbed it with one tentacle and lashed at him with another. Cleft ducked to the side, never letting go of his staff. As the tentacle went sailing past him, he raised up his shield, which he still held in his other hand, and slammed it down on the tentacle that still had a grip on his staff. The shied managed to hit hard enough to cause the outer layer of metal to split, reveling the inner wires and circuitry. Caught off guard by the effectiveness of the attack, Crocktopus never saw Wonder Gal jump at him. She swung the shield as hard as she could, hitting her target on the side of the head. Crocktopus stumbled to the side.
Cleft jumped at him and swung his staff at the tentacle he had damaged earlier. He aimed at the opening he had created earlier. Luckily, he managed to hit his intended target. His staff tore the metal, and the end of the metal appendage fell off.
There was a pause as Crocktopus glared at the severed tentacle. The previously seven-foot weapon was reduced to a tiny stub. "You...little PEST!" he screamed, jabbing a tentacle at the one who damaged him. Unfortunately, this time he was too quick to block. He struck right in the stomach. It pushed him into the wall, pinning him there and pushing against him, crushing him. Crocktopus smiled, and lashed his remaining two tentacles straight at him.
However, these failed to hit, because Wonder Gal's lasso roped both the tentacles in a single loop. The young heroine pulled with all her strength, and the tentacles were yanked out of their path. Cleft took advantage of the momentary distraction to bash the tentacle pinning him with his staff. The tentacle bent and gave off a few sparks, causing Crocktopus to withdraw it.
He also lifted his other two tentacles up, which were still in the lasso's grip. Despite Wonder Gal's strength, she couldn't compete with the tentacles force, and was lifted into the air. She let go of the lasso's end and began to fall to the ground, but before she landed Crocktopus' free tentacle slammed into her and pinned her against another wall. Seconds later, Crocktopus wiggled his tentacle free and used one of them to snatch Wonder Gal's shield out of her hand, leaving her without the only thing she knew could break it.
Desperately, she began slamming her fists on the metal limb, hoping that it would work as effectively as Cleft's staff had earlier. But it didn't, the tentacle remained in one piece. Crocktopus didn't notice, as he was focusing on Cleft.
Grinning, he threw Wonder Gal's shield at Cleft. Cleft held up his own shield to block. The two shields collided, and the young hero was knocked to the ground, the shield flying from his arm and landing a few inches away. Before he could grab it, Crocktopus slammed his tentacle into him, pushing him up against the wall. With his remaining tentacle, he relived Cleft of his staff. He threw it like a javelin. It impaled the wall a foot from Wonder Gal, just out of her reach.
Crocktopus laughed a sinister laugh, then powered up a ball of magic in his free tentacle. "Well, well, well, it seems that the children's luck has finally run out. There's no one to save you this time! First you, then your little friends…you will all perish!" With that, he fired.
Wonder Gal screamed and began thrashing wildly against the tentacle holding her down, hoping to get free.
Timmy screamed as the attack came closer.
He instinctively brought up his arms to shield himself and closed his eyes.
He waited for the attack to end his life.
After what seemed like an eternity, though it as only a few milliseconds, he heard the attack hit something.
But he wasn't him.
Then he heard something go through the roof.
He opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that both Wonder Gal and Crocktopus were gaping at him with shocked expressions. He slowly looked up. There was another hole in the ceiling, just like when the shield had deflected the earlier attack.
Had Cleft kept his eyes open, he would have seen the magic energy fly at them, then stop as if it had hit an invisible wall. He then would have seen the attack ricochet off that invisible wall and hit the ceiling.
He looked back at the other two people in the room.
Crocktopus' shocked expression was now a malicious smile.
Not a good sign.
"So…you're the one," he said at last.
Cleft opened his mouth to ask him what he was talking about, but the words died in his throat, as Crocktopus brought his free tentacle toward him. He didn't ram it into him in an attempt to crush him, but simply brought the end of the mechanical limb up to Cleft's forehead, where it latched on with great grip.
Suddenly, Cleft felt dizzy. Both he and the tentacle began to give off a red aurora. Crocktopus' mouth became a cruel smile, revealing his misshapen teeth. "Yes…you are the one I've been searching for. Now it's even more important that I kill you…right after I get what I want from you!"
At hearing that Cleft was going to be killed, Wonder Gal began pounding harder against the tentacle holding her against the wall, but to no avail, the item remained intact. Cleft became even more frightened at the thought that Crocktopus was going to kill him, but couldn't do anything about it. Whatever Crocktopus was doing to him, it made him too dizzy to concentrate on anything. In fact, if he weren't pinned to the wall, he wouldn't be upright.
After a few more seconds, Crocktopus removed his tentacle from Cleft's forehead. The limb was now clutching a sphere of energy. But it wasn't his magic. This sphere was red. He smiled. "Well, well, well, that was easier than I thought it would be," he said snidely. With that, he withdrew the energy into his tentacle before turning back to the Chin's sidekick. His dizziness had passed, and he was now alert and desperately trying to wiggle free. "Well, it's time to die," he said, beginning to charge up a ball of energy in his free tentacle.
Wonder Gal was still desperately trying to get free, when she realized something. Crocktopus was so focused on Cleft that he wasn't using his third tentacle to push down as hard. Instead of trying to break the tentacle, she simply wiggled to the side. A few seconds later, she was free. Crocktopus didn't notice. She quickly grabbed Cleft's staff out of the wall and quickly ran toward Crocktopus.
The twisted teacher now had a ball of energy the size of a basketball. "You may have blocked my last shot, but not this one, because I'm firing it a point blank range. He brought the tentacle a foot from Cleft's face and prepared to fire. At that point, several things happened in a short amount of time.
1.Wonder Gal ran in and struck the tentacle holding Cleft with Cleft's staff.
2.The tentacle broke in two from the combination of the force behind Wonder Gal's swing and whatever the two figures did to the staff.
3.Crocktopus' expression turned into one of shock.
4.Cleft, now free, quickly ran from his current position, which was very fortunate for Cleft, because…
5.A split-second later, Crocktopus' attack, which was fired out of surprise, hit the wall where Cleft's head was previously.
After all those things happened, Cleft grabbed the dropped shields and handed one to Wonder Gal. She gave Cleft his staff back and picked up her lasso. Then they turned back to Crocktopus and prepared to fight him.
Only to realize he was still floating in the same place, a shocked look on his face. After a few more seconds, he turned his head to the students. "Hey," he said. "…that one wasn't mechanical!"
He then let loose an earsplitting shriek. Seconds later, he regained his composure and glared at the kids. "You two are going to suffer so greatly, they'll hear you screaming from Chincinnati!" he declared, summoning magic on both his hands and his remaining tentacles. He was about to fire when suddenly, a strange noise filled the air.
It was like an alarm, but neither of the heroes in training had heard one like it before. It was, for the most part, indescribable. But if definitely sent chills down the spines of the two heroes.
It also caused a worried look to cross Crocktopus' face. He focused back on the kids, then fired all four blasts at once. Cleft and Wonder Gal barely dodged the blasts, both of them scattering to either side of the room. The blasts left a huge hole in the wall.
"You're lucky that I don't have anymore time to waste on you. But I'll return, and when I do, you'll wish you never enrolled in Dimmsdale Academy!" A blue orb of energy surrounded him, and then he was gone.
The two students paused for a moment, while Crocktopus' sudden retreat registered in their minds. Finally, Wonder Gal turned to Cleft and asked a question she was dying to know the answer to: "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" Cleft asked, confused.
"Block that attack! The magic blast just bounced away from you like an invisible wall! And what did Crocktopus mean, 'you're the one?'"
"I don't know," Cleft said. "I just closed my eyes and wished that there was something between me and the blast. The next thing I knew, the blast was gone and both you and Crocktopus were staring at me."
"This is weird," Wonder Gal said. "Those invisible shields, whatever Crocktopus did to you…and those two weird guys. What's going on."
"I don't know…and something tells me it's only going to get worst."
The students weren't aware that the two mysterious figures had seen the whole fight. They now stood on top of a building, watching the two students recover from the battle. After a pause, one of them spoke. It was the same one that had spoken in the student's presence.
"Did you see that? How that kid got saved by that invisible shield?"
"Cool!" said the other figure, his male voice filled with excitement. "I wish I could do that!"
The first figure turned to him. "You CAN do that."
"…NEAT!"
The first figure rolled her eyes and turned back to the students. "First, I'll take back those shields," she said, raising the star tipped rod she used earlier. In a poof of pink smoke, the shields appeared beside her. She looked down and saw the students searching for the items she had just brought before her. "It's best they don't know what's going on yet." She took one last look at the students and sighed.
"Cleft predicts things will get worse. That poor kid has no clue how right he is."
The strange noise that Cleft, Wonder Gal, and Crocktopus had heard earlier was an alarm of retreat. Eventually the battle came to a point where it was clear that the heroes would win. Any further fighting would likely result in several villains getting captured, which was a major screw up. So, the unknown villain issued an order to retreat.
The halls were ringing with cries of celebration. The hospital had been protected, and the Crimson Chin was safe. Even better, he was expected to make a full recovery within a week.
While many were celebrating, PF was leading two guards down the hallways to the place where Catman had contained Bender. "Come on, he right around this corner," he said, turning down a hallway, the guards trailing behind him.
They didn't see the mad doctor. What they saw was the chain, which was lying on the floor, along with a scrap of paper. PF picked it up and read it.
Sorry I couldn't stay, but I heard prison food is lousy. Besides, the Chin may be alive, but I've still won in a different way today. –Bender
PF blinked. What did than mean?
The cloaked villain sat at his seat, analyzing the events that had occurred that day. They had failed to destroy the Chin, but the day hadn't proven to be a failure. They had gotten schematics of Professor Brain's design, as well as a sample of the Crimson Chin's blood, which was an important piece for his ultimate goal. Injuries were heavy, but no one had been caught. Short Fuse stood on the table in front of him, examining the day's spoils.
"Not a bad haul, boss," he said. "It's a shame we couldn't kill the Chin, though."
"Yes, it's regrettable, but at least we didn't walk away empty handed," the figure said. "Say, where are Bender and Crocktopus?"
"Right here, master," a voice said. The two in question walked in. Crocktopus had already had Bender repair his tentacles, replacing his single organic one with another metal one. Bender had put on his spare backpack, so he was once again armed.
"There you two are. Well, Crocktopus, did you kill them."
"I'm sorry master, I failed. But, I did find out who it is."
The leaders got angry when he found out Crocktopus failed, but smiled when he heard of Crocktopus' accomplishment. "Excellent. Who is it?"
"Believe it or not, it's the Crimson Chin's sidekick."
Bender and Short Fuse looked shocked, but the leader just shrugged. "Ironic. It's the powerless hero. Well, did you get that other thing you promised?"
Smiling, Crocktopus held up a tentacle and produced a glowing red orb. He set it down next to the schematics. The villains smiled, bathing in its light.
"Excellent," the master said.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened. It was Baby Shredder.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked.
"Ah, Vicky, come in," the master said. Vicky stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
"Vicky, you have only served me two years, but in that time you have shown me great loyalty and remarkable potential. For that reason, I have decided to let you enter the upper level of the organization."
This caught both Vicky and the other villains off guard. The upper lever was the group Crocktopus, Bender, and Short Fuse were in. Only the best and most loyal were allowed in.
"Master, are you sure that's wise? She is way too young!" Crocktopus protested.
"Still, she has shown great loyalty to me. With more training, she will be a fine general. What do you say, Vicky?"
Vicky was speechless for a moment, then spoke. "I…it's a great honor sir. Of course I accept. But I have to know: are there any more plans to get my sister on the right side?"
"Of course. In fact, I'm hoping to convert all of those poor misguided students to the winning side. All, of course, except for Cleft."
Vicky was puzzled. "What's so special about him?"
"He is a boy that has been prophesied. It is said that one day, he will destroy me. I can't allow that. However, the other may be saved." He smiled. "All the pieces are in place, Vicky. Soon, we will rule!"
All the villains around the room smiled. Vicky most of all, as she prepared to learn what was going on.
All right, a few things. First, if you've already figured out who the two cloaked figures are (and you probably have) don't shout it out in reviews. There might be someone who doesn't know. Second, the next chapter will be out sooner, promise. Third, if you're having trouble imagining the cloaked figures, think Timmy's cloak in Abra-Catastrophe with a full body suit. Okay, see you next time!