Kihonne: Alright guys, I'm back, and this time, with Mighty Mole! It's an awesome episode (and hopefully chapter too) so I'm not going to waste much of your time by talking. Straight to the shoutouts!
Xxx
LabGirl2001: Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you like this chapter just as much.
Zephryr: That sucks about your laptop – I've had it happen to me, and I nearly went crazy without it. Don't apologize at all – I completely understand. No, I don't think it's weird – sometimes evil characters are more entertaining and deeper than good ones. I'm glad you liked the Kani scenes. As for your theory, I hate to say that you're wrong about her powers, but it was a fairly good guess. I did consider giving her animal-related abilities for a while, but I also figured it would be too obvious if I did that, and I liked to subtly hint at things. The hints are more like the way people would describe Dani, or some of the words she chooses to use in sentences. I don't think anyone's going to guess it, but once I reveal her powers, I think people are going to go back and realize the subtle comments here and there. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Fangirlish13: I'm glad you're enjoying it! I love writing intense chapters like that, so you're really going to enjoy this second half of the series, I promise. And you should be excited for Mr. Terror – I've got exciting plans for that. As for the talk shows, I'm only going to do one (the series is so short), but I'm going to have it once the Slylar Storm chapters are done. Enjoy!
PiLot guest: I am so, so, sorry. I know you're probably the type to forgive me for this, but I so wanted to update on your birthday, but my internet crashed and I only got it back about twenty minutes ago! I'm so sorry I missed it. Happy belated birthday, though. I hope it was a good one and that you get all that you've wished for. I'm glad you like my use of the background characters – I actually have some plot ideas for some of them, but I can't say much right now about it without spoiling the series finale (and I mean the original chapter one, not the wedding episode one). I think you're going to like what I'm going to do with them, though. I can't believe a writer actually said that – original chapters ARE fanfiction. We're supposed to reveal our original ideas. I have to disagree with him/her. I'm afraid there won't be too many original chapters for this series, simply because I'm working with a schedule, but out of the two I'm planning, I have one that's pretty funny and action packed, and then a very intense and dramatic one later. I think you're going to find them interesting. And yes, it's refreshing to be able to fix the mistakes they make because they don't care. Ages are the biggest problem there, I find. Technically, lab rats ran for four years (there were four wedding anniversaries) but every character only ages up about a year, so mistakes like that bug me to no end. I can't totally understand the lack of time – I'm on my feet for twelve hours a day now. There won't be too many Elite Force episodes to work with – by time this thing is done, the first season will be over, but only with 16 episodes – but I have a number of character/story arcs that I can make original chapters from. Enough that if, for whatever reason, Elite Force was cancelled, I could make another full season. You're right – this one is a lot more lighthearted than The Lab Assistant, but you're going to like the Power of Seven because of that. I'm going to mix in the serious bits – I love writing those – but Kaz, Oliver, Dani, and Skylar are going to bring a lot more fun and lightheartedness to the team. They're going to affect Calla, Chase, and Bree a lot like that, and you'll find that while some of the younger characters are going to be maturing a bit, the older characters are going to be reminded that it's okay for them to still act like kids from time to time. Kaz and Dani will definitely be getting everyone into a lot of crazy situations that I'm sure you and the rest of my readers will find funny. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and once again, happy belated birthday.
Xxx
Kihonne: Oh, and I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the late Windell Middlebrooks. He was an incredible actor, and I am truly saddened that this episode was his last appearance in Mighty Med before he passed away.
Agent Blaylock: Kihonne doesn't own Mighty Med. She only owns Dani, Alivia, and anything else you don't recognize.
Xxx
Oliver's POV
I looked up from the book in my hands, hearing some sounds coming from outside the window. I glanced at the clock, the current time, 12:34 A.M., shining back at me. I sighed, sitting up in the bed as I heard something heavy hit the roof, just outside the open window. A moment later, a bag was tossed through the window, and my sister starting climbing in.
I cleared my throat and Dani froze, one leg still hanging out the window. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, eyes as wide as saucers as she realized that I'd caught her. I raised an eyebrow as she recovered from her shock, waiting for her to say something.
"Wha…what are you doing in my room?" She questioned eventually, her tone full of annoyance. She swung her leg in completely and shut the window behind her.
"Waiting for you." I replied, snapping the book closed. "You're two and a half hours past our curfew."
"What are you, Mom?" She questioned, rolling her eyes as she eased off her jacket. She tossed it onto the ground by her bed, obviously not caring too much about it. She walked over to her dresser mirror, brushing her hair back as she went to take out the earrings she was wearing.
"No, but just so you know, Mom's pissed." She paused at that, a nervous look flickering onto her face for a moment. "I lied and told her you were sleeping over at Liv's. Just make sure you don't run into her before school tomorrow."
"Thanks." She sent me a grateful smile, dropping the earrings.
"So, where were you really?" I questioned. She glanced at me through the mirror, then looked down at her dresser, carefully placing the earrings in their box. "Dani!"
"I was out." She replied, annoyed. I looked at her. "Look, Ollie, it doesn't matter. Besides, you're not my keeper."
"You weren't answering your phone, and Liv hadn't seen you, so I was worried." I insisted. She rolled her eyes. I glanced at the earrings on her dresser, recognizing them as the ones Dad brought her the last time he was in town. "Were you on a date?"
"I went to see a movie. It ran later than expected." She told me.
"Yeah? Who'd you go with?" I questioned. She shrugged. "Dani, if you're seeing someone-"
"Who I date is none of your business, Ollie!" She snapped.
"It's someone I know, right? That's why you won't tell me, right?" I demanded. She looked at me.
"Drop it." She warned me. I got up with a frustrated sigh, and headed for the door.
"Don't expect me to cover for you next time you and boyfriend are late." I grumbled before shutting the door behind me.
Kaz's POV
"Wow." I grinned, walking into Mighty Med, Alivia just behind me. "Check out the hero's welcome I'm getting for helping Oliver and Dani restore all the superheroes' powers yesterday."
"No one's even looking at you." The red head pointed out.
"Exactly." I looked at her, wondering how she could miss that obvious sign of respect. "That's the highest form of flattery. They feel unworthy to even set eyes on such greatness."
"Sure." She rolled her eyes as Jaime headed in our direction, apparently in a rush as she adjusted her superhero uniform. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"Nightstrike, bank robbery. Not much." She told her girlfriend, already opening the doors so she could leave. "By the way, Thing One and Thing Two are fighting, so have fun with that!"
"Wait, what?" I looked at her in confusion. She didn't answer, instead racing out the door to go save the tax payer's money. I looked over at the ER counters, where both Dani and Oliver were working in dead silence, occasionally sending each other annoyed looks. I leaned on the nearest counter to them, raising an eyebrow. "Okay, what's the problem?"
"Ollie's being an over-controlling brother and won't respect my privacy." Dani stated simply, not looking up from the computer she was typing on.
"You're the one keeping secrets from me!" Oliver snapped. He looked at me. "She gets home past midnight this morning, without an explanation, and expects me to cover for her with mom, while still refusing to tell me what's up."
Oh, oops. Dani and I had gone on our first actual date, since Oliver had been stuck with the late shift at Mighty Med, but after the movie we'd gone out for smoothies and lost track of the time. But of course, telling Oliver that was probably not a good idea.
"You guys shouldn't be fighting; we saved the day yesterday, and we should be celebrating." I pointed out, figuring a distraction was the best way to go. "C'mon, we were bad-asses!"
"We are pretty awesome." Dani agreed, smirking.
"I guess." Oliver also relented.
"We should document our heroism." I insisted, pulling out my phone. "C'mon."
"Fine." Oliver sighed, walking around the counter to stand beside me. Dani just hopped over the counter, sitting on top of it just behind us. I held the camera out and up, pointing it at the three of us.
"Dear future generations of people and/or cyborgs," Dani began, a smirk on her face.
"Yesterday, the world was saved from the forces of evil, and you maybe be wondering who did it." I continued.
"Well, look no further!" Oliver exclaimed. "It was yours truly, Oliver Short."
"And yours truly, Danica Short," Dani added.
"And yours truly, Kazimieras Broadman." I finished. Oliver stopped and looked at me.
"Kazimieras?" He repeated. I nodded, shrugging.
"Yeah, it's my real name. But I go by Kaz because nobody can spell Kazimieras." I explained. "Especially me. K-A-Z-I, K-A-Z-E? It's impossible!"
"I've known you since we were three, and you've never told me that." Oliver told me, a hurt expression on his face.
"Sure I have." I shrugged. Dani shook her head at me from her spot behind Oliver. "What's the big deal? There are hundreds of secrets I've never told you."
Okay, maybe not the best thing to say, especially when one of those secrets was the fact that I'm dating his sister. Dani gave me an annoyed look, while Oliver looked plain suspicious.
"Like what?" He questioned.
"Uh, like the fact that I've been stealing the meat out of your sandwiches every day for five years." I admitted.
"I wondered why my mom was always making me cheese sandwiches." Oliver hummed thoughtfully. "Sometimes it was only bread!"
"It's no big deal, man. I'll stop if you want me to." Probably not, but I'd say anything to keep him from flipping out about this.
"I thought we had a pact; we weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other!" He insisted as Skylar walked over to us. "Right, Skylar?"
"Uh, right." She agreed. "I would never keep any kind of secret from you. Shame on you, guys. Shame on you."
"Whatever." Dani shrugged. "I've got work to do."
She slid off the counter and headed towards the rec room, presumably to get some peace and quiet. Oliver watched her go. "So, is she grounded for staying out so late…" I inquired.
"No, Mom thinks she crashed at your place, Liv." He looked past me at the hero. She nodded.
"Yeah, okay." She agreed.
"I just don't get what's going on with her." He sighed. "She never keeps secrets from me, and I'm pretty sure she's seeing someone."
"Well, you guys are growing up." Alivia reasoned. "She's not going to go to about everything, Oliver. You're just going to have to accept that."
"Yeah, not likely." I muttered as Oliver scowled. I sighed as he headed back to his work. Maybe keeping Dee and I a secret wasn't such a great idea.
Oliver's POV
I was working in the ER with Kaz, while Dani checked over one of her patients. Alivia and Skylar were hanging around, the former trying to engage the latter in an energetic conversation about which supervillain would take over the supervillain world now that the Annihilator was in prison. She figured it would either be Dr. Wrath, Megahertz, or the mysterious Mr. Terror, but I found any of those hard to believe. Kaz, Dani, and Skylar had defeated Dr. Wrath already, Megahertz was a serious threat, but not much of a leader, and there hadn't been any new information on Mr. Terror since I was four. My money was on someone new showing up, but it was so soon after the Annihilator's arrest to tell.
Suddenly, the ER doors swung open and two nurses pushed Jaime in on a gurney. Her arm was pressed tightly to her stomach, the other one gripped it while Jaime tried to hide the pained grimace on her face. "Spark!" Alivia exclaimed, leaping to her feet and running to the gurney.
"I'm okay." The blonde girl lied through her teeth, arching her back to try and remove some of her discomfort.
"What happened?" I questioned as Dani gently took Jaime's arm, brow furrowed as she examined the arm.
"Was it Nightstrike?" Alivia demanded furiously.
"No." She sucked in a sharp breath, sending Dani a hurt glare. "Surge and Neocortex."
"What? They attacked you?" Kaz questioned. She nodded, biting her lip. "Why?"
"I think I heard Surge say something to Neocortex about the Annihilator. I think they're working for him" She replied before hissing in pain.
"Sorry." Dani apologized, gently removing her hands from Jaime's injured arm. "But that is definitely broken in at least two spots. Gonna need an x-ray to see if there's any more."
"You know what this means, right?" I looked at the others.
"That the new Neocortex movie needs a quick rewrite?" Dani guessed.
"No, both Surge and Neocortex were at Mighty Med yesterday." I reminded them. Alivia looked at me, her expression quickly turning shocked.
"You think there's a mole here." She realized. I nodded.
"One who's secretly working with the Annihilator and turning superheroes evil." It was the only explanation.
"Ugh, some people. Shame on them, shame on them." Skylar commented, shaking her head.
"I know who it is." Kaz looked at me, his eyes wide. "It's so obvious, she's standing right in front of us."
"Who?" I demanded, grabbing his shoulder. He pointed over Skylar's shoulder, at Mesmira. The hero with hypnotic abilities was standing near the ER counter, an eyepatch covering the eyeball imbedded in her hand.
"It's Mesmira. She's even wearing an eyepatch." He insisted. "The only people who wear eye patches are pirates and villains."
"And patients being treated for pink eye…hand." Dani shrugged, not really sure if she used the right term, but not particularly caring. She walked over to Mesmira and piece of paper for her. "Just give this to the pharmacist, and she'll give you your eye-hand drops."
"If it's not Mesmira, who could it be?" I asked, turning to Skylar to see if she had any ideas.
"I don't know." She replied, looking just as confused as we were.
Xxx
"Okay, where is Agent Blaylock?" Dani sighed, leaning back in her seat to look at Alivia. The red-head had been pacing around the rec room ever since Jaime had gone into surgery, clearly on edge about all of this. "Didn't you call him, like, an hour ago?'
"I have no idea what's taking him so long." Alivia muttered, her tone clipped.
"Hey, relax." I told her gently. "Jaime's okay, and we're going to figure this out."
"Yeah, we don't need Agent Blaylock." Kaz agreed, dragging a massive whiteboard towards us. On it, there were twenty or so photos of superheroes.
"Now, here are all the superheroes who were turned evil whose powers were in the Annihilator's lair." To my dismay, there were quite a few in that list, including Surge. "These are the heroes who turned evil after being recently treated at Mighty Med." Once again, there were far too many heroes on that list for my liking. "And these are the superheroes who owe me money."
"Dude, you loaned money to High Roller?" I demanded. "He's got a huge gambling problem. He's never going to pay you back!"
"He better." Kaz frowned. "This white board was expensive."
I shook my head at him, then opened my backpack and pulled out the book I'd bought over break. "What's that?" Dani questioned, frowning.
"The Beginner's Guide to Turning Superheroes Evil." I read the title out loud before handing it to her. "I thought it might give us some insight."
"Hey, Crimson Demon wrote a review." Dani chuckled, reading it. "'A must read. Seriously, read this or I'll burn your face off.' Cool."
Suddenly, Agent Blaylock ran into the room, phasing through the wall near the whiteboard. He was panting heavily as he slowed to a stop, completely out of breath. "Agent Blaylock!" Alivia looked relieved to have an authority figure finally show up, especially one from the Secret Superhero Service Division. "Why are you so winded?"
"I ran all the way here from my office!" He gasped, his breathing beginning to slow.
"How far is your office?" Dani demanded, shocked.
"On the other side of that wall." He jerked his thumb at the wall he'd walked through. "But the floor slopes uphill a little, and I had pancaked for lunch and…I don't have to explain myself to you! Now, what do you need?"
"Superheroes are turning evil-" Alivia began, but he cut her off.
"That's what you called me here for? Do you think I'm not aware of that? We've had fourteen heroes turn evil, the first being Tecton, and you reported him yesterday." The larger man snapped. "I'm already on it. You four stay out of this."
"But sir-" Alivia tried to protest, but he shut her down.
"Geminus, your orders are to let me handle this. Follow them." He instructed. "Now, I have to go all the way back to my office. Luckily, it's all downhill on the way back."
Without another word, he disappeared through the wall. Alivia watched him go, upset.
"That's it?" She demanded, infuriated.
"Liv-" Dani began in an attempt to calm her down, but she shook her head furiously.
"No!" She snapped, glaring at the wall. "Someone is attacking superheroes turning them evil, and he won't let us help stop them? That's…that's…" She let out a frustrated sigh. "They're attacking superheroes, alright, and at a much personal level than usual. I can't just stand back and watch this happen. These guys are my friends, my brothers and sisters in arms. I'm not lie back and let Blaylock handle this."
"Alright, good. Neither are we. But if you get all upset, you're not going to be focused." My sister insisted, looking at her best friend. "So take a breath, and think, okay?"
"Wait." Suddenly, something occurred to me. "I just figured out who the mole is. Who at Mighty Med has the strong motive to betray the superhero world?"
"No idea." "I give up." Dani and Kaz replied at the same time.
"You didn't even try!" I accused. Both of them just shrugged, neither of them denying it. "It's Alan."
"What? No way!" Alivia shook her head. "I know he's a bit of a prick-"
"A bit?" Dani interrupted.
"Okay, he's a complete prick, but he's not evil." The Irish girl insisted.
"Think about it. Who is totally power hungry, and who brought the Dyad of Nebulan to Wallace and Clyde?'
"I give up." "No idea." Dani and Kaz once again commented in unision.
"ALAN!" I snapped. "You guys are terrible at this!"
"Wait, no." Kaz looked at me, carefully considering what I had said. "It can't be possibly be Alan. He doesn't wear an eyepatch."
"He's not a mole, Ollie." Dani agreed. Suddenly, the door behind us burst open and Alan ran in. His nose, for whatever reason, was now a snout, with long whiskers poking out from it.
"I'm a mole!" He cried in distress. We all looked at him.
"What the heck?" Kaz demanded.
"Skylar scared me in the cafeteria and I turned partway into a mole." He explained. "By the way, be careful by the cafeteria. I made a mole hill, then I made a mountain out of it."
"Okay, that proves nothing." Dani insisted.
"Oh, and check out what Mesmira gave me." Alan grinned, pulling an eyepatch out of his pocket. Much to my disgust, he put it over his left eye, beaming,
"Okay, scratch that. That proves it." Dani relented, staring at him.
Xxx
"I'm telling you, I'm not the mole!" Alan pleaded with us. We'd managed to get him locked in the rec room and seated at one of those cool interrogation tables. "I'm innocent!"
"If you're so innocent, why are you squirming so much?" Dani questioned, leaning in closer. While Kaz, still not believing that Alan was responsible for all the heroes turning evil, my sister was actually enjoying playing detective. I blamed it on far too many Castle binges, but hey, if she thought she could get a confession out of him, I was happy to let her try.
"Because there's a spotlight in my face!" The black-haired boy retorted, gesturing at Spotlight. When the light manipulating hero had heard that Alan could be a mole, he'd been all too happy to help us interrogate him. Not only did he feel as strongly as Liv did about what the Annihilator was having his new ally do, but Surge had been his best friend for years up until the electrokinetic had turned evil.
"Spotlight?" Dani glanced over her shoulder and the older boy lowered his hand, turning off his light. She turned back to Alan, pushing the hair from her face. "We're going to get truth out of you eventually. There's no use keeping secrets."
I scoffed. "Funny you should be talking about not keeping secrets, Dee." I muttered. Kaz gave me an exhausted look.
"Dude, lay off." He told me.
"You're coming to her defense a lot lately, Kazimieras." I accused, annoyed. "If that is my real name."
"It is my real name." Kaz retorted, annoyed. Spotlight sighed audibly.
"Alright, you're being too soft on him. Let me handle this." He told Dani, gently pushing her away. She shrugged and stepped back to lean on the refrigerator, her shoulders brushing both mine and Kaz's. Spotlight turned him attention onto Alan. "Alright, punk. We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way."
He went to pull a chain out from under the table, but the arms were too high, and got caught under the table. He pulled at it again, quickly getting frustrated with it. Eventually, after much struggle, he managed to remove the chair. "I'm guessing that was the hard way?" Alan joked. Spotlight didn't answer, instead spinning the chair around and dropped himself into it.
There was a distinct ripping sound as he lowered himself into it, and a tear in the back of his pants formed, revealing the orange boxers underneath. "Did you just rip your pants?" Alivia asked, hands reaching up to her mouth.
"More importantly, are you wearing Solar Flare themed boxers?" Dani added.
"…No." He lied, clearly embarrassed. Alivia sat on the table, about to help her fellow superhero interrogate Alan, but before she could say anything, Agent Blaylock burst in, walking through the still closed and locked doors to the ER.
"I know who the mole is!" He announced. "I searched every nook and cranny in this hospital. And also on this English muffin." He took a bite of the treat, smiling to himself. "Mmm-mm-mm! Mmm!"
"I already know who the mole is." I told him, exasperated. Alivia was right; he should have just let us help.
"Of course you do, because it's you!" He pointed at me accusingly. I pushed myself off the fridge, absolutely stunned that he would say that to me.
"What?" I questioned. Everyone turned to look at me, different emotions on all of their faces. Dani and Kaz looked just plain confused for their part, Alivia and Alan were both frowning, and Spotlight had his eyebrows furrowed, thinking.
"You're working with the Annihilator?" He questioned. I shook my head.
"What, no!" I retorted. He didn't look convinced. "I swear, I'm not the mole!"
"I know it's you, Oliver." Blaylock accused me. "I searched every locker in Mighty Med, and guess what I found in yours?"
"I give up." "No idea." Again, Kaz and Dani proved how absolutely useless they were at trying to help.
"You didn't even try!" Blaylock exclaimed before pulling out a strange device out of his pocket. It looked like an injector of some sort, with green liquid in vials that were attached to it, but I had no idea what it was really for. "I found this device. You use this to turn superheroes evil."
"That's not mine." I told him, dead serious.
"Then how'd it get in your locker?" Alivia asked softly, looking at me. I could see the conflict on her face, my friend torn between believing me, and believing one of the heroes she'd been taught to listen to her whole life.
"I have no idea. Someone must be trying to frame me!" I insisted, trying to think. The only people who knew my locker combination were Kaz and Dani (they'd read it in my journal the last time they stole it), Alivia (I'd asked her to grab me a book from it one time) and Skylar (because how could I ever not trust her?), but none of them would ever betray me like this.
"Then why did I also find this? The Beginner's Guide to Turning Superheroes Evil." Blaylock held up my book.
"That is my book, but I was reading it to figure out who the mole is." I explained. Blaylock didn't believe me for a second.
"Alan wasn't even in Mighty Med when the crimes occurred, and he's not smart enough to have done this." He told me. "The boy is dumb as dirt."
"Thank you." Alan smiled, glad that someone believed him to be innocent. Then he frowned. "Hey!"
"And how do you explain this confession signed by you?" Blaylock held up a slip of paper. Dani snatched it out of his hands so she and Kaz could examine it.
"Hold on, this isn't my brother's handwriting." She looked at Blaylock. Kaz nodded.
"Whoever wrote this dotted the 'i's with hearts. Oliver dots his 'i's with stars." He agreed.
"Yeah, because stars are cool." I explained, almost chuckling at Alivia's bemused expression. "Hearts are for girls."
"Right." She agreed sarcastically. She reached for the paper. Dani handed it to her, and the red head looked it over with a careful eye. "Oliver's right." She announced after a moment, looking at Blaylock as if she expected him to argue with her. "Someone did plant this stuff in his locker."
"Please, just give us some time to clear his name." Dani pleaded with the agent. Kaz nodded, looking just as desperate as she did. Blaylock looked at my friends, considering it.
"I'll tell you what." He said after a long moment. "Since it's time for my end-of-the-day nap, I'll give you till I wake up. So you have 12 hours."
"Thank you." Kaz told him. Blaylock turned to leave, then pointed at Spotlight.
"Keep an eye on him." He ordered.
"Yes sir." Spotlight agreed readily, giving me a suspicious look. Blaylock nodded and left.
"So, where do we start?" Alivia questioned, looking at us.
Kaz's POV
"No! Absolutely not!" Alivia practically shouted, glaring daggers at us.
"Gem…" Spotlight tried to intervene, but she was having none of it.
"No! No!" She looked at us. "No. That's final."
"Geminus." Dani cleared her throat. "Look, the mole is targeting injured superheroes in the hospital, and Spark is the only one we have at the moment."
"You are not using my girlfriend as bait!" Alivia snapped.
"Look, she's already going to be a target, especially since, with her healing, her arm's going to be fine in a couple of days." I reasoned. "So, either way, she's in danger. At least this way, we can use it to catch the traitor in the act, and prove Oliver innocent."
"If everything goes as planned, Spark will be perfectly fine." Oliver agreed.
"IF everything goes as planned, which, when it comes to you three, it never does." She pointed out.
"Yeah, but I'm here. It's not like it'll just be a bunch of Normos." Spotlight added. "And you, as many of you as you'd like, will have eyes on her. It'll be fine."
Alivia hesitated, obviously hating the plan, but aware of its logic. She looked pointedly at me, as this was my idea. "If anything goes wrong, you're dead to me."
"Yes m'am." I agreed. She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Let's get this over with." She muttered, stalking past us. I grimaced, feeling the anger and frustration radiate off her. I couldn't blame her – if I'd be in her shoes, there's no way I'd ever agree to it.
"Okay, so we'll set up a camera, and we'll videotape the mole trying to turn her evil." Dani decided, pulling out her phone. "On the counter, you think?"
"Yeah, but don't make it obvious." Oliver added.
"Kay." She agreed, heading over to the ER counter while Kaz, Spotlight, and I approached Jaime. She was lying in one of the beds in the ER, Alivia sitting on the side of it. Judging by the expression on her face, Alivia had told her the plan and she didn't like it.
"This is not a good plan." Jaime, always straight to the point. "It's way too dangerous, and I'm not okay with it."
"We figured you'd say that." Oliver sighed. He gave Alivia a pointed look, and she stepped back, her jaw tight. "And you're way too important to us for us to risk-" While she was distracted, Oliver grabbed a mask off a nearby cart, and forced it over her mouth. I flicked on the gas the moment he did, and it worked almost instantly, Jaime falling unconscious in seconds. "Wow, that really knocked her out."
"Yeah, what's in there? Geometry?" I joked, smirking at Alivia in an attempt to put her mind at ease, while Dani gently restrained Jaime. We wanted her to look as helpless as possible to get the mole to reveal themselves.
"Now, we just need to get everyone else out of here." Spotlight reminded us.
"I got this." Oliver told us, before clearing his throat and turning to the bustling nurses and busy doctors throughout the room. "Attention! Everyone, clear the area! A toxic chemical may have been released accidentally."
Not a single person reacted to this news, all of them carrying on as if they hadn't heard them. "This is how it's done, Ollie-pop." Dani commented teasingly, before saying very loudly, "Attention! Everyone, there is white cheddar cheese popcorn in the break room!"
In seconds, the room had cleared, everyone wanted a handful of the non-existent white cheddar popcorn. We all followed them out into the hall, making sure no one else came our way.
"I hope this works. This is my only chance to clear my name." Oliver mumbled. "Which, by the way, is Oliver. Because unlike you, I don't keep secrets."
"Okay, why are you giving us such a hard time about this?" I demanded. "There are plenty of things that you haven't told us."
"Like what?" Oliver challenged.
"Like the fact that you're afraid of elbows." Dani accused.
"They're so wrinkly!" Her brother snapped defensively. "And how do you know that?"
"We read it in your feelings journal." I replied. He looked at us, annoyed.
"That stuff is supposed to be secret!" He exclaimed.
"Aha! See? I thought friends weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other." I pointed out. "That's why I read your feelings journal, to keep you from being a bad friend."
Oliver opened his mouth to object, but couldn't think of a way to do so. "How did I end up losing this argument?"
Dani laughed in amusement, giving me a high-five. And if our hands clasped together for a moment too long, Oliver didn't notice. "Stop! It's not funny! Stop it."
Suddenly, we heard strange noises coming from the ER. Alivia raced ahead of us, but froze in the doorway. "No."
Jaime was the only one in the room, but the girl was awake, and clearly not happy. But not the usual, I-can-not-believe-you-knocked-me-out unhappiness, but the I-am-going-to-end-your-life unhappiness. She was glaring at us with pure hatred in her eyes, the gold accents of her uniform having turned white while we were gone. She was evil, just like Surge, and Tecton, and Neocortex. "No." Alivia's fists tightened. "You promised!"
"Once we find out who the mole is, we can force them to reverse this!" Kaz insisted. Dani raced past him to grab her phone off the counter. She replayed the video, her brown furrowing in confusion. "Who is it?"
"Uh…Ollie?" She held out the phone to us for us to see. The video showed Oliver's face in front of the camera, smirking.
"You may be wondering who turned Spark evil. Well, look no further!" He announced pleasantly. "It was yours truly, Oliver!"
"What?" Spotlight frowned. "But you were with us the entire time."
"It was you!" Alan exclaimed. We turned to see the shapeshifter standing behind us, eyes locked on Dani's phone screen. "I solved the crime!"
"Alan, no!" Dani shook her head at him, but he was too caught up in his 'success' to care.
"See? I'm not as dumb as dirt! Dirt couldn't have figured this out!" He exclaimed. "I'm going to go tell Agent Blaylock."
"Alan! Don't!" Oliver pleaded with him. "I'm innocent!"
But the kid was already racing down the hall, towards the rec room, where he could use the emergency call system to have my best friend arrested. Oliver, Dani, Spotlight, and I tore after him, trying to catch him before he could get to him. Thankfully, not only was Spotlight fairly athletic, but he also had ridiculously long legs, and was able to catch up with him in no time.
"Hold on, little man." He grabbed Alan by the shoulders and pinned him to the wall. He wasn't careful or gentle, sure, but he wasn't particularly rough with the kid either. "You're not going to go tell anyone anything."
"Why not?" Alan retorted, struggling to get away.
"Because, Spark is now evil, and I know it wasn't Oliver fault, and accusing him of something like this is only going to make things harder for everyone, especially Geminus, who I know you actually like." Spotlight tightened his grip a bit. "So, because she's your only friend – and don't deny it, we all know she's the only person nice to you in the whole superhero world – you're going to come with me back to the ER and help me deal with Spark for her. And then you're going to keep your mouth shut until we find the real mole, got it?"
Alan hesitated. "I'm not helping you with anything." He mumbled, but the moment Spotlight let him go, he headed back in the direction of the ER.
"Need any help?" Dani offered to Spotlight as we watched Alan walk away. The older boy shook his head.
"Nah, I got this. But you guys need to figure out who this mole is, and how to fix Spark." He ordered.
"On it." I agreed. He walked away, heading towards the ER.
"How did the mole get past us?" Dani questioned. "No one could have gotten into the ER without us knowing."
"I don't know." Oliver sighed. He looked defeated.
"Hey," I patted him on the shoulder, "we have a few more hours before Blaylock comes for you. We'll figure it out."
"How?" He questioned. I thought about it.
"We'll go back to my whiteboard and narrow down our options. I mean, if Tecton was the first hero turned evil-"
"He was the first we know about." Dani corrected. I nodded.
"Yeah, but every hero that was turned after that is a victim, just like Spark. We should be able to eliminate most of the possibilities, and then we'll interrogate whoever's left until we know for sure." I suggested. They both looked at me.
"That was a very good plan, Kaz." Oliver commented, almost sounded suspicious. I didn't blame him; it was weird to hear those words come out of my mouth. But hey, the Annihilator's mole went after Jaime and hurt Alivia; no one gets to do that to my friends.
"C'mon." I led them towards the rec room. To my surprise, we could hear Blaylock's voice coming from inside.
"You planted that evidence in Oliver's locker to frame him!" He accused. We all looked at each other, wide eyed. Had Blaylock actually found the mole?
We raced towards the door, then, realizing that it could be dangerous to just burst in, Dani slowly pushed the door open a crack. It wasn't big enough for us to be seen, but just large enough for us to see who Agent Blaylock was accusing of being the spy. And man, were we in for a surprise.
"No…" Oliver's heart broke with that single word, his eyes unable to leave the scene before us. I was frozen in shock, while Dani's hands had flown up to her mouth, clamped over it as she stared in horror.
"Well, you got me. I'm the mole." Skylar, our Skylar Storm, rolled her eyes, not amused. "Aren't you the clever one?"
"Actually, my older brother is the clever one. He went to MIT." Blaylock retorted. "I'm just a glorified security guard."
"Too bad I'm going to have to destroy all evidence that points back to me." Skylar continued.
"You think you're going to get away with this?" Blaylock questioned. Some part of my mind begged Skylar to laugh and say it was some sort of joke, or that she was trying to track down the mole herself, but she simply smirked arrogantly.
"You'll never stop me and the Annihilator. Especially if you keep taking 12-hour naps." She told him, her tone cocky. "And if you're a statue."
"Of course I couldn't stop you if I were a statue. That's obvious." Blaylock sounded so confused. "Why would you even use an example like that?"
"Don't." Dani breathed, obviously seeing where this was going. "Skylar, don't."
"You're about to turn me into a statue, aren't you?" Blaylock realized, but it was too late. I think all three of us stopped breathing the moment Skylar raised her right hand, an icy cold look in her eyes, and turned him to stone. She didn't even spare him a second glance before creating a space portal and walking away.
"Oh my gosh." Dani looked at me, her eyes as wide as saucers. "I can't believe it. Skylar's the mole."
"No. No." Oliver shook his head, obviously in denial. "No, this is just some bad dream, and I'm going to wake up from it any second."
"I don't think so, man." I told him gently, seeing the absolute shock in his eyes. None of us saw this coming, least of all him.
"Ollie." Dani took her brother's hand, a worried look on her face.
"What do we do?" His voice was rough. I didn't like it, but I had the answer.
'We have to tell the League of Heroes that Skylar is working with the Annihilator." I stated. I started towards the emergency call system, but Oliver stopped me.
"We can't." He insisted. "For all we know, she's already turned the entire League evil. We don't know who we can trust anymore."
We were all quiet for a long time, letting that sink in. Skylar was evil, possibly everyone we could to for help was already working with her, and we were on our own.
Kihonne: Okay, I know I changed a lot about that last scene, but I was running low on time, and this way I could work in the Spotlight stuff better too. Anyway, let me know what you guys think. Anyway, here's the schedule for the next few of weeks:
October 14th: The Claw Prank Redemption
October 24th: Storm's End
October 31st: Future Tense
Anyway, don't forget to review, and I'll see you all in a few days!