Shadows (by The Afters)

"Wake up the statues, breathe out the dust. Shock of a heartbeat, rush of the blood. Breaking in to my skin, feel the burning again . . ."


Like most things, it had happened unexpectedly.

Orion had been searching for four days. Four for Bethany, who had unexpectedly gone missing. Four for Doc Twilight, who had inconveniently gone missing as well. His father figure had disappeared shortly after the two had started their search for Bethany on the night she'd gone missing.

After investigating the area where they'd last seen Bethany and ultimately realizing that she must be in danger, Orion and Doc Twilight had decided to split up so they'd cover more ground. That had been a mistake, because when Orion searched for him later, Doc Twilight was nowhere to be seen. It felt eerily similar to when Doc had gone missing for several months — back when he'd turned into the Dark — leaving Orion on his own to take care of things.

The thing was, Orion had become used to training and living with Doc Twilight, who had practically raised him ever since his parents died in an alien invasion. The man had become like a father to him, and although Orion was not one to openly express his emotions, he was worried about him. He couldn't help but be worried about Bethany, too, who had grown like a sister to him ever since she'd started living with them for three years. They were his family, and their disappearance made Orion feel as dark as one of the shadows that used to take over the city.

At first, Orion had searched for what felt like hours, growing more frustrated when he could not find his father figure. He had tried everything to contact him, and when Doc failed to pick up his radio, he began his search, which had expanded into four days. First his adopted sister went missing, and now his father figure? Orion didn't believe in coincidences, and this hardly felt like one. The two disappearances had to be related, somehow.

It was an absolute mystery to him where Doc Twilight and Bethany were, given the fact that they'd disappeared out of nowhere, not leaving a single clue that showed where they were. He would not rest for a second until he found them. The only explanation that he could come up with was that they'd been kidnapped. By who, Orion didn't know, but he assumed that the supervillains had something to do with this.

There wasn't another explanation besides that, so Orion set off with a plan to interrogate every single supervillain in Jupiter City, fighting anyone that dared to cross his path. Whoever was holding his family captive would pay, and Orion would make sure that the supervillain involved in this would suffer greatly, right before he put them into jail. It made him even more furious to think that anyone in their right mind would mess with his family.

So far, Orion had traveled a good distance across Jupiter City, sleeping in public buildings or in cars when he wasn't fighting supervillians. He didn't bother heading back to the Twilight Cave, where his hideout was. What was the point in that? It would be idiotic, and Orion was the least idiotic person he knew. That would be a waste of time, especially because there were so many supervillians left to interrogate.

Finding Doc and Bethany was his greatest priority right now. He knew they could handle themselves, but he was worried about them. He had no idea where they were or how to contact them. Who knew what could be happening to them, all while Orion was still out here, taking four days and maybe even more to find them?

At the start of day four, Orion slowly opened his eyes after a restless sleep and squinted against the harsh, unforgiving sunlight that shone down on him. Since the best time to find supervillians was at night, he'd been roaming the streets all night until he eventually gave into his exhaustion. He was never the type to enjoy sunshine or the morning, so both things made him feel even more unpleasant than he already was.

Grunting, he slowly sat up from the hard floor of the Jupiter City Public Library, blinking as he took in the scene before him. After sneaking in through the window and wedging himself behind a bookcase in the very back of the room, he was able to sleep without getting noticed. Luckily, it wasn't crowded, which was why it'd been such a great hiding spot on his part. From what he could tell, only a couple of people were here at this time of day.

Using his Twilight staff for leverage, Orion picked himself up from the ground, feeling stiff in all sorts of places. Sleeping on the ground wasn't his ideal form of comfort, but he didn't have much of a choice. Nothing could truly comfort him anymore, anyway. Not after what had happened.

Sneaking along the walls to avoid attracting attention, Orion made his way to the wooden door at the front of the library. Checking to make sure no one was watching (which no one was) he opened it as quietly as he could and slipped outside into the fresh morning air. It was even brighter outside, and he had to shade his eyes at first to get a good look at everything around him.

As usual, citizens were walking up and down the streets, safe for the time being before a supervillian decided to show up. Thanks to the superheroes — including Orion, obviously — Jupiter City was a safe place to live most of the time. At least, for the citizens it was. Because of superheroes like Captain Sunshine and Athena and Doc Twilight that kept them protected, there wasn't a reason for them not to be.

As for Orion, he rarely felt secure, and now was no exception. There was never a time that he didn't feel on-edge. If someone had kidnapped both Doc and Bethany, then they must be trying to kidnap all of the Twilights, which meant they'd kidnap Orion, too. He'd kept this at the back of his head during the past four days, just for another reason to keep himself moving. All he could think about was rescuing his family from the supervillian that was malicious enough to capture them.

Brushing out his purple cape and straightening his mask, Orion started down the street, ignoring any confused looks that people gave him. It was probably because it was eight in the morning, and he was still wearing his superhero outfit when he normally would just be wearing regular clothes. Not that he should be wearing regular clothes, because he was on a mission.

Unlike the other superheroes, he could care less about pleasing the public. That was his last concern. Doc Twilight was different, because everyone liked him. But Orion? With the exception of Doc and Bethany, he preferred to be alone. It was something he was used to, and he knew that he could get the job done quicker that way. It was rare for him to like many people, anyway. So as long as he avoided people at all costs, he'd be —

"Hi, Kid Twilight!" a female street vendor said, smiling at him. "Where's Doc Twilight?"

"I really wouldn't know," Orion replied, inwardly groaning. It was hard not to be annoyed when everything else in his life had gone wrong, and Doc and Bethany were still missing. How could these people be so friendly when the worst had occurred? How could they?

"Anyway . . . do you want to buy my products? I have a bunch of clothes that I'm sure would fit you. What size are you? Oh, and I even have a Doc Twilight shirt. Want to see?" Orion stopped moving, then slowly turned to stare at her as she lifted a purple shirt from the pile, which had a picture of a mask on it. Underneath it was written, "Twilight Rules".

"So?" the woman was saying, practically shoving the shirt in his face. He stepped back instinctively, his eyes narrowed. But the woman didn't seem to notice the look he was giving her, and continued speaking. "What do you say? Do you want to get it?"

"I would rather chew off my own foot," Orion hissed.

"Excuse me?"

He didn't hear if she said anything else, mostly because he threw open the door of the nearest cafe and quickly closed it behind him, already done with the conversation. He scanned the room, which was starting to fill up with citizens. They all looked up in surprise when he walked in, so he averted their gazes and went to the counter.

The man working at the counter looked almost worried, but he regained his composure quickly and gave Orion a strained smile. "Good morning, Kid Twilight. What can I get you?"

"I want coffee," Orion stated bluntly, then eyed the various coffee flavors on the table behind the checkout counter before adding, "Um . . . black. I want to get a cup of black coffee."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You want black coffee?"

"Yes," Orion replied, sighing heavily. Why did the man even care about what kind of coffee he got? Why did adults have to act like this? That was another reason he couldn't stand many people. They were always acting like a fifteen year-old was incapable of certain things, such as drinking a completely bitter, black coffee.

"Okay." The man typed something into his computer. "You can wait for your coffee over there." He pointed to the line of people who were waiting for theirs. "Have a great day. Oh, and tell Doc Twilight to come by here sometime!"

"Will do," Orion said, grimacing. Trying not to roll his eyes, he walked over to the other line to wait for his coffee.

He was tired after all the nights he'd been up late, interrogating supervillian after supervillian in hopes that his family would be there. He was normally up late anyway, but not to the extent that he was doing now. Having a decent cup of coffee to reenergize him would be the smartest move. He couldn't allow himself to get lazy or slow when he was on an important mission.

Once the worker behind the counter handed him his coffee, Orion went back outside and walked along the sidewalk. He poured the coffee into his mouth, then nearly choked at the bitterness that came with it. Sometimes black coffee was just too bitter, even for him. He scowled, but managed to finish the rest of it before throwing it out.

"Interrogation time," Orion whispered, curling his hand tighter around his Twilight staff.

Slipping into an alleyway, he headed to the back of a large pizza restaurant, which looked suspiciously dark and empty. He knew that it wasn't actually a pizza restaurant, because it'd been closed for as long as he remembered. As Orion concluded, this was exactly the kind of place where a supervillian might be lurking. If not, then he'd continue searching elsewhere until he found one.

He had a dislike for fighting supervillians this early in the morning, but it wasn't like he could wait. He couldn't waste any time when Doc Twilight and Bethany were still missing. He had to rescue them as soon as possible. It was frustrating that he hadn't even found them yet, when normally, Orion was skilled in that kind of thing. It'd been four days of searching, and no supervillian he'd come across even knew where they were.

Orion walked over to the door at the back of the restaurant and jiggled the knob once, twice, then three times. It was locked. Interesting. He went around to the side of the building, looking for any windows that he could climb into. Once he found one, he closed the lid of a dumpster that was positioned underneath it and climbed on top of it. The window was too high for him to reach from the ground, so he needed an extra boost just so he could get inside.

They're here, he thought to himself, just like he did every time before he broke into a supervillian's lair. Every time, they were never there. But he assured himself of it anyway, even if it wasn't the most logical thing to believe. Just to convince himself that they were there, and that he wasn't wasting his time.

Either way, it felt good to serve justice. And get some pizza, if this actually was a real pizza restaurant.

He crept over to the window and slowly rolled it open. He was surprised to find it unlocked, but then again, if this really was an abandoned restaurant then there'd be no need to lock it. On the other hand, if this was actually a supervillian's lair — like Orion predicted — then it would only mean that they did a terrible job of keeping their windows locked. It wouldn't be surprising. Supervillians really could be careless sometimes.

Sliding his feet first through the window, Orion placed both hands on the wall and pushed himself through, just like he'd done hundreds of times. Once he got inside, he shoved off hard from the windowsill, landing gracefully on the floor below without making a sound. The room was dark aside from the small amount of light that came from the window, but he could see that it used to be a kitchen. There were a few old pizza ovens, along with everything else that a restaurant's kitchen might have.

Orion glanced back at the window he came through before sneaking out of the kitchen. Pushing open the double doors as quietly as he could, he found himself facing a very different take on what a pizza restaurant should look like.

The few windows that were in the room were boarded up, allowing just enough light for Orion to see by. Instead of tables and chairs where costumers might've previously sat at, there were boxes all over the place, and a large, strange-looking machine with a pointed tip was sitting on the floor. A single table was in the middle of the room, with piles of papers and other supplies on top of it.

The most concerning, however, was the wall. All along the wall were pictures of superheroes, along with newspaper clippings that were related to each one. He spotted the entire Lawful Legion, along with every single superhero that Orion knew. They covered the entire length of the wall, making it impossible for Orion to look away. He was staring at the superheroes he'd known all his life. He felt a shiver go down his spine as he spotted Doc Twilight's picture among them.

He looked away, his frown deepening. Why would anyone have pictures of all the superheroes on their wall? He'd never seen anything like this before, but he doubted it was uncommon. Whoever had made this display clearly wanted to keep track of the superheroes, so this only proved that a supervillian had created it. A supervillian definitely lived here, or at least stored some of their equipment here for later use.

As Orion walked away from the wall, he heard a noise from the back of the restaurant. He quickly drew back into the shadows in the corner of the room, giving him a clear view of the door. He watched in silence as a figure walked through the door, wearing what looked like a dog costume. He instantly recognized the supervillian as someone he and Doc Twilight had thrown into jail a few years ago, called the "Deranged Dog".

Orion narrowed his eyes. Did supervillians never learn? Every time he put them into jail, they only seemed to escape from it and go back to their destructive ways. All they wanted to do was ruin the entire world and wreck the lives of citizens and superheroes. The wrongdoers had to pay for their actions. The supervillians couldn't get away with their plans, especially if they were holding Doc and Bethany captive.

He watched as the Deranged Dog glanced around the room before walking over to one of the machines and analyzing it. The supervillian bent down, typing something into the keyboard of the machine. When he was done, the machine whirred to life, making loud beeping noises.

The Deranged Dog began laughing. "Ah-ha! Finally, one of my machines work. With this machine, I can start by destroying the Lawful Legion headquarters." He patted the machine, smiling down at it. "You are going to help me take down all the superheroes." He turned his back on Orion, and the young superhero saw his chance.

Extending an arm out, he launched two Twilight throwing stars straight at the man. Both throwing stars imbedded themselves into the sides of his costume, sending him flying into the wall. The Deranged Dog gasped at the impact, both groaning in pain and frantically looking all around him. He struggled to move against the throwing stars, but — thanks to Orion's undeniable skill — they held fast, not allowing him to break free.

"You should really put locks on your windows," Orion said in a low, gruff voice from his hiding place in the darkness, making the supervillian jump. "Never know who might break in."

"What is this?" the Deranged Dog snarled. "Who's there?"

Calmly stepping out of his hiding spot, Orion smashed his Twilight staff several times into the machine. The whirring noise stopped, and the machine broke apart, pieces of it falling to the floor. He looked up at the Deranged Dog, who's expression turned more to one of confusion. "You don't recognize me, do you? I bet you feel pretty bad about yourself right now, now that your machine is destroyed."

The supervillian stared at him, slowly breathing in and out. "I can't believe you just destroyed my machine!"

"You said you were going to destroy the Lawful Legion's headquarters," Orion said, tilting his head. "I think I have a very good reason for destroying it."

"I don't know who you think you are, young man, but —"

"'Young man'?" he repeated, tilting his head.

"Just listen!" the Deranged Dog said, looking a lot more nervous now than he'd been a minute ago. "Just listen, young man. I have no idea how you got in here, but this isn't what it looks like. I wasn't going to destroy the headquarters, I swear. I was going to help the superheroes!"

Orion scoffed, shaking his head as he walked closer. "I've heard that one before."

"I'm sure you just heard me wrong." The supervillian laughed. When Orion didn't say anything, he cleared his throat and continued, "Now, young man, there's no reason to act like I'm doing anything wrong, alright? This may look bad, but you don't know the real reason I'm using it. All you have to do is let me go, and then you can go home and forget this whole thing ever happened —"

His anger rising, Orion leapt forward, grabbing the Deranged Dog by the shirt. "Stop talking," he growled. "I know exactly who you are, Deranged Dog. And I'm sure you know who I am. I'm Kid Twilight, Doc Twilight's sidekick? Heard of me yet?" He pushed the supervillian's head against the wall, making him flinch. "And there's no way I'm leaving just yet. Not until justice has been served."

The Deranged Dog said nothing, which was probably smart on his part. Orion was sick of hearing the supervillian talk about his crimes as if they weren't real. He loosened his grip but kept his hands there, knowing fully well that there wouldn't be an easier way to get the supervillian to talk.

"So just give me the information I need, and I'll be on my way," Orion continued, glaring at him through his mask. He felt his anger rising. "And if you call me 'young man' one more time, I'm gonna make you wish that you never laid eyes on Kid Twilight. Got it?"

The Deranged Dog nodded several times, and Orion let go of him, seething with anger. The supervillian sighed, his eyes drifting around the room. "What makes you think I'll give you any information, young ma—" He flinched again. "Er, Kid Twilight?"

"Because the world depends on it," Orion said. "And I know that you know exactly where they are. The others I've interrogated said that didn't, but I think they were lying. This time, I'm going to make sure you give me an answer. It doesn't look like you're holding them captive, but I'm guessing you know who is."

To his frustration, the Deranged Dog began to laugh crazily. Orion stared at him, dumbfounded for a second. He curled his fists into balls. "Why are you laughing?"

"I don't know the answer to that, so you can let me go!" He laughed again. "I'm guessing you will have to find someone else to question."

No way. After all this, the Deranged Dog still wasn't going to tell him the whereabouts of Bethany and Doc? Orion wasn't going to let that happen. He was tired of interrogating supervillian after supervillian and still having no leads. No, he would get the information right now. He had to.

"I'll give you one last chance," Orion said, picking up his Twilight staff and hitting the supervillian in the stomach with it. The Deranged Dog's laugh faded, replaced by a groan. "Tell. Me. Where. They. Are."

"Who's 'they'?" he rasped.

"Don't act dumb! You know who I'm talking about! Doc Twilight and Twilight Girl! Where are they?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Orion rolled his eyes, ready to raise his staff again, but the supervillian quickly waved his hands. "No, I mean, I really don't! If a superhero was being held captive by one of us, I would know about it. I didn't know they were missing."

Orion paused, feeling only confused now. He sighed, then stepped away from the supervillian and released him from the Twilight throwing stars. The Deranged Dog fell to the ground, and for the first time, Orion didn't make a move to take him to jail. Maybe it was the sudden wave of helplessness that hit him, just to know that his family was gone, maybe forever. He felt lost, uncertain of where to go.

Did the supervillians really not know where they were? Orion wanted to believe otherwise, but all the evidence told him that they were telling the truth. He hated that there wasn't someone who could tell him the information he needed. How was he going to find his family now? The Deranged Dog was right about one thing: if Doc Twilight and Bethany were being held captive by a supervillian, he would've heard about it.

Orion started back to way he came, only to duck as something whizzed past his ear. Two Twilight throwing star embedded themselves in the wall behind him, aimed right for the back of his head. He glanced back at the Deranged Dog, only to see him standing fully upright, breathing heavily.

"Oh, I almost forgot to grab those," Orion said. "Thanks for the reminder." He walked over to the wall and plucked them out with ease. He looked back at the supervillian. "You're lucky I'm not throwing you into jail, but I have better things to do. You should really work on your aim next time."

With that, he went into the kitchen and climbed out through the window. He slid off of the dumpster, feeling only satisfied with the knowledge that he'd destroyed the Deranged Dog's machine. But that hardly felt like an accomplishment now, since he still had no idea where his family was.

Sighing again, the boy walked out of the alleyway and into the bright sunshine. The cheerful voices of the people around him did nothing to lift his dreary mood. Nothing could after what he heard from the Deranged Dog. He walked along the sidewalk, his eyes cast to the ground as he contemplated a new plan.

He'd have to use a different approach to finding Doc Twilight and Bethany. The supervillians didn't have them, so maybe he should infiltrate the Lawful Legion's hall and search for clues there. Or the route that involved talking, which was to tell the Lawful Legion what had happened. Maybe they knew where the two superheroes had gone, or maybe they could find them better than Orion could. Orion preferred to work alone, and he hated letting other people do his job for him, but if they could find them, it would be worth it.

Deciding that that was the best route for now, Orion headed to the train station, since walking would take too long with a mission as important as this. After purchasing a ticket, he waited on the bench for the train to arrive. It took a while — maybe twenty minutes — before the train rolled into view. The gears halted loudly to a stop, and Orion sat back as people started to get off the train.

Once the train was emptied, the conductor shouted for everyone to board the train. Orion moved to stand in the long line, waiting impatiently before he could board. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of movement and turned his head. He furrowed his brows in confusion as four figures hopped off the train, from the area where supplies were stored for shipment.

Criminals, Orion thought, tightening his grip on his Twilight staff. He glanced at the long line before him and made his decision. He slipped out of line, then began running to the group of stowaways, ready to yell at them for their illegal feats and deliver justice once again.

However, as he came closer, he noticed one of the stowaways — a redheaded girl — pushing herself out of the train. All of the fight poured out of him. How was this possible? He came to a stop, unable to believe his eyes. His jaw dropped as he locked eyes with none other than his adopted sister, Bethany Sanderson, who's shocked expression mirrored his.

"Bethany," he stated, too surprised to say much of anything else. She looked different from when he last saw her. She wasn't wearing her usual Twilight Girl outfit, and instead was wearing normal clothes. He was relieved to see that there weren't any signs that she'd been hurt.

Quickly, he came to his senses. Not even noticing the other people around her, Orion threw his arms around her, if a bit awkwardly. He felt her stiffen inside his embrace, only to relax and put her arms around him too. He closed his eyes, ignoring the fact that he'd never hugged her before and this was definitely weird for both of them. In this moment, that little detail didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was okay.


If there was one thing Bethany hadn't been expecting, it was to see her father's sidekick standing there as she and her friends jumped off of the train. She'd expected a much longer search for her family, since Jupiter City was big. Then, to add to her surprise, Orion had hugged her. Hugged her. Never in a thousand years would Bethany have seen that coming. Not even if someone time traveled to the future and told her it would happen. Not even then.

Yet, here she was, her eyes closed shut as she hugged him. Given how stiff he was, she wouldn't be surprised if this was the first time he'd hugged anyone. It'd been so long since she had last seen him. It felt almost overwhelming, but in a good way. He could be annoying sometimes, but missed him more than she would ever admit. Her worries that she'd never find him faded away, overpowered by her confusion and relief.

The moment of peace was over, as Orion gently pulled away with an almost angry expression. "Bethany, where have you been? Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you guys for the past four days? How many villains I've had to interrogate?"

Wait, four days? Bethany had been in the nonfictional world for three weeks, not four days! Then, she remembered the time difference between the real world and Jupiter City. While she was separated, the two worlds must've been running on the same timeline, since her fictional and nonfictional selves were separated equally for three years. Once she was rejoined, the timeline must've been reset back to normal, since the comic book world tended to move a bit slower than the real world.

"I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye," she said, not breaking his gaze. A very familiar feeling of guilt entered her, making her feel a pang in her chest. "I had to leave. It's . . . kind of a long story."

"I hope your little sightseeing tour was worth it." He sighed heavily. "I'm just glad you weren't being held captive or anything. Now, where's Doc?"

"What do you mean 'where's Doc'?" Bethany scoffed. "Is that a joke? He was with you!"

"What?" Orion stared at her. "No, he disappeared. Right after you did."

"Where did he go?"

"Does it look like I know?"

"You should know! You were with him!"

Orion growled in frustration. "Well, I don't. He's gone now."

"But I saw the note from Dad, which said that you guys were going out to look for me —"

"That was four days ago," Orion said. "He went missing shortly after you did, so I thought he was with you. I figured one of the supervillians was holding both of you captive, because you both went missing around the same time. Guess I should've known it couldn't be a coincidence."

Bethany's heart sunk. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all the failed plans and danger and quests, her father wasn't even here. This wasn't fair. She'd arrived here, more than ready to see him again, and he'd already been taken away from her? If she'd only stopped holding herself back, she could've saved him before this happened. She never should've left Jupiter City without saying goodbye. That had been a huge mistake.

There had to be a solution for this. There had to be. After everything . . . he was gone? She was going to fix this. She didn't care what it took, as long as no one else got hurt. She couldn't lose him again, not to Nobody. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Suddenly, she was twelve years-old again, desperately missing her father and wondering where on earth he could be.

"We didn't get captured," she said slowly. "I mean — I didn't. Again, it's a long story, but I went back to the nonfictional world. That's where I was. I wasn't kidnapped. But if Dad's gone . . ."

"If the supervillians don't have him . . . I think I know who does," Owen said, making Bethany flinch. She'd forgotten all about her friends, who'd been silently watching their conversation.

She looked at him, and the realization hit her. The supervillians didn't know where her father was because he wasn't in his world. She knew exactly who was holding him captive, and an unpleasant chill went down her spine. Of course this had happened. This happened when Bethany was four years-old, and it had happened again. Again, her father had been taken from her by Nobody. This time, it was a personal message.

"Nobody," she said, swallowing hard. Owen nodded.

"Who?" Orion asked.

"He's a villain, and, um, he's trying to wipe out every world," Owen told him. "Your world, included. He's more powerful than anyone you could imagine, and we need to stop him before he defeats all of the worlds."

"Yeah. He's the one who took Dad away from me — I mean, us — the first time," Bethany said. "It's a really long story."

Orion didn't look fazed. "Defeating the world, huh? I've heard that from every supervillian I've come across. This guy doesn't sound any different. I've been defeating supervillians since I was little. Fighting them has always been some kind of game, aside from the months when the Dark showed up. Half the time the supervillians wanted us to figure out their plans, maybe so they could trap us, maybe just because it was more fun. Each time I fight them just seems to get easier, so unless he's the Dark, I don't think he'll be taking over the world anytime soon."

She shook her head. "You're underestimating him. He has the power to rewrite himself into anything and the power to destroy the worlds. He's incredibly dangerous. You remember how it was under the Dark? It'll be ten times worse than that, but I think we can beat him if we face him together."

Orion went silent for a moment, looking as if he was contemplating something. "If he's as powerful as you say, it doesn't seem like it'd be worth facing him at all."

"What?" Bethany, Kiel, and Gwen said together.

"You don't care?" Owen gasped. "It doesn't bother you at all?"

"Not really, no. This has nothing to do with rescuing Doc Twilight from wherever he is, and it sounds pointless, anyway. The heroes always win here, so the villians will lose. It's as simple as that."

Bethany growled in frustration. "This has everything to do with rescuing him, Orion. I have a feeling that Nobody has him. We have to face him anyway, and we'll get Dad back once we do!"

"But do you know for sure if he's with this guy?" Orion asked. Bethany didn't respond. Really, she didn't know. But she figured he would be, because he clearly wasn't in Jupiter City anymore. If he was missing, he'd have to be with Nobody.

"Don't you get it?" her father's sidekick continued. "There's no way I'm coming on some mission to stop a villain who you think might have Doc Twilight. I know he isn't with any supervilian. I've already questioned several, and he isn't with any of them. I'm going to look somewhere else, probably in the Lawful Legion's headquarters. My responsibilities are here, in Jupiter City."

Then, before anyone could say anything, he added, "For another thing, look at the group you've put together." He gestured to Owen, making him blush. "This boy has a broken arm." He looked at Bethany. "You are less experienced than I am in martial arts." He glanced at Kiel. "I guess you're okay." Then he pointed to Gwen. "And also, you have a girl who doesn't believe in violence. No offense, Gwen, but I don't know how helpful that would be in a fight."

"You're right, I don't believe in violence," Gwen said. "Because I'd rather find common ground with people. I think everyone has a special talent, and our weaknesses aren't what define us. They just make us stronger."

"And out of all of us, she's the most powerful one," Bethany defended, making Gwen blush.

"Nobody isn't your average supervillian," Owen said. "I know what the supervillians here are like, and he's not like them. Every time we've faced him, he always wins. He's impossible to beat, and we need all the help we can get."

"Yeah!" Gwen said. "Just please, come with us. We could use your help."

"It's not just about finding Bethany's father," Kiel pointed out. "It sounds like the villians you've fought have been easy, and I get that. The villain I kept fighting always lost." He chuckled. "Every time."

"It wouldn't be nice to call her a villain, but I fought with my former ex-best friend," Gwen said, shrugging. "She wasn't as powerful as Nobody, either."

Bethany smiled a little at that, then looked at Orion. "We'll find him. I promise. I know exactly how you feel. I've been dying to see him, too. But just come with us, okay? I know that my father is with Nobody. He wouldn't have been captured by anyone else."

Orion let out a sigh, giving up. "Fine. I'll come, alright? But if Doc isn't there, I'll —"

"He'll be there," she assured him.

"Yeah," Owen said. "I've seen Bethany's dad get captured by Nobody when I was in that comic book place, so if he did it again, I wouldn't be that surprised."

Orion looked from Owen to Kiel, as if noticing them for the first time. "And who are you two?"

"Sorry, I should've introduced myself earlier," Owen said, a nervous smile forming on his face. "I'm Owen."

"I'm Kiel," Kiel said with a wink. He extended a hand, and Orion shook it. "I like the mask." He grinned. "Very mysterious. Bethany tells me you're her brother?"

"In a way," Orion said. "Doc raised me after my parents died in an alien invasion, and he's become like a father to me. Since Bethany's his daughter, she's like my sister." He almost smiled. "And you can call me Kid Twilight."

"Call him Orion," Bethany said. Her adopted brother glared at her, and she smiled back innocently.

Orion glanced at Gwen, pointing a finger at her. "I remember you. The weirdly happy girl, Gwen."

Gwen smiled. "That's me! It's good to see you, Orion. Or should I keep calling you Kid Twilight? Whichever you prefer, as long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable."

"No, that's fine. Call me Orion," he said.

Before she could say anything else, the train whistle blared, and all of them covered their ears from the loud noise. They all turned around towards the noise, and stared at the train, which was now filled with passengers.

"We need to get on that train," Orion said suddenly.

"Why?" Owen asked.

"We have to get back to our hideout. I should pick up some supplies there before I go anywhere. And in the meantime, you can fill me in on this terrible plan of yours that will probably get us killed, if this villain is really as dangerous as you say he is."

"He is, and don't try to back out of it," Bethany warned as they headed back towards the front of the train. "You agreed to come with us."

"I did. I just hope it won't be a waste of time."

"It won't," Owen said. "You're a superhero, so saving the world must be fun for you. You'll enjoy this." He smiled.

Orion rolled his eyes. "Saving the world isn't that fun, kid. And I won't be enjoying anything unless we actually save Doc Twilight."

"Hey, don't call me 'kid'," Owen said, his face reddening. Bethany snickered, and next to her, she saw Kiel trying not to laugh. "I'm the same age as you!"

"Doesn't seem like it," Orion replied, snorting.

"This is your brother?" Kiel whispered to Bethany, nudging her lightly in the side. "He's so . . . different from you."

Bethany laughed before she even knew she was doing it. "You don't know the half of it." In spite of her father being missing and the threat of Nobody taking over the world, it felt like things were getting more hopeful as their group grew. All they had to do was recruit the last of their friends, and then they'd be all set to fight Nobody and get her father back.

"Guys, I think we can still make it!" Gwen said, suddenly grabbing Bethany's hand as she pointed at the door. Bethany's face heated up at the contact, but she didn't pull away. It suddenly occurred to her that holding Gwen's hand felt nice, just as nice as when Kiel held her hand. She hadn't noticed before. Or maybe she had. Her thoughts were suddenly all over the place, churning in her whirlwind of confusing emotions. It was a relief that she had something more important to focus on, like their quest.

The five of them ran over to the door and boarded the train as quickly as possible. They had to walk single-file, because the hallway wasn't wide enough to fit more than one person in the aisle. After several minutes of searching for an empty spot, they collapsed into seats near the front of the train. Soon, the train started up, and they were once again heading back to Doc Twilight's hideout.

For a good thirty minutes, Bethany told Orion everything she knew about Nobody, including what he'd done to her and her friends. She was relieved that he'd decided to come, because she knew how wary he'd been about the idea in the first place. The truth was: she needed him for this. As irritating as he sometimes was, he was her family. He was her brother, and she couldn't lose him like she'd lost her father.

It made sense that he wanted to focus on finding Doc Twilight, but how couldn't he care about the safety of his world? After everything she'd seen, Bethany didn't understand it. But she didn't blame him. As far as she could tell, nothing out of the ordinary was happening to Jupiter City. Not yet, at least. She hadn't even seen the wall of white nothingness here, when she'd seen it in Gwen's world. But it didn't matter if the signs were here yet. If they didn't stop Nobody, the fictional world was going to die. That seemed enough of a reason to fight Nobody.

"So, do you have any powers, like the Avengers? Or are you like Batman and Robin, without any?" Owen asked Orion later on, when they were done talking about Nobody. Given Owen's love for all things superhero, he'd clearly been excited just to talk to Orion. But Bethany wouldn't be surprised if his interest waned off soon, since Orion wasn't the most . . . friendly person.

Orion looked confused. "Who are the Avengers? And who are Batman and Robin?"

"Batman is apparently the greatest superhero of all time," Kiel said.

Owen grinned a little. "Well, yeah. Uh, well, there's a ton of superheroes from different worlds besides yours, and most — like the Avengers — have powers. The difference is that neither Batman or Robin have powers."

Slowly, Orion nodded. "I don't have powers."

"Maybe Charm can give you powers!" Gwen offered, and the boy's eyes widened.

"That's a terrible idea," Bethany whispered, knowing just how badly it'd gone when Charm had given Owen time powers. It might've worked, but she lost her best friend for three years! The only good thing that had come out of that was Bethany's shape-shifting powers, which was incredible in itself.

"We're seeing Charm?" Orion almost looked disgusted, making Bethany grin.

"Yep," she said. "The point is to recruit all of our friends, so we'll have a better chance of defeating Nobody. That was Owen's idea, by the way."

"Well, me and Bethany's," Owen said, his face reddening. "It wasn't just mine. We came up with a plan together."

"Still, it was all your idea," she said, not sure why he was even trying to put himself down. She had never really liked his idea, but that was only because she wanted to handle everything herself. As long as they didn't get into too much danger, though, she'd be okay with it. And seeing her friends was a bonus.

"We're going to need Charm, too," she added. "That's where we'll go next, I think." She glanced at Owen, watching his reaction. He didn't looked particularly excited, but he didn't look unhappy, either.

"Charm is from Kiel's world," Owen said, turning his attention to Kiel.

Orion looked at Kiel. "You're friends with Charm?"

Kiel shrugged. "Yeah. I don't think she'd consider me her friend, but we worked together for a year. Saving the world, that kind of thing. I don't think she'll be very happy to see me."

"Why not?" Bethany asked.

He winced. "She's not exactly my biggest fan right now. I might have missed a few scheduled meet-ups."

"You were working on that spell, weren't you?" Gwen said. Kiel nodded. "So you didn't have time to see her. Just tell her the truth, and I'm sure she won't be mad."

"I guess so."

Bethany gave Owen a pointed look, encouraging him to say something. After all, he'd been pretending to be Kiel last time he was with Charm. Her best friend quickly shook his head. She sighed. Great. He wasn't going to say anything. One way or another, she knew that Charm would find out that Owen wasn't Kiel. And once that happened, there was no telling how she'd react. It wouldn't be fun to watch, that was for sure.

The group talked for the rest of the train ride until they finally arrived in the area of Jupiter City that Bethany was more familiar with. Following the long line of passengers, they climbed off of the train and walked a few blocks to the Jupiter Hill Observatory. It was just as empty as it was earlier, and with the knowledge that her father was gone, it felt even emptier.

Bethany and Orion entered first, and to her slight annoyance, Orion beat her to the telescope, typing the location of the moon into the computer. The wall behind the telescope disappeared, and they started down the stairs. Bethany flicked on the lights, then followed Orion deeper into the hideout, her friends trailing behind.

Orion glanced around the room, then made a beeline for one of the cabinets and ruffled through it. "Nice to see nothings changed."

"What are you looking for?" Bethany asked, trying to see into the cabinets.

"Something that won't be unreliable," he said, pulling out his Twi-light, a very bright light that'd been helpful during their time under the Dark. Bethany had never had much use for it, since she tried to stay stealthy when fighting supervillians. Of course, staying stealthy never worked on her part.

Glancing around the room, Bethany caught sight of her own Twilight staff and smiled. In her haste, she hadn't noticed it earlier. It could also shrink to the size of a handheld telescope, so it would be easier to carry. She walked over to it and picked it up, curling her fingers around it.

"You're bringing that?" Owen asked, sidling up beside her.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, do you have any other cool superhero weapons I could borrow?" She turned to stare at him, and he slowly grinned. "What?"

"I know why you're doing this," Bethany said, pointing a finger at him. "You'd take any chance you could to be a superhero. This could really be a —"

"Great idea?"

She rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. "You know what? Here." She went over to a table and handed him a small blow-dart gun. "Go crazy. But don't break it, Owen. I'm warning you!"

"I know! I'll be careful," he said, nodding and placing it in his backpack. Then he added, "Mom."

He did not just call her that. Bethany furrowed her brows. "Hey, I'm just trying to watch out for your safety!"

"You do sound like someone's mom," Kiel said, and she hit him on the arm.

From a few feet away, Gwen laughed in a way that normally would've made Bethany laugh too. But under the circumstances, she was annoyed. Even so, she had to hold back a laugh of her own.

Orion walked over to them, his Twilight staff slung across his back. "I would ask you what you're talking about, but then it occurred to me: I don't care."

"Huh. I thought all superheroes cared about everything," Kiel said, raising his eyebrows.

"I care about some things. Not this conversation, though."

"Great," Bethany said sarcastically. She looked around at her friends, who gathered around her. "Um, are you guys ready to go?"

Orion nodded, and Owen spoke up. "I am."

"Me too," Gwen said.

"We're going to my world next, right?" Kiel asked.

"That's the plan," Bethany said.

"Great! It would be very rude if we were going somewhere else, since you said before that we were." He grinned, then winked. "I can't wait for you to see the changes. I've heard Charm's been improving the place, but really, I haven't seen much improvement so far aside from Magisterians using some Quanterium equipment. I guess I'll see when I get there."

"Oh, I can't wait!" Gwen said, breaking out into a grin. "I have a feeling I'm going to like your world. No doubt about it."

Bethany smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised. You like everything. You even like Orion, and no one likes him!"

"Oh, shut up," Orion said, although she could tell he was smiling the slightest bit as the other three laughed. Her smile faded as she remembered the task at hand, and she went over to Owen, opening his backpack and taking out the last Kiel Gnomenfoot book.

"Ready to see Charm?" she asked Owen in a whisper, pulling him aside.

Owen swallowed hard, his eyes on the book in her hands. "Do you really think she'll be there?"

"I guess so. Gwen got back to her own world, so I think Charm is in her's."

He sighed, not saying anything for a few seconds. "I'm not sure about this, Bethany," he said finally, not looking at her. "About any of it. About fighting Nobody, about . . . telling Charm the truth . . . that I'm not Kiel. The more I think about it, the more nervous I get. I feel like I have no idea how to be myself around her. Like I'm embar—" He cut himself off, blushing.

She didn't know what to say, so instead, she offered him a strained smile, knowing exactly how he was feeling. She knew what it was like to feel nervous. She was nervous almost all the time. It was something she'd gotten used to, but that didn't mean it was comfortable. She knew from Pick The Plot that he had a low self-esteem, which wasn't something she could relate to very much. All she could do was help Owen through his problems. It made her angry that she couldn't do more.

Bethany looked up to see that the others were standing nearby, listening to their conversation. She quickly opened the book, setting it on the ground. Since her friends already knew the procedure, they grabbed hold of each other's hands (although it took some convincing to make Orion hold anyone's).

Reminding herself that this would all work out eventually, that she'd find her father and defeat Nobody no matter what, she willed herself to jump them into the book. Her hands shook slightly as she leapt into Kiel Gnomenfoot and the Source Of Magic, only to land face-first on the ground. The force wracked through her body, spreading pain throughout it.

Bethany groaned as she released her grip on her friends, who all seemed just as shocked as her. She slowly picked herself off the ground, being the first to do so. That had never happened before. Not in all her years of book-jumping had she landed straight on the ground. Her eyes adjusted to the world that was Quanterium, and she froze, cold fear going through her. What she saw was a group of Science Police, their guns all pointed directly at them.


"It's time to rise up from the shadows. Rise up from the shadows . . ."