Seventeen Forever
A Twelve Forever Fan-story
By Daring D.D. Danger
19
Final Gambit Forever Part One
"Seriously, what's going on here?" Reggie looked at the six of us. Todd and Esther were clearly freaking out. James and I looked at each other. It felt like the end of the world.
"I think bringing you out of Endless messed up the boundary between our world and Endless," Conelly said.
"Also… how long was I in Endless? I can only remember a few weeks, but you all look so different." Reggie looked a bit worried.
"Five years," Conelly said in a grim voice.
"Oh..." Reggie slid down the wall next to Conelly.
"Why's any of it matter!?" Emily punched the mirror with her hair, sending it into tiny fragments.
"We destroyed the world." She sank down and began sobbing. A small scream echoed from outside the school. The bathroom was nothing but sobbing and sad stares. Reggie and Conelly were resting against each other, and James had joined me.
"It's not over," I said, standing up. "We only know one rule about Endless. Things that go there can't leave. If we put all the Islanders back, maybe it will close the barrier." My confidence was not answered by anything other than stares.
"Bethune is my home," Reggie stood up and said, also reaching a hand for Conelly, who stood up with her. The others soon followed. Emily took her place next to James and I.
"You three, what are your Endless powers?" Reggie asked.
"I can fly, she can control her hair like a limb, and he can make sports equipment," I replied, pointing at my friends respectively.
"Todd and Esther can't use their powers anymore, though, Reggie," Conelly noted.
"What about you?" Reggie asked their partner.
"Yes, I can."
"The Islanders can't have gotten very far. It's only been like 15 minutes. Kid, I need you to take to the air and act as the spotter." They pointed to me.
"Kaileigh, by the way," I informed them.
"Pink hair, do you have any way to get airborne?"
"Emily. And yes, but I can't outright fly." Emily shrugged.
"You'll work with Kaileigh then." Emily walked over and gave me a high five.
"Boy, can you make any sports equipment?"
"James, and I think so. Although I doubt dodgeballs are gonna help," James noted.
"Have you tried fantasy sports equipment?" Reggie asked.
"No," James said.
"Someone give me their phone," Reggie said. Conelly handed hers over. Reggie typed something and then handed the phone to James.
"Make those." Reggie pointed. James nodded before giving the phone back and diving through the rift. He returned in his outfit, adorned with light blue roller skates, and holding a baseball.
"Roller skates and a baseball?" I questioned.
"They aren't just roller skates," Reggie said. She walked up and pushed a button on them, causing what sounded like a motor to come to life. "They're iGoFast E-Screamers, the fastest motorized roller skates ever made," Reggie cheered. I jumped into the rift next, re-emerging in my outfit, my surfboard attached to my leg.
"Todd and Esther, your job is to protect civilians," Reggie said, as the pair took off from the bathroom. Reggie and Conelly took each other's hands and walked into the rift, Conelly came out first in full samurai gear. Reggie followed, in their usual outfit. They stood proudly as the numbers on their chest-plate began spinning like a clock, finally stopping on seventeen.
"So you really haven't aged in five years..." Conelly was obviously alarmed.
"Alright, let's go!" Reggie announced.
"Just like old times?" Conelly asked. Reggie nodded before hopping onto Conelly's shoulders. Conelly took off like a shot.
"Strength and speed. They go well together," Emily noted.
"Hey, should we wear masks so people don't recognize us?" James asked.
"On it." Emily donned a mask made out of her hair, and ripped two more out for James and I. I placed the mask on my face, which stuck like cotton candy.
"Oh, so that's how your mask used to stay on," James said, licking candy off of his fingers.
"Are you sure you can ride those skates, dude?" Emily asked.
"No, not really," he replied. He attempted leaning forward and the skates took off in a flash, James screamed his lungs out until I couldn't hear him anymore.
"Well, he didn't fall." Emily shrugged. Emily hopped onto the board. Suddenly, Tasty Troy came around the corner.
"Y'all want some meatballs?" he asked. I looked at Emily before she grabbed him and chucked him into the rift.
"How are we supposed to prevent them from coming back out?" I asked.
"Good point." Emily started growing her hair out, and before I knew it, there was a net covering the hole.
"Well, I don't have a better idea." I gestured at the board again. Emily steadied herself with her hair once more, and we took off, heading right from the bathroom and to the closest exit. It wasn't long before Emily grabbed me, and pointed to the school football field. Pretty Please, Tater Tot, and Beth were on the field in cheerleader clothes.
"Low sweep?" I asked Emily, to which she nodded. Emily grew her hair into a net, and I flew low over the trio, Emily scooping them up in the process.
"That wasn't very nice," Beth said. We flew back to the bathroom, where Emily stretched an opening in the big net, so I could toss the trio in. We took off again as my phone rang. I answered.
"You are not going to believe where I found Borbo," James' voice said.
"I actually don't want to know," I replied.
"It's not my fault I like sneakin' and creepin'," Borbo's voice said. I hung up the phone as we took to the air again.
"Kaileigh, over there." Emily pointed to the mall, which was surrounded by police.
"That's closer to Conelly and Reggie. Call them!" I said loudly. Emily seemed to text them instead.
"They've got it!" She smiled.
"Looks like we've got something, too." I pointed to the Aldi store, which was also surrounded by cops. I flew us down and onto the roof. Emily tore open a skylight and we immediately heard Doctor Champion's maniacal laughter. We hopped in and I landed in something wet. I looked down and was standing in milk.
"Doctor Champion!" I yelled. I went around a corner and saw him playing in spilled milk. "It's time to go home now," I said.
"WHERE'S HOME?" He yelled.
"Endless Island," I replied.
"I'M FROM KENTUCKY!" He replied. I took his hand and got up. Emily lifted him with her hair and onto the roof, all the while still laughing. We flew back to the school once more and Emily threw him in.
"How are we even going to know we caught them all?" Emily asked as Conelly ran into the room with Darla on her back.
"Swinging knives at the food court?" I asked sarcastically, to which Conelly nodded.
"You asked a fair question, how DO we know how many there are here?" Conelly pondered.
"OH, I KNOW THIS ONE!" Doctor Champion pulled his head through the rift.
"Swimple Dan, Gorbus, Collin, Tasty Troy, Pretty Please, Tater Tot, Beth..." The three of us looked at each other as Doctor Champion spoke, dumbfounded.
"Garrett, Flaps, Stanley, Mermaid Johnson, Mack, Beefhouse..." He continued for a few more names before returning to Endless screaming.
"Well, that was useful," Conelly said, jaw dropped.
"That's also more than I thought," Emily noted.
"At least it's not the Buttwitch," I assured her.
"Well, Collin shouldn't be hard to find," Emily said.
"I'll go pick up Reggie and look at some barns." Conelly sprinted off.
"Wanna go look for Guy Pleasant?" I asked.
"You don't think..." Emily trailed off as we got on the board and flew to the community college. As we approached The Outpost we could hear a bass beat. We hopped off and walked in through the broken front door. The stage was ablaze with lights as Guy Pleasant, Garret, and Schmaaron played a catchy pop tune.
"Time to stop now!" Emily yelled, but the music only grew louder.
"I've got it!" I jumped on stage and ran up to Schmaaron, grabbing his guitar and smashing it on the ground. The music stopped as he began crying.
"Come on! Not again!" Guy Pleasant shot me a dirty look as he tried to calm Schmaaron down.
"Let's go home, buddy," he said as the two walked out of the building.
"That was easy," Emily said, as the lights turned off.
"I know, right?" Garret said.
"Go home," I replied to him, he shrugged and headed off.
"Wait, who was running the sound and lights?" Emily asked. A tall woman waved her hand from the back, where the sound-booth was.
"Didn't that bother you?" I asked.
"Nah, I've seen crazy stuff here plenty of times. Even had my first date here." The woman pushed up her glasses and pulled her curly hair out of her eyes.
"Okay..." I said quietly as I walked off with Emily.
We took back to the sky and watched the musical trio walk back to the school together, before going back on patrol.
"Got a text from Conelly. They found Collin," Emily said to me. "Oh, and James found Swimple Dan and Gorbus dancing in the middle of the freeway."
"Still, we've got over ten to go," I noted. "And I think a storm is rolling in!" I pointed to some clouds off in the distance.
"We should land. I don't want to get struck by lightning," Emily said. I agreed and took us to the ground near the mall, where we entered.
"Let's get something to eat and wait the storm out," I said. People were mostly absent from the mall, probably due to everything that's going on, and most of the food court was closed. We eventually settled on Subway. We walked up to the counter and were greeted by Rance, in a Subway uniform.
"Welcome to Subway, what can I get started for you?" He said.
"Rance!? How'd you get a job?" I was perplexed. He simply shrugged.
"Can I get a footlong oven roasted chicken on Italian?" Emily asked.
"Emily!" I protested.
"We can take him back after." Emily also shrugged. I crossed my arms until I heard Rance moving.
"What kind of cheese?" He asked.
"Fine," I said to Emily, who was staring through the sneeze guard at the cheeses like a toddler.
"Get me a turkey melt with avocado," I said, retreating to a table. A few minutes later the two returned with food.
"Of course you'd like avocado. Stereotypical Californian," Emily snickered. It began raining as a few people stared at us, but kept walking. Eventually, Conelly, Todd, Esther, and James joined us to wait out the storm, which had become a deluge.
"Look who I found in the arcade!" Reggie rounded a corner with Chewing Gum Stanley, whom she high fived, and got stuck.
"At least the arcade was already sticky," James noted.
To Be Continued.