Chapter Forty Two: Screenslaver

The convention center was still the epicenter of the darkness, with Nightmares swarming out the doors and retreating back to protect it.

Rocketeer and Baymax were doing their best, alongside Solarflare and Callaghan. Solarflare had the best effects, her sun blasts and glowing hair destroying the smoke horses ten times fast.

"We can't do this forever!" Callaghan yelled. "There's too many of them!"

"Light hurts them!" Hiro responded. "We need to get more light!"

"How?!" Solarflare yelped.

"You!" Hiro suddenly yelled. "We need a way to boost up your sunwave!"

"A generator!" Callaghan cried. "I understand!"

"We need to get Mr Robinson in here, we need his help!"

"On it!" Solarflare said, then took off to retrieve the inventor.

Dimension and Phantom chased after Screenslaver, who seemed to only just avoid them. The villain was clearly versed in the layout of the buildings, jumping and dodging to hide.

They ran back into the lab where the Senior Supers had been held, skidding down the halls and diving down staircases. The two heroes followed the villain deeper into the hidden lab, where the hallways started to become a labyrinth.

Wilbur slid around the corner and launched himself at Screenslaver. The two hit the ground, but the hypnotist didn't fight back, instead, they just crumpled to the ground.

"Come on!" Violet yelped, hauling Wilbur to his feet. "I think it's a decoy!"

"There's another one!"

Violet threw a force field at that Screenslaver, but they collapsed like the first one. Further down the hall, another door slammed. The two teen's locked eyes and leapt up to their feet.

"I hate hypnotism," Wilbur muttered. Before Violet could respond, the two were inside the room Screenslaver had disappeared into. They spun back to back looking for them, when the door slammed shut and locked, and light poured into the room.

"Close your eyes!" Wilbur yelled, realizing the room was one big hypnotist chamber. He teleported to the side. At the same time, Violet turned invisible and threw out a force field towards the door.

Wilbur slammed into the wall and tripped backwards, head hitting the ground. Screenslaver jumped on him and wrestled his back, slamming the teen's head into the ground so hard his eyes flew open. Within seconds, the mind numbing effects set in and Wilbur felt his body go catatonic.

"Where are you Incredi-girl?" Screenslaver growled, modified voice scratchy. "You can't hide in here forever little phantom!"

Violet squeezed her eyes tighter and crawled, using the edge of the room as a guide. Before the lights had gone on, she'd seen a desk piled with computers - a weak looking power station.

Screenslaver started making rounds of the room, so Violet pulled herself into a tight ball as she hit the desk. The footsteps stopped a foot or two to her left, and Phantom held her breath, fingers scabbing for the cords.

She hit a bundle of cords twist tied together, wrapping her hand around it and yanked. The cords came away in her hands, and the swirling lights of the hypno-chamber disappeared, plunging them all back into darkness. Wilbur's vision cleared and he sat up, then kicked the door open and let the hall light flood into the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, Violet turned visible and swept a leg out to knock the villain over.

Screenslaver found themselves blocked off by the two teenage heroes, and stumbled back against the wall. They grabbed for something on their belt - a handheld taser a lot like Tortazos - and thrust it at Phantom.

"Arrh!" Dimension groaned as he teleported into the attack instead. He stumbled a little, but shielded Phantom, who moved to avoid the next attack. Within seconds, she threw herself at Screenslaver and pinned the villain's hand down, kicking the taser away.

Screenslaver fought back, throwing the lighter teen away and leaping to their feet. Wilbur put his hands up, ready to fight, but when the supervillian tried to jump him, they slammed into a force field.

Violet let Wilbur help her to her feet, then used another force field to handcuff Screenslavers hands behind their back before dropping the outer shell. The villain slumped to the ground on their knees, mask expressionless. Wilbur reached over and yanked it away, curious to see who was behind the mysterious villain.

"Aunt Evelyn?!" He gasped suddenly, voice tight and unsure. Violet looked at him in shock, and Wilbur let the mask drop onto the floor.

Evelyn Deavor's short spiky brown hair was mussed up from the mask, and her lazy expression was laced with anger and disgust as she looked at her honorary nephew. She rose to her knees, looking like she was trying to find a way out before sinking back on her heels.

"You used to be such a nice boy Wilbur…" She muttered. "Now you're one of those…"

"One of what?" He asked harshly.

"A super." Evelyn - Screenslaver - snapped. "Like her,"

It was like the Nightmares knew they were trying to build the generator in the convention center.

Solarflare, Callaghan and Rocketeer did their best to fend off the sand monsters while Cornelius worked on the generator, but since the other two scientists still had to help, it was leaving Solarflare overworked.

"How much longer?!" The blonde asked.

"Just a few more pieces!" Cornelius cried. "Rocketeer?"

As Callaghan finished constructing the outer shell with his microbots, Hiro used his powers to connect the final wires inside the casing, causing the little lights on the side to flicker on. Cornelius whooped as the generator started to faintly glow, keeping the Nightmares away.

"We're ready!"

Solarflare slammed into the ground in front of her the generator, throwing two more sunblasts before ripping her glove off with her teeth and presenting her bare forearm to the others.

"Stick me."

"You sound like my kids," Cornelius groaned.

"My daughter did the same thing," Callaghan said. "You're a lot like her,"

Cornelius finished lining up the needle with Rapunzel's arm. Just as he connected her to the machine, a low cackle filled the door as the doors outside slammed shut.

The room started to glow in response, and Hiro realized most of it was coming from Rapunzel's hair and skin. As her powers slowly illuminated the room, the heroine widened her stance, staring down the new figure as he walked closer.

"Pitch." She snarled.

"I'm surprised you aren't out there with your mother, little sunbeam," The dark villain said. "Gothel was so excited for the family reunion,"

Rapunzel grimanced, and her glow flickered before getting brighter. Pitch hissed in pain and stumbled back. The Nightmares that had clustered around him suddenly burned away from the light.

Pitch raised his arms, signaling more Nightmares to attack. They surged forwards, some burning away with the light and others getting close enough to hurt.

Solarflare was stuck by the generator, so she increased her glow and kept firing one-handed sun blasts at the sand horses. Callaghan and Rocketeer were able to jump into the fray, using the microbots and other machines in the exhibition to fight.

Pitch slammed Cornelius aside with a wall of sand and went for Rapunzel, who noticed a second too late.

As she turned around, eyes widening, Pitch conjured a deadly looking spike from the shadows and threw it towards her. She couldn't dodge without tearing the needle out of her arm and plunging them back into darkness, but there wouldn't have been time anyways.

"No!" Hiro yelled.

Rapunzel's eyes widened even more as the spike made contact with Robert Callaghan's stomach, sinking deep past the skin. Her mouth opened to scream and she moved to grab him, but Callaghan stumbled forward, grabbing Pitch by the arms before he stumbled to the ground