The Dark Side of the Moon

Chapter Eleven


The once clear blue sky now held nothing but dark clouds and rumbles of thunder. No birds dare fly across the dark skies for fear of being struck by lightning that bounced from cloud to cloud.

Percy, Annabeth and Chiron with Kitten Selene on his shoulder walked through the forest. Dionysus, Celeste and Grover stayed behind to keep an eye on the camp just in case anything should happen.

Chiron looked up at the dark sky as he felt a rumble of thunder under his hooves. At first, he thought this might be Zeus. Perhaps he was mad about what was happening down on Earth. But the shiver he felt run up his spine told him otherwise. The shiver he felt was so cold that he touched his back to make sure no one had touched him.

Kitten Selene whimpered as she snuggled closer to Chiron's neck. He raised his hand and gently pet her head. While the kitten accepted his form of comfort another whimper left her lips.

"Selene, what's wrong?" Chiron asked.

"Something has changed and not for the better," Kitten Selene said.

Chiron sighed he didn't like the sound of that. Worry filled his heart, but he refused to let it consume him as he continued walking.

Back at Camp Half Blood, Celeste looked up as the clear blue sky grew darker as more clouds moved in. She jumped slightly at the sound of thunder that was so loud it shook the ground. And to top it off she saw lighting bouncing between the clouds.

"Do you think it Zeus?" Dionysus said, joining her.

"No, I can't explain it, but this is something much more sinister,"

Elsewhere in the forest Erica dropped to the ground rubbing her cheek as Mr. X stood over her. Mr. X glared at Erica. Pushing herself off the ground, Erica glared right back at him.

"You will obey me," Mr. X said.

"No, I won't!" Erica spat back.

Mr. X let out a frustrated sigh as his eyes glowed. He went to punch her in the face again, but Erica jumped. Her eyes flickered as she formed a ball of energy in her hand and threw it at him. Stumbling back Mr. X smiled.

"Such power. Oh yes you will do well under my control," Mr. X said as he balled up his fist.

Mr. X eyes flickered as a dark light formed around his fists. Erica held up her hands as her dark purple aura lined her body.

"Master, I know you told me to respect this man, but I can't. I'm sorry, if I make it out of this, I promise I won't ever sneak away again," Erica told herself.

Running through the forest Catherine looked down at her watch. She stopped in her tracks when her watch stopped beeping. She turned around and her watch started beeping again. She took off running in that direction. Catherine was glad she embedded a tracking device in Erica's neck as a precaution.

Breathing hard a mixture of worry and fear washed over Catherine. While she was happy, she was getting close to Erica she feared what she may find. What if Erica was hurt? She didn't think she could handle losing her. Which brought up another question in her mind, why did she care so much about her? She was just a creation an experiment, right?

Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind Catherine ran even faster than before.

"Hold on Erica, I am on my way."

Elsewhere in the forest Erica stumbled backwards from a hard kick to the chest from Mr. X. The smile across his lips sent chills up and down her body. He was enjoying this way too much. Mr. X hits harder and more intense. He wasn't trying to hold back he wanted to end her life.

"Where is that power I saw on the video feed?" "I want to see it." Mr. X said.

"You want it, you got it!" Erica said.

Closing her eyes, a dark purple aura lined Erica's body once again. Her feet lift off the ground as she floated higher in the air. Within seconds two dark clouds appeared circling around her spinning faster and faster.

Mr. X smiled as his eyes glowed. He pulled out his staff that had the symbol of a lightning bolt on top. Twirling it around a mass of dark electrical energy formed around his body. The energy around him continued to grow as he kept spinning his staff.

A sword formed in Erica's hand. Her eyes snapped opened as the clouds entered her body. Power flowed through her body down to the tip of her sword. She aimed the sword at Mr. X and released the energy.

The moment the blast touches the energy around Mr. X it pushed him back. He slammed into a few trees gritting his teeth. He could feel the power tear through his barrier. After a few moments the blast stopped. It wasn't enough he said to himself. He looked at the hole in his barrier that was steadily rebuilding itself. While it did cause a lot of damage he expected much more. Mr. X looked up at Erica and noticed more energy forming between her hands just like he saw in the video feed. Oh yes, he thought, now he would truly see how powerful she is.

Mr. X continued watching as the energy grew bigger. It was almost half the size of the earth when she threw it at him. Mr. X stood there with his staff held high as the blast engulfed him.

Floating back down to the ground, Erica dropped to her knees. She had given all she could. Erica didn't realize how draining that was. She didn't feel it last time, but she did now. Every bone and muscle in her body ached.

Looking up at the dust where Mr. X once stood, she was confident she got him. But her hope was crushed when she heard footsteps. Moments later out walked Mr. X. He had a few cuts and bruises along his arms and face. His shirt was ripped open showing burn marks across his chest.

"Impossible." Erica murmured.

"But it is. Your power is amazing, I almost thought you had me there," Mr. X said looking down at Erica. "Now it's my turn."

Mr. X twirled his staff faster and faster as it lit up with a mixture of blue and purple electrical energy. Erica watched as the top of his staff lit up and crackled. Her eyes widen as she forced her hands up to protect herself. She was spent, she had no energy left. Would this be the end of her? She didn't want to die.

"Master, please help me!" She shouted in her mind as she closed her eyes.

Erica winced as she waited for the final blow, but it never came.

Opening her eyes, a smile spread across her lips as Catherine stood in front of her pushing against Mr. X's attack.

"You okay back there?" Catherine asked pushing it out of her lips.

"Master…" Erica whispered.

Mr. X scoffed; he grit his teeth as his staff clashed against Catherine's glowing gauntlets. Mr. X tried to push forward, but found himself getting pushed back instead.

"Catherine, what you are doing is useless," Mr. X said.

"No sir, what I am doing is right," Catherine snapped back.

"She is mine!" Mr. X shouted.

"No, she belongs to no one!" "I thought about a lot of things when I was running through the forest." "I realized something, you never wanted to explore chaos energy, did you?"

"Of course not, I wanted to claim the fabled Dark Side of the Moon so I could control the world!"

Catherine's eyes narrowed. She knew it, all the work she had done for him wasn't for the betterment of science, but for his own foolish attempt at world conquest. She was the bigger fool for letting her obsession lead her into this mess. Sighing, Catherine wasn't sure how she was going to fix this, but she needed to before it was too late.

Backing up Mr. X sighed as his staff disappeared.

"With you here I can finally complete my plan," Mr. X said, before disappearing.

Catherine let out a huge breath before turning around and helping Erica up.

Tears filled Erica's eyes as she hugged Catherine. Shocked, Catherine wrapped her arms around Erica hugging her back.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to get out of the lab and now everything is ruined," Erica said.

Catherine sighed as she pulled Erica away from her.

"No, this isn't your fault. I am mostly to blame," Catherine said. "If I hadn't let my obsession with chaos energy get out of hand things would have never gotten this far. Mr. X came to me promising the unlimited use of the energy, now I know the result of my foolishness. But there is a bright side."

"What's that?" Erica asked.

"You, while you haven't been with me long you have helped me see and understand the one thing, I thought I have lost…my heart."

Erica smiled as Catherine messed up her hair.

"Now come on, we have a mad man to stop."

Nodding, Erica and Catherine began their long trek back to the lab.

Back at the Lab, Mr. X appeared. He looked around before walking up to the chamber where Selene was.

"I have waited so long for this moment." "Now I can finally see an age old prophecy come to life."

Walking over to the lever Mr. X pulled it all the way up to 100%.

Explosions rain out all around Mr. X as tubing and wiring flew everywhere. Fires crept up all around him as glass shattered. He stepped to the side as a chunk of the ceiling fell, missing him by an inch. Mr. X ducked as tools and pieces of computer consoles whizzed past the top of his head. When he stood back up the chamber that Selene is in went completely dark, as all the chaos energy entered.

Mr. X watched as the energy in the chamber grew less and less showing Selene's eyes moving rapidly. Her eyes snapped open as she screamed shattering the chamber and knocking Mr. X off his feet.

Dusting off the glass, Mr. X stood up. He looked toward the chamber and out walked a woman in a dark purple gown with dark violet eyes and matching hair. Looking around she locked eyes onto Mr. X and floated over to him. The moment she landed in front of him she stared at him with her cold dead eyes. Mr. X felt a shiver run up his spine. Shaking it off, he smiled.

"Finally, after all this time…the prophecy is true. Welcome oh great Dark Side of the Moon."