Underdog 2
Chapter 3
Conrad Conger groaned as he came to on the side of the road. His clothes were singed and smoke rose from his hair.
"Ugh, what happened?"
He noticed that he was lying under a power line, and got to his feet.
"I should be dead. How am I alive?"
He looked down at his hands, which suddenly sparked to life with electricity. He cried out as bolts shot from his palms, electrocuting a tree in front of him. The dark night sky was illuminated by the sudden spark.
"No way."
Conrad looked at his hands again, which were still illuminated by lightning. A car jerked to a halt on the street and a man got out.
"Hey!" said the man. "Buddy, you okay? That was some storm."
Conrad shot out his hands, hitting the man with his newfound power. The man fell to the ground, out cold. Conrad fished around for his keys and got into his car.
"Yeah", he said. "It sure was."
The tires screeched on the pavement as he drove off with only one thing on his mind: :I'm coming for you, Lizzie."
…
Elizabeth woke up in her room, still clutching the photo of her mom against her chest. Shoeshine bounded into her room, holding a newspaper. She giggled.
"I think you've got the wrong room, boy."
Shoeshine whined and went to Dan's room.
"Such a cute little dog."
…
"Mornin', Dan!"
Dan Unger cried out and sat up in bed. Shoeshine was sitting at the edge with a newspaper at his feet.
"Brought you the paper."
Dan groaned as he threw off the covers and got up.
"Thanks, Shoeshine."
He slid into his slippers and reached down to pick up the paper. When he noticed the headline, his eyes went wide.
"Make sure Elizabeth doesn't see this, Shoeshine", he said, rushing to get dressed. "Bury it, if you have to!"
The headline read, "Conrad Conger Escapes From Prison."
"Uh, Dan?"
Shoeshine watched as Dan hustled all over his room for articles of clothing.
"Is there something you wanna tell me?"
"Shoeshine, it is imperative that Elizabeth does not see any type of news today, okay? That's all you need to know."
Dan finalized his uniform with a tie and hopped as he pulled on his shoes.
"Elizabeth", he called down the hall, "I have to go to work a little early today, will you be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine! Have a nice day, Uncle Dan! Catch some bad guys!"
At this, Dan shook his head.
"Hopefully, I won't have to", he thought to himself, and left.
Elizabeth came down the stairs shortly after Dan pulled out of the driveway, Shoeshine close behind her.
"Well, boy, what should we do today?" she said. "A walk in the park? A stroll around town?"
"Sounds good to me", Shoeshine thought, and he barked.
"Yeah, I know", said Elizabeth. "Breakfast first."
She fixed herself some eggs and poured some milk into a glass.
"Call me old-fashioned, Shoeshine", she said, reaching for the remote on the table in the living room, "but I like to watch the news while eating."
Dan's words echoed in Shoeshine's head: "Shoeshine, it is imperative that Elizabeth does not see any type of news today, okay?"
The dog's paws slid on the tile floor as he rushed into the living room and took the remote with his mouth.
"Hey!"
Elizabeth reached for the remote, but Shoeshine bounced to his right, still holding it.
"Shoeshine, come on, boy. Let me have it."
She reached for it again, but Shoeshine dodged.
"Okay, this isn't funny. Knock it off and hand it over."
Elizabeth could have sworn the dog shook his head at her before bounding out of the way again.
"Shoeshine!"
The dog got down into a crouched position, tail wagging. Elizabeth slowly stretched out her left hand towards him. While he was distracted, she snatched the remote out of his mouth with her right hand.
"Ha! Gotcha!"
"Aw, man! Come on, that was totally unfair!"
Elizabeth froze, her fingers inches from the On switch. Slowly, she turned back towards the dog, who stared at her from the floor.
"Did...did you just-?"
"Talk? Yeah, yeah, I did."
Elizabeth's mouth hung open, and she covered it with her free hand.
"I gotta say, it's a huge relief, too. It was getting boring not having someone to talk to, since Jack's gone."
Elizabeth screamed and dropped the remote.
"Whoa, hey, come on!" Shoeshine ran after her as she raced up the steps. "Was it something I said?"
"YES!"
Elizabeth slammed the door closed and locked it behind her, wracking her hands through her hair.
"Okay, Lizzie", she said to herself. "Calm down, you're still dreaming. Yeah, that's it. You're having a weird, strange dream where your cousin's dog talks to you."
"No, you're not."
"STOP TALKING!"
Elizabeth threw a pillow at the door.
"Alright, alright! Sheesh. I'm sorry. Look, there's a reason they call us man's best friend."
"What?!"
"I'm not gonna hurt you. It's against a dog's nature to hurt people."
"I'm not scared."
"Then why are you hiding from a beagle?"
"Because you're not a normal beagle!"
"So?"
"SO BEAGLES DON'T TALK!"
"Look, I'm sorry I startled you, okay? Can you just come out and talk to me?"
Slowly, Elizabeth opened the door.
"Come on, how can you say no to this face?"
Shoeshine gave her the puppy dog eyes, and Elizabeth chuckled.
"I can't."
She came out into the hall and sat down on the floor.
"Alright", she said. "Start explaining."
…
Conrad took sharp turn after sharp turn as he raced over the hills in the stolen car. He chuckled when he saw a sign for Capital City being 5 miles away.
"Hold on, baby", he said. "I'm almost there."
-Imagigirl20