Here's chapter 2, typed up in, perhaps, my fastest time so far. BTW, I've mapped out the rest of the story, and I have decided that there will be no sequel to this sequel. Sorry for anyone who would want one, but some things need to be ended. But, this won't end for quite awhile. BTW, Happy New Year, as tomorrow is New Year's Eve on the East Coast here! Whoo!
Disclaimer: I do not own TDI or any of its characters, but I do own Slash, John, and every other member of the Underground, and any other minor characters.
NORTH CAROLINA- SUPERHUMAN SHACK
Duncan arrived back at the shack, out of breath from the rather long run. Not to mention, he had just walked this same way. Cody was just appearing out of nowhere, and Duncan ran right into him, with it being night and all. Duncan was out of breath, and just breathed heavily right onto Cody's face.
"Dude, can you get off of me?" Cody asked, trying to keep calm. Duncan rolled off him, and clutched his side.
"Sorry..... man..... I'm just..... really..... tired," he explained in between pants. Cody heard a sound above, and looked up to see Izzy and Owen riding on... a lamp post?
"Hi guys!!!" Izzy shouted, waving.
"Izzy! The lamp post!" Owen shouted. As Izzy's eyes grew wide, the lamp post that they were riding fell toward the ground.
"Oh craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!!!" Owen shouted, as the lamp post hit the ground, flinging the two next to Duncan as it landed.
"My bad!" Izzy shouted, getting back to her feet. Owen pushed himself onto his hands and knees, when he saw Duncan breathing heavily.
"Wow, you look just like me that time that I was chased by a rottweiler for 10 blocks," he commented. Duncan opened an eye, and glared at Owen.
"I.... had..... to run...... all the way........ back.......... here," he explained, trying to still sound tough with every word. With that, Owen stood up straight, and could hear faint screaming.
"Do you guys hear that?" he asked. Cody looked around, and saw a rather long figure soaring through the sky. It began to slow down, and began to fall back to the ground.
"Maybe it's that!!!" he shouted, pointing to the sky. Owen squinted, and gasped.
"Great rings of fire! It's Bridgette!" he screamed, slamming his hands to his head. And so it was. The surfer girl was falling to the ground, screaming in worry and panic. Owen ran over to where she was going to land.
"I've got you!" he shouted, holding out his hands. Bridgette continued to fall, until she finally came close enough to Owen that-
WHAM!
She landed right on his stomach, knocking the large teen to the ground. She groaned, and looked at the others.
"Hey, Bridgette..." Cody acknowledged, scratching his chin in light of the awkward situation.
"Hey. You know, this ground is pretty soft," she commented, not looking down. Duncan stifled a laugh, finally working his way onto his hands and knees.
"That's not the ground, sister," he told her. Bridgette looked confused.
"Then, what did I land on?" she asked, afraid to look down. Owen let out a moan.
"All 296 pounds of Owen," he blurted out, rolling Bridgette off of his stomach so that he could stand up.
"Sorry, Owen," she apologized, standing up herself. Duncan had also managed to stand up, getting his energy back.
"Well, now that that's done, I think we all had a reason for coming here," he reminded them, turning to look at Ezekiel's shack. The others looked over as well, and they walked over.
Suddenly, they could hear faint noises inside. Noises that pointed out obvious signs of a fight inside. Duncan kicked the door down, flame in hand. In the middle of the room was Ezekiel, facing off against another man. The other was wearing a black mobster hat, which made his black bangs droop over his face, and cover the back of his neck and his cheeks. His eyes were grayish, but they gave off a faint red glow. He wore a black leather jacket, which concealed his bright red shirt that bore a picture of the devil and had "Satan" written around the picture. He wore black, baggy jeans along with a belt that contained little containers on both sides of the man, containing many throwing knives. He also wore tall boots that reached up to his knees. The man noticed the others, and held his two throwing knives at his sides as if in surrender. Ezekiel noticed the others too, and took the opportunity to get next to them. The man spoke.
"Well, I'd rather not take any chances by taking you all on. I can easily escape now, but what fun would that be? After all, the author knows that I have to help the readers understand what's going on by now," he spoke. The others looked confused.
"Readers?" Owen asked.
"Author?" Bridgette asked.
"Fun?" Ezekiel asked. The man let out a sigh.
"Never mind that. The point is, I am going to give you some information that may prove useful," he explained. "Now, I'll start at the beginning, and work up to the here and now. Do not interrupt, or I'm leaving. It all began sometime before you all were gathered..."
"You all know Gwen, of course. Well, back when she attended Lakeside High School, there was a guy named John Bellevue. He had a girlfriend, Lindsay, who you also know. Now, one day, Gwen found John trying to do Lindsay, and managed to send the guy to the hospital. When he found out that Gwen was a hero, he was angry. Beyond angry, to tell the truth. He wanted revenge. So, he gathered up his friends, including me, and formed the Underground, consisting of 10 people. We've managed to capture most of you, and are taking you back to Lakeside High to slowly kill you one-by-one. Well, except for Gwen, who seems to be capable of surviving anything. John plans to come up with his own tortures to use on her. As for the rest of you, you are to be killed. Oh, by the way, my name is Eric Renolds, but the others call me Slash, because of what I do to people," the man named Slash finally finished. The others just nodded.
"So, you guys are at Lakeside High, in Florida?" Cody asked. Slash nodded, but then crouched down.
"And now, I take my leave," he told them, just before he leaped through an open window, and the heroes heard his leaving footsteps.
"So, to Lakeside High?" Duncan asked. Ezekiel shook his head.
"First, we should make sure everything we were told is written down for future reference, eh," he told him, just as Izzy brought out a notebook and pencil from the wreckage. Ezekiel quickly wrote down everything, and nodded.
"How are we getting there anyway?" Bridgette pointed out. Cody showed his teleporter prototype, and spoke.
"With this thing; it'll get us near Lakeside High in the blink of an eye," he explained.
"Well, then let's go!" Owen shouted, as Cody set the device. An instant later, they disappeared.
FLORIDA- LAKESIDE HIGH
Craig Taylor walked into the Principal's office. Well, it used to be, anyway. Now, it was where John now stayed to think of things to do to Gwen as torture.
"John," he called out. John looked up from the desk he was sitting at.
"Yeah?" he asked. Craig cleared his throat before continuing.
"We've put every one of the captured heroes in shackles by their wrists and ankles in the storage room, and did the same thing to Gwen in that bathroom you requested," he reported. John smiled.
"Excellent. Any word on the other six heroes we missed?" he asked. Craig shrugged.
"Bridgette, Cody, Owen, and Izzy weren't at their homes. Duncan had proved too tough for the others, so they had to run. As for that Ezekiel, we haven't heard from Slash yet," Craig told him. John just nodded, but pulled out a whip from inside the Principal's desk.
"Well, I have business to attend to. I'll return soon, but send Slash here when he returns to wait. Also, make sure that Manny and Fred are still standing guard around the school. I need to know immediately if they find us," John warned. Craig nodded, and followed his boss out the door. He then headed off to check on the two guards, while John took a different route. He passed by Mr. Winfred's classroom, and stopped in front of the nearby girl's bathroom, smirking to himself. He pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
The light was dim, but John could easily see Gwen hanging on the nearby wall, shackles chained to her wrists and ankles. She had her head down, letting her teal-streaked dark hair droop down. John walked over, and lifted her head. Gwen looked tired, but her eyes turned to rage when she saw who it was.
"John Bellevue," she spoke. John nodded, and stepped back.
"That's right. The same one that YOU sent to the hospital. Some hero," he scoffed. Gwen just scowled.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked. John let the whip roll out.
"Revenge," he told her, readying for a hit. Gwen looked around.
"Why am I alone in here?" she asked. John quickly snapped his arm forward, watching the whip slice across Gwen's cheek, making a small cut. Gwen just let it bleed.
"This is the same bathroom where you caused me to have to go to the hospital," he explained, hitting her again, this time cutting her shoulder.
"So now, I'm just your little torture victim? Is that it?" she asked, wincing at the next hit that struck her square in the chest. John concealed the whip, and began to leave. He stopped just before opening the door.
"That's right. I'm gonna get my revenge on you. This isn't it, I will be back. And next time, I'll have a different torture for you. By the way, you get a loaf of bread and a glass of water everyday, whenever I feel like giving it to you," he chuckled before shutting the door. Gwen just glared after him, ignoring her three cuts. She didn't even try to heal them.
FLORIDA- NEAR LAKESIDE HIGH
The six heroes appeared right across the street from Lakeside High School, and looked over at it; there weren't any obvious signs of the Underground being there. Well, until they had a few flashlight beams flashed in their faces.
"YOU'LL NEVER GET ME ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEE!!!" Duncan and Izzy shouted, ready to make a run for it. Ezekiel grabbed their shoulders.
"Relax, eh. It's just two random guys with flashlights. Not the cops," he told them. The two stopped, and lightly chuckled.
"Oh, right," Duncan noticed.
"I knew that," Izzy lied. Bridgette looked closely at the two guys rushing toward them.
"You know, they could be from the Underground," she suggested. Cody looked up at her.
"What makes you say that?" he asked. Owen squinted, and looked down at Cody.
"You know, the leather jackets with the words 'Underground' on it could be a clue," he replied. Everyone stood in awkward silence for a second before Izzy ran at the two guys, yelling wildly. The two stopped running. Big mistake, as Izzy punched one of them right in the face, giving him a nosebleed. Duncan walked over, and gave him a burning jet of fire in the face, leaving third-degree burns to kill him. The other guy dropped his flashlight, and ran screaming into the school, while the others ran in after him.
Upon entering, the entire Underground readied themselves to fight, countless weapons in their hands. The heroes could spy Slash in the group, and prepared for a fight against the eight fighters.
"Stop!" a voice called out. The Underground immediately put away their weapons, and looked behind them. One of the members called out,
"John!?" The six heroes looked at the infamous John Bellevue, who had his fists up, showing off his iron knuckles that he was wearing.
"John Bellevue?" Bridgette asked. The man nodded, and looked at the six of them.
"Underground!" he bellowed, startling everyone. "Leave me to fight these people... alone," he ordered. The members nodded, and left, some glancing back to see if the fight had began yet. Duncan lit a flame in each hand, while the others merely held their fists up in a fighting position. John returned the gesture.
"You'll be joining your friends soon," he jeered. Before anyone could retaliate, he rushed at them, fist reared back.
John's first victim was Ezekiel, who got a sock right in the stomach, knocking him into a locker and causing the locker to break off and fall. Duncan quickly threw a flame at John, successfully burning his back. Then, Izzy brought up the broken locker, and smashed it directly in his face. John turned around, and charged at Duncan, knocking him to the ground. Then, while he was down, John punched Duncan in the face, smashing his head through the ground to knock him easily unconscious with a bloody face. As Izzy prepared to launch the locker at his face again, John turned around, and punched it with all of his strength. The locker flew backwards, and whacked Izzy right in the face, dazing her. She could barely see John rushing toward her, when Owen stepped in the way, puffing his stomach out to send John stumbling backwards. He growled, and was momentarily startled when he saw Owen running at him, not seeing Izzy riding his back. John shook off his surprise, and swung his fist forward. The blow made Owen bend over, clutching his stomach in pain. With the wind knocked out of him, he collapsed on the floor breathing heavily. Izzy jumped off his back, and jumped off of John's face. The blow made John fall over, while things were just as painful for Izzy. She had lost her balance when she jumped off John, and fell hard on her hip when she finally landed. The landing left Izzy lying on the ground for awhile, long enough for John to stand up, and kick her in the stomach. Bridgette shot her fist out to hit John, but he moved out of the way just in time, and grabbed her outstretched arm. He yanked it, and held his fist out. Bridgette let out a yell, and went flying forward, hitting John's fist straight on. While John admired his tactic for a few seconds, Ezekiel and Cody hatched a quick plan.
"You distract him, and I'll work on getting everyone together, eh," Ezekiel quickly explained, still holding his stomach in pain.
"And then we use my watch to get outta here," Cody finished, looking over at John. He ran at him, and John also charged. John punched Cody square in the chest, knocking him over onto the ground. Cody groaned, and looked up to see John jumping down for another attack. Cody tried to roll out of the way, but John was too quick for him. John managed to punch Cody's hand, smashing his watch as well, which contained the teleporter prototype. Cody panicked, and noticed that Ezekiel was ready to go. He punched John quickly and ran over.
"The teleporter is broken!!!" he shouted, showing his destroyed watch. Ezekiel looked fearful, and brought everyone to touch him.
"Then we'll use my powers, eh!" he explained, shutting his eyes tight, and focusing on his home sweet shack. Soon, he felt the cold, hard ground of the school disappearing, soon being replaced by a wooden material. Ezekiel opened his eyes, and saw that they were back at the shack.
"It worked! Yes!" he thought happily.
NORTH CAROLINA- SUPERHUMAN SHACK
Ezekiel looked at the other heroes, and sighed. They were more than beaten; they were practically murdered by John. Duncan no doubt had a broken nose, maybe a broken neck, and had lost an awful lot of blood. Cody probably had a broken wrist, and his watch seemed to have been destroyed beyond even the technopath's miracle repair capability. Izzy had a bruised hip, Bridgette had a bloody nose, and Owen took a pretty hard blow in the stomach and was breathing heavily still. As for himself, Ezekiel just had a slightly sore back and stomach. Right now, he wished Gwen were here to heal them all. But, she was still stuck at Lakeside, failed to have been rescued by them. Ezekiel stood up, and walked over to a nearby chair, taking a seat carefully, as his back was sore.
"Well, now what?" Bridgette asked, pinching her nose to stop the steady flow of blood. She used her other free hand to scoop up Duncan, and carried him awkwardly into one of the beds to care for him. Cody held his wrist, and tried to move his hand, wincing everytime. Owen and Izzy took to the couch, where they just sat quietly. A few minutes after Bridgette's question was asked, Ezekiel sighed, and spoke.
"I don't know what we're gonna do, eh. We can't take on John by himself, let alone the entire Underground. If we could have found the others, we could have stood a chance. But, now they're probably on high alert for us." The assessment of their situation left another long silence on the group. Cody finally just created a makeshift cast for his hand from Ezekiel's medical supplies, while Bridgette also used a towel to wipe away the blood covering Duncan's face. Soon, Duncan awakened to Bridgette trying to support his head better.
"Urgh, whuh happened?" he asked groggily. Bridgette let a small smile cross her lips, relieved that he was awake.
"We lost, but we're safe now," she told him, struggling to keep his pillows level with the rest of his body. But, Duncan kept squirming around.
"Stop it," she hissed a little too angrily. Then, Duncan swung his legs around and stood up. He felt a little dizziness, and sat back down.
"I'm fine," he told her, standing up a little slower this time. He walked into the other room, rubbing his neck. Bridgette sighed, and followed after him. The two each grabbed a seat, and joined the small circle of heroes. The six just sat around in silence, completely at a loss of what to do now. There was no way that they could take on the entire Underground or sneak back into Lakeside. So, just what were they supposed to do now?
Suddenly, as if to answer their lingering question, Chris floated down into the middle of the circle, and looked around.
"Hey, what's up guys?" he greeted, flashing his pearly-whites.
"Chris!!??" Cody exclaimed, sitting up in awe.
Cliffhanger! What is Chris doing in the shack again? Where is Chef? Can Ezekiel, Duncan, Owen, Izzy, Bridgette, and Cody stop the Underground? And where has Slash been seen before?
I doubt anyone here knows where I've actually used Slash before (besides me profile icon), but the description I used before was copied onto here. I just, tweaked him a bit here, giving him a real name. I have big plans for him though, in this story (hint hint!).
I have no idea if iron knuckles are actually strong enough to be used as I had John here use them, but whatever. By the way, that little part where Izzy tried jumping off of John's head, and slipped, giving her a bruised hip is based on a stupid, similar thing I did yesterday. But, instead of a person's face, I slipped on a stool. Yeah, I can be a knucklehead sometimes. Anyway, R&R please!