Chapter 3- The chosen one
Max was super speeding around the headquarters like nuts, not being able to stop and think where his sister might be. All he knew was that she was in danger and he had to save her no matter what... He stopped, but realized that he was in another courtyard so he started running again. After some more failed attempts to find Phoebe he finally found the courtyard he had seen in his vision.
There he was: Dark Mayhem fighting with his sister. At first, Max observed that she was quicker than her adversary and had more chances to win, but then, Dark Mayhem grabbed Phoebe by her long dark hair and threw her on the pavement. As he had seen this, something inside Max snapped: no one was allowed to hurt Phoebe excepting him.
'Hey, you!' he yelled and his voice boomed through the almost empty yard.
Dark Mayhem, not knowing who was calling him turned around and saw Max, standing near the entrance and fuming.
'Max, I was expecting you at Villain U, not in Metroburg… Or were you playing a double game on me?'
Max gritted his teeth and had to agree with Dark Mayhem: was he going to be a supervillain or a superhero? What was he going to do? With his new superpowers he was supposed to be unstoppable and NO one would ever be able to beat him. Never!
' . !', he yelled and threw a ball of electricity towards Dark Mayhem. As soon as he was touched by the huge ball, Dark Mayhem flew into the air, landing on his back. Then, Max used his super speed in order to see if Phoebe was right.
As he had reached her, he asked:
'Are you alright?'
She nodded, starring at Max in disbelief.
'How did you…? But…' she mumbled being completely shocked.
Max soon realized that she was referring to his powers, but decided to tell her everything later.
'I'll tell you later, OK? Right now we have bigger issues to worry about.' Max said, leading Phoebe to the entrance into the headquarters.
All of a sudden, Max felt a weird sensation and then as he looked around for his sister he was shocked: Phoebe was floating in the air, lifted by Dark Mayhem who was also aiming to strangle her. Max was in a state of wild frenzy, not knowing how to beat Dark Mayhem.
'Leave her alone!' he yelled, but Dark Mayhem just laughed and tightened his hold of Phoebe's neck.
Then, Max had an idea; he tried to use his super breath, but nothing happened.
"Oh crap!" he thought and tried to think about ice. Then, he observed a light trail of ice spreading around him and becoming more and more prominent, covering more of the pavement. In seconds, Dark Mayhem lost his balance and dropped his hold of Phoebe's neck. Both of them fell on the frozen pavement. Phoebe moaned loudly as she made contact with the earth.
Max tried to reach her, but was stopped and thrown away by Dark Mayhem's telekinetic shield.
'What do you want?' Max asked visibly desperate and ready to do whatever Dark Mayhem asked him to.
'Stretch the hand you write with and she will be fine.', Dark Mayhem barked and Max had no choice but to do what he was told, so he slowly stretched his hand towards Dark Mayhem.
All of a sudden, Superman and Barb entered the courtyard, and observing the view, stopped dead.
'Max, no!' Superman yelled, but all Max said was:
'I have to!'
Then, Max had an idea; what if he charged his hand with electricity… As he had thought this, a great wave of electricity enveloped his hand and Max had to grit his teeth in order not to giggle: electricity was so tickling. But he had to scream when Dark Mayhem's cold hand touched his- it was like his hand was in fire. Then, both of them flew into the air, landing in opposed places. Dark Mayhem stood up quickly waiting for Max's response, but the latter fell into the soothing darkness and fainted with a light whine.
Barb screamed and ran towards Max, trying to help him, as Superman remained to fight Dark Mayhem.
'Back away! The other superheroes are on their way and you don't want to fight us!'
Dark Mayhem soon observed that Superman was right, as he observed many colourful capes approaching.
'I'll come back, believe me!' he cried out and disappeared.
As Dark Mayhem vanished, Superman approached Barb.
'Is he alright?'
'No,' Barb exclaimed, 'he's nose is bleeding…'
'Alright, I'll call an Ambulance.' Superman said, entering the headquarters.
Later at the Superheroes Hospital…
'Phoebe, stop circling! You're giving me a headache!', Barb snapped at Phoebe, making Phoebe furious.
'Well, maybe you don't care about Max as much as I do!', she cried out, her voice booming in the reception room, receiving cold glares from the patients.
As Phoebe's words remained in the air full of worriedness from both women, Barb's attitude softened.
'I understand that you are worried, dear! So am I, but circling the room for thousands and thousands of times doesn't help!'
As she had heard her mother's soothing words, Phoebe just broke down and embraced her mother, crying wildely.
'I j-just can't make it! All t-this stuff w-with M-max and D-dark M-mayhem is so…'
Barb gently patted Phoebe's head and murmured:
'I know, dear, I know.'
They remained embraced for some minutes which seemed to them years, but they were interrupted by the doctor.
'Hello! My name is Anna Gladwell and I your son was my patient.', she said smiling and both women decided that she was a pleasurable person.
'And is he going to be fine?', Phoebe asked, speaking at a fast pace.
'Yes, he is perfectly fine, although he is pretty wick. Now, I think that some time of recovery and minimal training will do it.', Dr. Anna checked her clipboard and then carried on: 'Does his nose bleed often?'
Barb thought about her answer for a couple of moments and answered:
'No, why?'
'Well, we found certain small sections of cuts on his skin, near the entrance of his nostril that shows that he bled before and quite recently. Anyway, I presume that there is nothing serious.'
Barb and Phoebe nodded, and then Phoebe asked, her eyes sparkling:
'Can we see him?'
Dr. Anna considered her question for a moment and then nodded.
'However, too many complex emotions might prove as harming, so I expect you to remain as calm as possible.', she said very seriously. 'And now,', Dr. Anna added smiling, 'a nurse will lead you to his room.'
Dr. Anna snapped her fingers and immediately a smiling nurse came in view and led Phoebe and Barb through a multitude of corridors until she stopped in front of a white door. Phoebe quickly pulled the handle and opened the door. There, on a large hospital bed was Max, dressed in a nightgown of the hospitals', sleeping peacefully. Phoebe, closely followed by Barb rushed over his side and sighed: somehow she had the feeling that all this was her fault… But it wasn't, was it?!
'What next?', Phoebe asked, her voice cold as ice.
'Training, Max will need lots of training… He is the most powerful superhero in history, after all…', Barb answered thoughtfully. 'But I have an idea!'
Phoebe looked at inquiringly, strongly wondering what her mother was thinking at.
'What if you are going to train Max? I mean, you are young and prepared, so you two will communicate lot better! And at least that is what you can do, having in view that he saved your life.'
As soon as Barb realized what she had said, she regretted it; Phoebe stiffened and said nothing more for a long time. Then, she began:
'Alright! I will train Max, but with help from you! I mean, I know something about super strength and electricity control… Because, if I understood well, he has all this powers, right?', Phoebe said, a little confused.
Barb nodded, understanding the feelings that her daughter had, but being unable to help her.
'I am going to the cafeteria, do you want to come?'
'No, thanks, I think I'll remain here.', Phoebe said determined, and Barb soon observed that she was going to stay with Max as much as required, so she said nothing else and exited the room.
In the cafeteria…
'Barbs!', Barb heard and as she had turned around, she saw her husband, escorted by Billy and Nora.
'Hi!', she answered smiling. 'What are you guys doing here?'
'Well, we left to Metroburg as soon as we heard that Max was
hurt.'
'Yes, dad made such a fuss about it!', exclaimed Nora, bored to death and, as always, Billy agreed with her.
'So, can we see him?', asked Billy excited as always.
'I'm afraid no. Let's wait a little and then we can, alright?', said Barb, leading her family to a table, neglecting that Phoebe was alone with Max.
Back in Max's hospital room…
Phoebe squeezed Max's hand and took a deep breath; from now on she will do whatever was necessary to help her brother. After all, he didn't think twice before rushing over to protect her from Dark Mayhem! And that was only a single example. Max was a superhero, because a supervillain would have never helped his sister, but he did- he was able to fight his idol for her sake only! Yes, he was a much better superhero than she was… He always protected her, especially when they were very young, since toddlerhood and then, all of a sudden, a thought
struck her: she was the big sister, she had to be the overprotective one!
Back at Villain U…
'He is indeed the Chosen One!', Dark Mayhem exclaimed walking through the room at a quick pace, not being able to calm down. 'I already feel more powerful!', he exclaimed, approaching a coffee table.
He raised his hand and then hit the table with a quick, mighty move. On instant, with a loud crack, the table broke down.
'The prophecy is true, then…', murmured Dark Mayhem, ordering his humpbacked servant to bring him a book from the library of the university, a book that held a secret that could change the world…