Chapter Thirteen: I Finally Can Protect You
We lost our fastest running back. I have to think of something. Chad thought. What should I do? He went through plays with his team but every play that they did wasn't good enough. They were losing ground here and time. We are not going to win at this rate. He turned to the stands and didn't see his favorite cheerleader. I don't have anyone to tell me that I can do it. What to do? I feel like I am sucked in by quicksand. Then the crowd cheered when Maurice walked back to the field. "Maurice? How?" Maurice gave him the thumb ups. But there was something different about him. He was wearing a visor to cover his eyes. "Well, I am glad you are back. I need your help to win this game. Are you sure you can run?" Maurice nodded his head. "Good… we are counting on you."
"Oh man, you are so strong." Richard said, patting his head. "You are still able to walk after that blow. Impressive…"
"We have you back." Johnny said. "So run as fast as you can." Maurice nodded his head. "Also, you look good with the visor. You should wear it more often." Chad analyzed the situation and created a plan to guarantee victory.
"Alright team, let's kick some ass." Chad said.
"HELL YEAH!" His team screamed.
Chad hut the ball and he fall back to see if Maurice was in position. When Maurice was free, he tossed it highly in the air and Maurice raced to catch it. Please catch it… Please catch it… He leaped in the air and caught the ball. "GO MAURICE!" Maurice ran swiftly through the field. "Whoa, is it me or he gotten faster." Then two players were about to attack him but Johnny tackled them both down.
"GET GOING MAURICE!" Johnny screamed. Maurice leaped over them and race for his life. He maneuvered his way through the vicious crowd. Then the huge player from before was about to hit him. Maurice slide below him and Richard tackled him down.
"I GOT HIM MAURICE!" Richard snapped. Maurice was almost to the touchdown until a gang of players raced towards him. He leaped above them and the players were shocked how high he jumped. He landed on the touchdown and the time was up. "HE DID IT!"
"WE WON!" Chad screamed. The team raced to Maurice and lifted him up to the air. "YOU DID IT MAURICE! WE WON THE CHAMPOINSHIP GAME!" Maurice didn't take off his helmet but he gave him a thumb up. What's up with him? Is he okay?
After a few minutes, the crowd disappeared and it was only Johnny, Richard, and Chad in the locker room. "I can't believe that Maurice came through." Johnny said.
"He was amazing." Richard said.
"Yeah, I am surprised he can still walk." Chad asked.
"Where is he?" Johnny asked.
"I hope he didn't strain himself." Richard added.
"I will live…" A voice said. They turned and found Maurice in his varsity jacket and with crutches. He was with Cree, Ruby and Gwen. "But this leg is killing me."
"Maurice?" Chad said, staring at him with shock. "How is your leg?"
"It is fine. I had to stay in the nurse office for a couple of hours." Maurice answered. "So how was the game?"
"What do you mean how was the game?" Chad said. "Unless…"
"You weren't even playing." Johnny said.
"I couldn't with my messed up leg." He said, scratching his head.
"Then who was the one that made the touchdown?" Richard asked.
"Oh, it was Zelda." Cree said.
"ZELDA!" Chad, Richard, and Johnny screamed.
"Well, she is a fun runner." Gwen said.
"Zelda, oh my gosh if that was her the whole time then she would have gotten hurt really bad." Chad said, worrying to death. "Some idiot might have tackled her down or worse."
She makes a good running back though… Richard and Johnny thought.
"Hey Chad, don't get mad at her. It is not her fault. I asked her to do it. I knew that this game will get you all scholarships and I didn't want to pull you all down." Maurice explained, letting out a sigh. "So I asked Zelda to fill me in."
"Maurice…" Chad said.
"Look man, I didn't want to be a burden. I know this game means a lot to you all. And I know it was a crazy idea to ask your girlfriend to pretend to be me but it was the only way." Maurice said. "So please don't get mad at her. Get mad at me."
"Also put the blame of me. I persuaded Zelda to do it." Cree said.
"I helped…" Ruby said. "So blame me too."
"Then where is she? I will love to congratulate her." Chad asked. Then his phone started ringing. "Hello…"
"Chad, it's me Nigel. Where are you?"
"I am in the locker room near the stadium." Chad said. "What's up?"
"Zelda is innocent."
"What?"
"I checked the camera in her room and the whole night, she was sound asleep. So please tell me where is Zelda."
"She is well, I am not quite sure where she is." Chad said.
"AHHHHHHH!" A loud voice screamed.
"That sounded like Zelda." Cree said.
"It's coming outside at the stadium." Maurice said. Chad was already heading outside.
"Zelda is in trouble. Hurry here…" Chad said.
"I am on my way." Chad made it outside and found Zelda on the grassy field, staring at a mechanical creature with fear. Her clothes were torn into pieces and she was only wearing a tank top and the remains of Maurice's pant.
"ZELDA!" Chad screamed, racing towards her. I don't have my armor and gear. What to do? Cree, Gwen, and Ruby were already in their armor, firing lasers at the machine. Richard pulled out a sniper and fired some rounds at it while Johnny battled it head on with his metal boxing gloves.
"CHAD, CATCH!" Maurice screamed, tossing him a rod. Chad caught and it transformed into a long staff. Chad made it in time and found Zelda in shock.
"Zelda, are you hurt?"
"What is going on here? What are the girls wearing and why do you all have weapons?" Zelda asked. Chad offered his hand to her.
"It is a long story but I will tell you later but now we should get you somewhere safe." Chad said. She grabbed his hand and pulled her away.
"YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME!" The machine screamed. It claws raced towards them however, it was blocked by Chad's staff. He tossed the claw aside and sliced into pieces.
"I am not going to let you harm her." Chad said.
"Sky…" Zelda mumbled, blushing.
"What?" Chad said.
"YOU LOOK LIKE SKY IN THE NINJA RABBITS!" Zelda screamed.
"REALLY!? I AM TRYING TO FOCUS ON SAVING YOU Z!" Chad snapped. At all the times to be thinking of that stupid show, a weird machine is attacking us and she is thinking about that stupid Ninja dummies. Then more metal claws raced behind her. "ZELDA, LOOK OUT!" Then unexpectedly, Nigel landed on one claw and fired it. "You are fast on your feet."
"It runs in the family." Nigel said. He then turned to Zelda. "Zelda, I will protect you."
"Nigel…" She said, smiling at her cousin.
"Save the mushy stuff later, we have problems here." Chad said. More claws raced towards them. They destroyed every single one of them.
"THIS ISN'T OVER!" The machine screamed. It started to spin rapidly and raced towards them.
"Shit, this isn't good." Chad said.
"RUN!" Nigel screamed. They raced away and Ruby tripped and landed on the field. She had no time to escape.
"Oh no…" Ruby said, watching her death reach towards her in seconds. She closed her eyes but she didn't felt any pain. She opened it and found Johnny using his metal gloves to push it away.
"Get up Ruby…" Johnny said.
"Thanks Johnny…" She said, blushing. She got back on her felt and grabbed him. She hovered over it and let out a sigh. "Thanks Johnny for saving me." She kissed him the cheek.
"Don't mention it." Johnny said, blushing.
"Gwen, let's stop this top from spinning." Cree said.
"Yes ma'am." Gwen said, shooting gooey substance to the ground. The machine was caught in it and it couldn't more. "Maurice, cut the power supply."
"Right…" Maurice said, firing laser cannon on the stomach of the mechanical beast.
"DAMN YOU!" The machine screamed. Richard shot the head with this sniper.
"This machine was getting on my nerves."Richard said.
"It's over…" Chad said.
"Wow…" Zelda said, staring at them with awe. "My friends are so cool."
"We have the kidnapper now so we can finally get our operatives back including the KND operatives and adults." Cree said, turning to Gwen. "Gwen, make sure the machine is immobilize. I don't want it to escape."
"Yes Captain Commander." Gwen said, giving her a salute.
"Johnny… Ruby… scan the perimeter for witnesses and fragments of the machine. I don't want to leave evidences around here." Cree ordered.
"Yes ma'am." They both said, dashing away.
"Richard, contact the nearest base and request for a helicarrier to take this hunk of metal to the main headquarters." Cree said. "Maurice, try to hack into that thing to get the kidnapper out."
"Yes ma'am."
"Cree…" A voice said. She turned and found her best friend in shock.
"Zelda, are you alright?" Cree asked. Zelda nodded her head but she didn't say a word. "You are probably wondering about all this."
"YOU GUYS WERE AWESOME! YOU WERE LIKE SUPER HEROES!" She screamed with awe. Cree and Chad were shocked with her reaction and it made them laugh. "What did I say?"
"Oh nothing, it is just you can be an idiot sometimes." Cree said.
"You meanie." She pouted.
"But I am glad you are okay." Cree said.
"We are both are." Chad said.
"I can finally get my friends back." Nigel said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"We got everything under control." Cree explained. "We are going to get everyone back especially my little sister."
"Wait, you still remember her." Nigel said.
"Of course, the brainwashing doesn't work on kids and teenagers only on parents." Cree said.
"Nigel…" Zelda said. Nigel turned to her. "Hey…"
"Zelda… I want to… I need to…" Nigel stuttered. "I…"
"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WIN THIS!" The machine screamed. A hatch from the mechanic monster opened and someone burst out of it. It was the same person in a tight red body suit but without the mask.
"She looks like Zelda." Cree said, staring at her with shock.
"Who the hell are you?" Nigel snapped. "Why are you posing as my cousin?"
"I am not posing as your stupid weak cousin. I am your cousin." She snapped. "I am from the Nega-Universe."
"Negative Zelda… I shouldn't have known." Nigel said.
"Can someone tell me what is going on here and why there is another me?" Zelda asked.
"There is another world but the opposite of ours. It is called the Nega-Universe." Chad said. "She is from that world."
"So you…" Zelda said, turning to her. "You were the one that took my cousin's friends. You were the one that hurt him."
"Aww… Are you mad at me?" Negative Zelda teased. Johnny and Richard were about to attack but she blast them. They froze by her blast. "You didn't think I forgot about you two." She also blasted the others. "I didn't forget about any of you."
"What do you want?" Nigel snapped. "Why are you so obsessed on getting Zelda?"
"She is in the way of my plans and I want her gone." Negative Zelda said. "I am going to create the perfect world but I can't do that if my positive version of myself is here."
"That is not going to happen." Chad said. "You are not going to hurt her."
"We are going to defeat you no matter what you throw at us." Nigel said.
"Oh I love you. You are far more better than my cousin back home." Negative Zelda said. "But it is pathetic really that you have to protect her. You two are wasting your time protecting a weakling like her." Negative Zelda said, giggling. "How pathetic..." She pulled out two katana. "But I am going to kill her."
"Nigel, cover me and protect Zelda." Chad said.
"Fine…" Nigel said. Chad raced towards her and swung his staff and her she caught it with her blade and smiled.
"So you must be my boyfriend. I have a Chad back home as well." She said, pushing him away. She swung her blade towards him but he dodged it in time. "He was weak just like my positive self."
"Zelda is not weak." Chad said, fighting her viciously around the field. They were fast that it was hard for the others to watch them.
"Stop lying to yourself. It must be tiresome to protect a weakling like her." Negative Zelda said, licking her lips as she fought him. "You should join me instead."
"Sorry but I am not into bitches like you." Chad said.
"Feisty… I love it…" Negative Zelda said, blowing him a kiss. She started shooting him with her freeze ray but Chad kept dodging it. "STOP MOVING! LET ME HIT YOU!" Then she was hit on the head harshly by a gumball. She turned and found Nigel. "I will deal with you later punk." Nigel stuck out his tongue. He kept on shooting her and it irritated her even more. "THAT'S IT! YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!" She raced towards them but Chad blocked her path. "MOVE!"
"I am your opponent." Chad said, swinging his staff towards her. She flew to the other side of the football field and into the stands. "Nigel, get her out of here. I will buy you some more time."
"Chad, I am not leaving you." Zelda said.
"There is no time to argue." Chad snapped. "Go…" Nigel grabbed her hand.
"He is right. You have to get out of here." Nigel said.
"But…"
"If anything happens to you, I will never forgive myself." Chad said, kissing her forehead. "Please go…" She was holding back tears and nodded her head. She raced away with her cousin but they were trap. "What the…"
"I put a barrier around here so she won't be leaving any time soon." A voice said. They turned and found Negative Cree. Negative Cree was not the cool teenage beauty. She was more like the nerd. "I will not let any of you escape."
"Great…" Chad said, turning to Zelda. I promise next time, I will protect you from danger. He let out a sigh when he heard a loud sound across the field. I am going to keep that promise even with my own life.
"YOU ARE GOING TO FUCKING PAY!" Negative Zelda screamed. "I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU ASSHOLE!"
"Man this Zelda has a temper." Chad said.
"YOU ARE GOING TO DIE HERE!"
"Mistress, please control your temper." Negative Cree said. "This is not part of the plan. We have to focus on capturing your positive counterpart."
"Fuck off Nerd, I am trying to do that but there are always pests in the way." Negative Zelda said, walking out the stands.
This is bad. We can't escape. Nigel thought.
I guess I have no choice but to take both of them down. Chad thought, gripping his staff. I know I can do it. He turned to his friends and found them still frozen in time. I need to free them but how? He turned back to Negative Zelda. That device on her wrist, if I destroy it probably they might go free. "Nigel, I guess we are going to fight alongside each other after all."
"I don't like the idea too but we have no choice." Nigel said, grabbing Johnny's weapon. He now had metal boxing gloves and smile. "We both have someone to protect."
"Don't get in my way though." Chad said.
"You wish…" Nigel said, standing beside him. "So I believe we are aiming at the device on her wrist."
"Yup, so try to keep up." Chad said. Chad raced towards her.
"Oh, you still want to play." Negative Zelda said. She swung her blade but Chad leaped in the air. "What the…" Little did she know, Nigel was in front of her, launching a powerful punch…
"LOOK OUT MISTRESS!" Negative Cree screamed, pushing her away. She took the hit and flew deeper in the stands. Negative Cree was unconscious.
"You are lucky your friend saved you." Nigel said. Then she started laughing. "What's so funny?"
"Friends? Who needs them? She is only a tool to my dream." Negative Zelda said.
"What? How can you say such things? Do you even care about her at all?" Chad snapped.
"No, she is nothing to me just like you two." Negative Zelda said, smiling evilly.
"I hate people like you." Nigel said. "I hate people that discard others like trash. Who does that? Do you even care of what they did for you?"
"Don't get all emotionally. I am not like that weakling over there. Being feared is the only away to get power, to be in control." Negative Zelda said. "I will create my own perfect world and be in control."
"Then you must be very alone to say something like that…" Zelda said.
"You don't have the right to talk to me. You are weak. You wouldn't survive in my world." Negative Zelda snapped. "I AM GOING TO GET MY WAY NO MATTER WHAT!" They started fighting and it seems that Chad and Nigel had her but in the end, Chad was cut on the shoulder and Nigel was about to be stabbed. "YOU ARE DEAD KID!" Nigel didn't have time to dodge it and Chad couldn't make it.
"NIGEL, MOVE AWAY!" Chad snapped.
"This is it… I am sorry everyone…" Nigel said, accepting his fate and closing his eyes. I couldn't even save my team… However, he didn't meet her sharp blade. What the… What's going on?
"ZELDA!" Chad screamed. Nigel opened his eyes and found his cousin, shielding him. She was stab on the lower ribs. Blood gushed out of her body but she still kept that smile.
"Zelda…" Nigel said, shaking. How did she? She took the blow for me? Negative Zelda pulled out the blade out of her body. Zelda collapsed on top of Nigel. Nigel touched her face, slapping lightly. "Zelda, please stay with me… Please stay…" He started crying. "Why did you save me? That blade was for me not you. Why did you?"
"I can finally protect you little cousin." Zelda said.
"And here I thought I was going to take a long time to kill you." Negative Zelda said. "This was too easy." She lifted her blade in the air. "Goodbye…"
"NO!" Chad screamed, tackling her down. He used this chance to destroy the device and his friends were free from their prison.
"DAMN YOU!" Negative Zelda snapped, pushing him away. "YOU WILL PAY!" She disappeared without a trace.
"ZELDA!" Chad screamed, falling on his knees and putting pressure on her wound. This is bad. She is losing a lot of blood. "Babe, please don't…"
"Gwen, call an ambulance and Maurice call Zelda's father. I will call my father to be her doctor." Cree said.
"Right…"
"Nigel… Chad… thank you for protecting me…" She said, smiling weakly. She then cupped Nigel's face. "Thank you for letting me protects you." Her eyes slowly close shut and her hand dropped.
"ZELDA, WAKE UP… PLEASE WAKE UP!" Nigel screamed, grabbing her hand. "I DIDN'T GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO PROTECT ME!" He cried even more when she didn't open her eyes. "Zelda…"
"BABE, PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES!" Chad screamed, cupping her face. "Please…" His tears dripped on her face and still her eyes didn't flutter open."
"ZELDA!"