Lights From the Abyss

A story including all site members who want to be in it! It is superhero themed, but has a darker twist to it. Post here if you wanna be in, and your power, plus any other details.

Okay! Here's a preview of the prologue!

Prologue
"We need to do something about this Arlen! You agree with me, right Drako?"

20 years ago...

Pow! "Finally! You're going down Dragon!" Eclipse raised his fist and was about to hit Dragon when someone burst through the door and shot him. "Agh! Wha-?" Eclipse fell to the floor, the same as every other hero in the room.
The last thing he heard was Dragon say, "Thank you, General," and the General's answer.
"It was no problem. By the way, the President is ready to see you again now."

Prologue
"We need to do something about this Arlen! You agree with me, right Drako?"

20 years ago...

Pow! "Finally! You're going down Dragon!" Eclipse raised his fist and was about to hit Dragon when someone burst through the door and shot him. "Agh! Wha-?" Eclipse fell to the floor, the same as every other hero in the room.
The last thing he heard was Dragon say, "Thank you, General," and the General's answer.
"It was no problem. By the way, the President is ready to see you again now."

Now...

"I dunno, Ian."

3 days ago...

Boom! Drip! Drop! Zap! Thunder, rain, and lightning sounded. "We should get home," I said.
"Agreed," my friends Eddie, Arlen, and Drako said in unison. We quickly walked through Times Square. Boom! The sound of thunder rung through the area.
"The lightning's near!" someone yelled, and everyone ran. Except we weren't fast enough. If we were, the whole world may be different. But we weren't, and the lighting struck the giant neon sign on the nearest building. As it hit the floor, the very ground shook. Buildings fell, and the rest of the lightning shocked the whole pile on top of the group. Then, things went still. Very still. An hour later, the storm was over. And miraculously, I opened his eyes. "What happen- ah! It hurts!" My eyes adjusted to the light and I looked around. There were piles of rubble and concrete scattered everywhere, including a big sharp piece jabbed not far above my head. Then my eyes turned to the side, and beside me, still out cold, lying there was one of my best friends, Arlen McCool. After a while, she woke up.
"Ugh... what happened?"
"Buildings fell on us..."
"And we're alive, how?"
"I have no idea whatsoever."
"What does it matter? We'll never be able to move all of this rubble, even with our combined strength."
"We have to try, we were given this chance for a reason."
I stood up, and pushed up on the rubble above me. To my surprise, before Arlen even got there, I pushed the rubble up, over, and onto the ground.
"Did you just, b-but how?"
"I don't know..."

Chapter 1
"I agree with you."
"Me too."

3 days ago...

I dug, and dug, throwing the random pieces of anything that was in my way back.
"Ugh... there's gotta be an end to this somewhere," Arlen said, almost annoyed.
"Wait... I think I hear something."
The next piece of concrete fell down, but Ian didn't even touch it. A blast of darkness flew straight at Arlen.
"Eek!" She turned into a piece of a building, identical to the one that was above earlier. The blast went above the now concrete Arlen. She transformed back. "Whoa."
"Ian, Arlen?"
"Drako, Eddie?"
"You're alive?" We all asked in unison.
"We have powers now..." Drako said.
"I can control the weather, that's how the storm stopped, and Drako can control darkness," Eddie said.
"I also have telekinesis Eddie!"
"Well sorry, Drako!"
"I guess we have powers too, I have super strength and Arlen can shapeshift."
"Wait... did you just shriek Arlen?"
"Uhhh... n-Damn! It might be past curfew we gotta go!" Arlen yelled.
"But how do we get out?" Cookie asked.
"Well, we must be in the middle, so we each started near the side, so just go the other way I guess..."
So, we walked, and walked, and finally saw a light.
"Light!"
"Wait, light... that means... it's already morning."
Shing! The sound of a sword could only mean one thing. A fight. So, we ran outside, and standing before us was a girl that looked about 16... taking on the government troops.

Now...

"I guess you're right, Ian."

Nice job Ian! Can't wait for what happens next.

Chapter 2
"I still say no."

2 days ago...
The girl flipped up and slammed into one solider's face, and stabbed the one behind her through the heart. The squad of men surrounded her, and we knew that she couldn't stop them.
"Get outta here, guys. Now, I got this."
"Are you sure, Ian?"
"No. But it's our only hope now run!
"Fine."
When I was sure they were out of sight, I focused all of his weight to his right foot, and stomped on the ground. Powered with superstrength, the ground shook. While all of the commotion went on, the girl was able to jump away. I followed, my legs propelling me higher than ever. The girl had almost reached a jump of my height. She must have powers too, I thought. Then, as soon as I was sure we were far enough away, I spoke.
"Hello."
"Hey."
"Who are you?"
"Call me Tifa, Tifa Twilight."
"I'm Ian."
"You have some type of power? Not many people could do what you just did."
"Super strength. You?"
"I don't have powers."
"B-b-but how did you do that then?!"
"Training..."
"Training?"
"Look, I don't have time now. Meet me at Central Park, at the bench by the fountain in two days. Bring your friends, too."
Before I could answer, she was gone.

Now...

"C'mon, Drako..."
"Remember what happened last time we used our powers?"

2 days ago...

I got to my house as fast as I could, slipped in the window, and went to sleep.

Now...

"Well, yeah, but that was different!"

Chapter 3
"Really? How?!"

1 day ago...

"Ian?!"
"What.. but... it's Saturday... no..."
"You're alive! Thank god you're-you're alive!"
By then, I had fully woken up and realized who I was talking to and what was going on."
"Mom!"
"I was so worried about you, what happened?!"
"We...." I began, not knowing what to say... "got... lost... in the rain... yeah... and... had to find somewhere to... wait what about the curfew penalty?!"
"Don't worry. We got lucky, and a nice inspector came... he understood, and only asked for a small amount of money. No worries, Kyle and Chloe are safe."
"Thank God... I'm so sorry, mom."
"It's okay, now get dressed, everyone's worried sick about you!"
I still couldn't help but worry that she was lying as we walked down the hallway.

Now...

"I- I don't know..."

1 day ago...

Curfew.... oh how I hated it. I still do. When a kid is late, before 9:30, when the inspector comes in... they take a brother or sister away... for their own use... the government I mean. Coal mines... agents... oil... slaves... anything... the worst thing is that they take the little ones, so they can brainwash them even more. I heard about a better time once. I wish we were in it. I ran into our small living room to find that my little brother and sister, they're twins, Kyle and Chloe, still there.
"IAN!" they yelled in unison (they tend to do that a lot).

We spent the whole day together as a family, but without dad. He has to work the whole day, but mom is a house mom, but that doesn't mean she doesn't work. We live in a small, 4 room apartment, with the kitchen and living room in one. The rooms are all cramped, and we don't have much space, so my mom cleans nearby apartments. So, at the end of the day, I went to bed, and remembered the meeting the next day.

Now...

"See?! You don't even have a backup point."

(Not much action this chapter, but a lot of cool stuff next chapter!)

Wow thas really good so far- reminds me of a book called Gone, you might like it.

Chapter 4
"B-but... please..."

A few hours earlier...

I rounded everyone up and we started walking to Central Park. We walked, almost silently, until Drako muttered one word.
"Jason..."
"What about him?" I asked.
"T-they took him..." Drako started to cry.
"The inspectors?!" Arlen asked.
"Y-yes... he's gone... and it's all my fault!"
Arlen was fine, we live in the same building, so we have the same inspectors, but Drako's little brother Jason had been taken.
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Look, Drako..." Arlen began, "there was nothing you could do..."
We spent the rest of the walk in silence. When we reached the bench, I saw Tifa and greeted her.
"I want to show you something," she said. A boy watched suspiciously from the shadows. Tifa kicked the ground, and a small hatch opened. A second later, the boy was gone. As the group walked into the area, a small puppy followed.




Chapter 4 to be continued in LFtA: The Conversation!

LFtA: The Conversation
"Look, a doggy!" Tifa said, picking up the puppy.
"Down to business," I say. I explain the events of everything so far to Tifa.
Then, I turn to them all and began to speak.
"I have a plan to change the world! I heard once of a time with no curfew, no dictator government. We will fight to get that time back! And our first order of business will be to find out as much as we can about this past!"
"I'm not so sure, Ian..." Arlen said.
"We need to do something about this Arlen! You agree with me, right Drako?" I ask.
"I dunno, Ian," he replies.
"I agree with you," Tifa says.
"Me too," Eddie adds.
"I guess you're right, Ian," Arlen says, hearing all of the others comments seemed to change her mind.
"I still say no," Drako says, silencing everyone but me.
"C'mon, Drako..."
"Remember what happened last time we used our powers?"
"Well, yeah, but that was different!"
"Really? How?!"
He's staring to make me angry, but I guess what makes me angry is the fact that I don't have an answer.
"I- I don't know..."
"See?! You don't even have a backup point."
"B-but... please..." I start to beg.
"No. I'm sorry, but-"
Tifa's shriek cuts off whatever he was going to say next. I look at her, and I see where the puppy was, is a 10 year old boy.

Oooh I like how you use the time frames to show what will happen later in the story. A bit confusing until you read the conversation, but it's a really cool technique and I can't wait for the next chapter!

Chapter 5
I stare at the boy standing in front of me, and wonder who he is and what's going on. I hesitate for too long, and the boy starts to run. The trapdoor bursts open, but it's closed shut by the time we reach it.
"Look, we should go, we don't wanna be late again," Drako says.
"Okay, but I'll be back here tomorrow, the boy may return," I say.
"Me too," Tifa adds.
"Then I guess we're tagging along," The others say. I suddenly remember something.
"Tifa, what is this place anyway?"
"It's where I train. I've been planning to do what we're gonna do for a long time."

We all walk home, and go to sleep. The next day, we come back to the same spot. No one is there.
The day after that, we go to the same spot, and no one is there.
The third day, we finally see the boy, and he's with a man that looks about the age of 20.
"Who're you?" I ask.
"Name's Michael... and I think you know the boy..." The man says.
I get a closer look, and see that it is my own younger brother, Kyle.
"Kyle?"
"No time for that now. Sit down, I have a story to tell you," Michael begins, "I was born just as this dark age started, but all information about the Age of Technology was destroyed. The story I am about to tell you dates back 7 years ago, when I was 13 years old."

7 years ago: Michael's 13th birthday...

Michael was oblivious to the outside world, and just partied on his 13th birthday. He did everything he wanted, but his watch broke in the middle of the day. When he got home, he realized it was past 10:00, and almost 1 hour past curfew. His five year old sister had been taken. He swore revenge on the government who did this, and set off.

6 years later...

Michael, somehow, gained the power of a "death touch" by a method he did not tell anyone. When Kyle met him, he was scared, and a his powers activated, as he ran away in dog form. Michael saw the transformation, and chased after him. He explained his plans and Kyle, going under the codename "Dawg", has helped him ever since.

Now...

"Kyle, I need to talk to you," I say.

Chapter 6
"Look, you can't do this," I say.
"Do what?" Kyle asks.
"Risk your life like this! You're too young, Kyle!"
"No I'm not!"
"Then I'll tell mom and dad!" With that comment, he runs away, sobbing. "Kyle..."

* * *

"Maybe you were too hard on him..." Eddie says.
Kyle hasn't spoken to me since yesterday morning. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him all day.
"Damn it! No... no... no!" I yell.
"What I-" Eddie begins.
I'm already running. I know what happened. He ran away.
But where could he be?!
There's only one person he would tell. Chloe! I think, of course he would tell his twin sister
"I hope..." I mutter under my breath. I run home as fast as I can.

* * *

The door bursts open and I run inside of Chloe's room.
"Ian..." she says.
"Chloe, did-"
"Where's Kyle?" she asks.
"I- he- ran-" I start to cry. A few seconds later I'm sobbing. "I-I'm sorry- I-I couldn't stop him- he- he ran away and it's all my fault!"
"Ian... we'll find him, I promise." Somehow, my sister always shows light, even in the darkest times.
"B-but where could he be?"
"He always did say he wanted to see The Ruins..." She says, a smile coming on to her face.

Meanwhile...

A girl stands outside a coffee shop, almost as if she's waiting for something. The girl has long, brown hair, blue eyes, a black tank top, a black and white checkered shirt, and a leather bracelet. A boy runs out of the shop. It looks like he's hiding something. The girl raises her hand, and darkness blasts out. It blasts right at the boy's head, but he suddenly disappears, and in him place is a small dog. The dog runs, and the girl chases it.

Major turn of events. I actually didn't plan the chapter to go that way. xD

Chapter 7
ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The train speeds into the station. I jump down from the top of the train. Hopefully no one saw. The people around here look higher class. It shouldn't be hard to find Kyle, if he is here. I look around for Chloe, who was small enough to hide in the inside of the train. I see her, waiting by the stairs as planned. We run down to The Ruins. The Ruins are the birthplace of, as we call it, "The Dark Age". No one knows how it was created, except for the fact that it happened here. I'm not sure how they don't know, seeing as some people are over age 20. I look around. On a piece of rubble, there seems to be some kind of symbol. I start to clean the dust off of it.
"Here, let me," Chloe says. She places her hand on the symbol and her blue eyes turn lighter, and lighter, and lighter, until they become white.
"Chloe! What's going on?!"

20 years ago...

Pow! "Finally! You're going down Dragon!" Eclipse raised his fist and was about to hit Dragon when someone burst through the door and shot him. "Agh! Wha-?" Eclipse fell to the floor, the same as every other hero in the room.
The last thing he heard was Dragon say, "Thank you, General," and the General's answer.
"It was no problem. By the way, the President is ready to see you again now."

Now...

Chloe starts to float.
"Chloe! Answer me!"

Inside another...

"Sit down, child, I have much to tell you," Says a mysterious figure, probably a woman.
"Where are we? What was that vision?" The small girl with blond hair and blue eyes says.
"We are in your mind, Chloe."
"Who are you? How do you know my name?"
"That will all be revealed in time. For now, I have much to tell you in a short time. The vision you just saw was from the past. 20 years in the past to be exact. You are... connected to the individual called "Eclipse" in it, in a way I cannot reveal yet. That was the event that caused your "Dark Age". You must find the secrets to your past. Any record, area, or artifact related to it will activate one of these visions. You may even get a chance to talk to me again. But for now, I must go."
"But I have so many questions to ask you!"
"I'm sorry, but now, the real world calls for you."

Back out in The Ruins...

Chloe floated down to the floor.

Chapter 8
Chloe's eyes pop open. "Ian, I just saw a vision of the past." Chloe starts to explain what just happened to her.

Just as she finishes, a small puppy runs into the ruins. A girl is running behind it. Suddenly, the girl starts to sing. A nearby man suddenly turns around and leaves.
"Cover your ears," I whisper to Chloe. We cover our ears, and I see that my prediction was correct. Everyone in the range of the noise left the ruins.
"Hypnosis," I mutter, and pull Chloe behind some debris. She looks around to make sure everyone is gone, then sings something else. The puppy freezes. She starts singing a new song, and the blast opens up the ground. She grabs the puppy, and jumps down into the hole, which closes behind her.
"We need to follow them."
"Why?" Chloe asks.
"Look... Kyle and I, we have superpowers, mine is super strength, that I can use in any part of my body, and his is turning into a puppy. I think the puppy was him."
"And how are we gonna get in there?"
"That song power was just like strength." I jump up, and slam down on the same spot where the hole was. It opens up, and we jump down, the hole closing behind us. We're in some kind of base. The first room is empty, so we peak into the next room and watch quietly.

The girl unfreezes Kyle and he turns back to human form. Michael walks out.
"Good work, Zoe."
"Why'd you have Zoe capture me?!" Kyle asks, annoyed.
"I had to get you into the base, couldn't contact you and thought it was the best way."
"Well don't do it again!"
"Look, I saw that you ran away from home. You're making a mistake, you need to go back. And try talking with your brother, maybe he'll reconsider."
"No. I'm not going back there."

I can't stand it anymore and run into the room.
"Give me back my little brother right now!"
"I'm not going anywhere!" he yells. I run at him and try to grab him, but he turns into puppy form and runs through my legs. I put my sweatshirt hood on and follow him out of the base. Soon, we're out in the city. I quickly lose sight of him in the crowds, so I jump up onto a building. I spot him turning into an alleyway and jump down in front of him. The force knocks him to a nearby park. I follow him in one big leap. He's in human form, under a tree, crying.
"Please don't make me go.... don't-don't tell mom and dad..." He pleads, "please..."

Chapter 9
"Kyle..."
"Please... I want to help! I want to save the world, like you will."
"Fine. Two conditions. Under EVERY circumstance, I don't care if I'm going to die, get back home on time. And DON'T let mom and dad know."
"I won't. I promise."
"Fine, it's only fair since Chloe's comi-"
"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" he exclaims, and hugs me until he runs out of breath.

***

"So, an alliance?" Michael asks me.
"That's the idea," I say.
"Okay, we'll see how it goes, but Kyle can come here then."
"All right."
"So, I guess tomorrow we'll search for more of those artifact things," Chloe says, having already explained her vision to everyone.
"Okay."
"I have to go in the same direction as you guys, so I'll tag along for now," Zoe says.

Meanwhile...

In Times Square, stands a boy named Stewie, with a league of his own.

Meanwhile...

Outside the Empire State Building, government officials walk past the guards into their giant headquarters.

Meanwhile...

Inside an abandoned government building, villains prowl their secret base.

Meanwhile...

Ian and Zoe hide atop the subway, and Ian holds the puppy Kyle, while Chloe sneaks inside.

Chapter 10
The train car comes to an abrupt stop. I make sure no one is looking and jump off, with the puppy Kyle in my arms. I'm shocked by what's in front of me. A government officer is taking Chloe away. "No!"
I pull my hood over my head and run after him. He notices me, and starts to hover and fly away. I chase after him, but he's too fast.
"So, you want the girl that bad?" he flies up to the nearest building. "Well, government officials
do get insurance. How about mine? Back off or the girl dies!" He dangles Chloe off the rooftop. There's no time to spare. I leap at him, but I know there's no hope of getting to him in time. Suddenly, either I get faster, he gets slower or both, but I somehow reach him. He lets Chloe go, but she falls very slowly, and in a flash, something grabs her. It pulls her back up onto the roof. I grab the agent's shoulder and punch him in the face.
"Why do you have powers?"
"That's... classified."
"Where's your base?!"
"I'm- not telling you anything."
"Why are you here?"
"I said I'm not telling you anything."
Before I can punch him again, he pushes away and falls back. I know he can fly, but he doesn't, and falls to the street below.
"Why didn't he fly away?" I ask.
"I don't know," a man says.
"Who are you?"
"Name's Matthew Ganon, but call me Green or Matt. I saved your... sister, is it? Anyway, I have powers, like you. I can manipulate time, so I slowed her down, I slowed him down, I sped you up, and I slowed down gravity, allowing me to almost fly and catch her."
"Lucky you were in the area."
"Well, I'm a friend of Tifa's, she was looking for you."

* * *

"Ian! You'll never believe what I found out! The government is manipulating people's minds. It took away their memories of before the Dark Age, and replaced them. They also mind control some of their agents," Tifa exclaims
"That explains why the guy committed suicide."
I had already explained the events of the day to everyone.
"So, I say we split up into three teams," Green says, "One to find these "artifacts", one to find more info about the mind manipulation, and one to find out how the government agents are getting powers. Sound like a plan?"
"Yep," we all reply.

Kyle, Chloe, Eddie and I set off to look for the artifacts. Arlen and Drako team up with Zoe to find the source of the government powers, and Tifa and Green team up with Michael and set off to find out more about the mind manipulation.

Chapter 11
We get into "hero suits" as Tifa calls them, so no one can see are our identity. Mine is red and black, with a mask that covers from my eyes to my nose. We all set off.

* * *

"You think a library would be a good place to start?" Eddie jokes.
"You know... that actually might not be a bad idea," I say.
"What?! You do know I was kidding, right?!"
"Yeah... but think about it. Don't you always see government looking people enter libraries?"
"Now that I think about it, you're right," Eddie begins. "But how are we supposed to get into a library, let alone a government section? Only the rich people are allowed in."
"Simple. Although, we may need Arlen for this."
I take out my hunk-of-junk-excuse-for-a-cell-phone and call her.
"Arlen, we require your abilities."
"My group needs all of the members it can get, we're going into government land."
"Then take Eddie. We need a shapeshifter."
"Okay."

* * *

"I thought we were just going to a normal richie library," Arlen says, using our bad nickname for rich people.
"This is a richie library. The richie Library of Congress."
"Riiiight... so where exactly are we again?"
"D.C."
"So, we just wait for a government agent to come then beat him up?"
"Yep, pretty much."

* * *

After a while, a guy in a black suit walks by. I pull him into the alley and knock him out before he can see us. We take his suit, ID card, and anything else that he owns. Arlen puts the suit on and transforms into the man.
"Ready for the device?" I ask.
"Yep," she says. "The device" is something Green gave us that makes the breifcase the man had an infinite storage case that we can fit in. Arlen attaches the device, opens the case, and Chloe, Kyle, and I step inside. Inside the case, it's all just white, and we can float around.

Outside the case...

Arlen walked into the building in her disguise.
"ID please," the old woman at the counter asked.
Arlen showed her the ID card, and walked through many sensors which the device was set up to avoid, finally entering the library.

* * *

After hours of searching, Arlen still hadn't found anything. Then, she reached a book, and her ID card started to glow. A glowing slot opened on the book, and Arlen swiped her card through.

Inside the case...

I float around inside the case, until I stumble upon one of the man's papers. I stare wide-eyed at what it says.

Chapter 12
Arlen grabs the book, and pulls it down.

* * *

The suitcase opens and I grab the paper with me. Suddenly, we're in a dark room, with a couple of books around us. Arlen has already turned back to normal.
"Look at these things. They could tell us so many things." Arlen grabs a few.
"Wait... the government will find us if we take any." Suddenly, a bony hand grabs my shoulder. A chill runs down my spine.
"Do not be afraid. I see you are with a resistance, for now government agent would be your age." The old lady grabs a book. She pulls it and the wall opens up into a tunnel. "Go. My husband has copied all of the books. Tell him Maranda sent you now. Go now. We may meet again." The woman fades into the shadows. We walk down the tunnel until we reach a small... workshop of sorts.
"Miranda told us to tell you-"
"I know, I know," the old man running a machine of sorts said. He hands us a pile of papers, and points to the exit. "Run along now, there's a ladder out of this sewer tunnel around a few twists and turns. I know we shall meet again."
We leave.
"They sure had us off in a hurry," Arlen says.
"I dunno... something seemed... special about them," Chloe says.
"I think you're crazy," Jason says.
"I think she has a point," I say. We climb outside into the Seattle streets. "How are we supposed to get home from here?!"
"Simple. Us." Eddie flies to us. "We didn't find anything."
"We did," I show him the paper, "they're hunting heroes and stealing their powers!"
"This is bad! We gotta tell the others! They said they'd be at the Empire State Building."
We fly there as fast as we can. We reach the building. Crash! A sword flies out the 73rd window up, breaking the glass. Tifa's sword. Tifa, Green, and Michael, all in costume, jump out of the window. Green slows them down, and they land safely on the ground.
"Guys, up here!" They jump on the cloud Eddie is using to make us fly. Green speeds us up, and we make it away. Then, we explain everything that happened before heading home.

Chapter 13
I unwrap the bundle of papers, and am surprised to feel something not just made of paper in it. I pull out two books. There's a note on them.
Ian, in the past, these books brought joy to many people. Let them bring joy to you. Remember the lessons they teach you. They are the key to taking the government down. You have to think on these. My name is not important, but as you know, this is from the man who gave you the papers. I have no more time to write now, so I'll see you again.
How could he have been prepared? There's something strange about him. I pull the note off and read the title. "Winnie-the-Pooh" By A. A. Milne, Decorated by E. H. Shepard. The other book is by the same author and "decorator", but is named "The House at Pooh Corner". I open up the first one. The pages are thin, nicely cut, decorated, and beautiful. I've never seen anything like it. I carefully flip to the first page and start to read. Soon, I've finished both books. I hide them in the most hidden part of my desk. They were about a bear, named Winnie-the-Pooh. He has silly adventures, which I find strange. In the second book, they play a game called "Poohsticks", where they drop a stick in the river and it floats to the other side of the bridge. These are books for children, I remember seeing that in the books. Why did he want me to have it? What does this have to do with a key? We don't even have children's books nowadays. An idea sparks in my head. Green calls me.
"We're begging to track heroes, we'll tell you if we find anything."
"Okay."
"By the way, Happy Thanksgiving!"
"You too," I say, just as my mom calls me over for Thanksgiving dinner.

A/N: This chapter is very strange. But think about what Ian says after he reads them. That's the key.

Contest Winner: Arlen McCool: Chapter 12 Companion
Michael, Green, and Tifa were standing in the shadows of an alley across the street from the Empire State Building, watching as people entered and exited the building.

“What’s weird is that there doesn’t seem to be any guards, at least outside. You’d think a place that is supposed to be a government base would have better security.” Tifa commented.

“Oh I’m sure they do. But my guess is they know regular guards are not going to do the trick, not when there are people like us that have powers. They probably have some high tech stuff designed to stop us protecting the more important areas.” Green said.

“So how’re we even going to get in there?” Michael asked.

“Like this.” Green said. He crossed the street, slowing time around him to an almost complete stop. Green
walked up to the doors and grabbed a key card out of someone’s hand and swiped it across a scanner. The door popped open and Green signaled for Michael and Tifa to follow.
***


Once inside, they headed for the elevators and time started to return to its normal speed. Michael pressed the button for one of the elevators and the doors quickly slid open. They stepped inside, and the doors shut. There were buttons for floors L-33 and another Keycard scanner.

“Which floor guys?” Michael asked

“I assume that scanner is for access to higher floors.” Green said, and he swiped the card across the scanner. A panel opened above the scanner with buttons for floors 34-102.

“Great. But that still doesn’t answer my question,” Michael said. “Which floor?”

“Let’s try this one,” Green said, and he pressed the button for floor 73.

When the elevator arrived, the three seemed to be standing in some kind of lab.

“Whoa,” Tifa said. “What do you think they do in here?”

“My guess is that this is where they develop their mind control.” Green said.
***

Computers and cabinets lined the walls. On one side of the room a machine seemed to be mixing some kind of liquid in test tubes. Green walked over to one of the computers and began rapidly typing things in and Tifa walked over to one of the cabinets and opened it. Inside were a bunch of vials with a thick blue liquid in them. “Hey Green, what do you think these are?” She asked, holding up one of the vials.

Green looked up from the computers. “That,” he said, “might be a serum the Government Agents are using to control people. I’ll see what I can find on these computers, hacking into their mainframe now.”

Michael was looking through another cabinet. “I just found some more of those vials,” he said. “But the stuff inside these is red.”

“Check the machine.” Green said, not averting his gaze from the computer screen.

Michael walked over to the machine. It was mixing the red and blue liquids together, and then adding some kind of powder to it. “Looks like their mixing the two together and then adding something to it.” Michael said.

“And I just found out what it’s for,” Green said. “What’s in those vials are being mixed together with some kind of powder to form a mind control serum. It doesn’t say what the chemicals are or what the powder is. The names have been blacked out. But they’re planning on using the serum to make themselves an army of people with powers. The serum is going to make people mindless robots, incapable of feeling any emotion or sensation. They will feel no pain, no fear. They will be unable to think for themselves, and only exist to serve the Government. Then, when there is mass turmoil from the trouble this ‘army’ is causing, the Government will step in and call them back and act like the heroes. They will have world domination.”

“Oh my God,” Michael said. “We have to get this information back to base!”

“Yes. I’ve downloaded all this onto a-“Green was interrupted by the sound of footfalls from outside the door.

“Oh no!” Tifa exclaimed. “They know we’re here!”

“But how?!” Michael shouted

Green looked around and spots a camera in the corner of the room for the first time. “Fuck.” He said.

Lights From the Abyss Special
The Never Ending Battle
I sit down for thanksgiving dinner with my dad, my sister Chloe, and her twin Kyle. The turkey smells really good, and my mom sets it on the table. My hunk-of-junk-excuse-for-a-cell-phone rings.
"One second, let me take this," I say. I stand up and walk into my room. I answer the phone. "Hello?"
"Ian, this is Green," Matt "Green" Ganon says through the phone. "There's trouble in town. Big trouble."
"On Thanksgiving?! Do these people ever give us a break?!"
"No, it seems not. This is a never ending battle, and we have to stick it out to the finish."
"I can't leave my family on Thanksgiving!"
"Don't worry, I have a plan. Go back to dinner for about 5 minutes. Ask to go to the bathroom. I'm going to slow down the time in everywhere but Central Park from base. Luckily, the battle's here. It seems the government is trying to kidnap a powered person. I'll send everyone to meet you. Good luck! Green out!"
I do as Matt instructed and soon, I'm out the door. I meet Arlen, Drako, Eddie, Tifa, Michael, and Zoe there. I'm gonna have to explain to Kyle and Chloe why they couldn't come later.
I see not one but two people being chased by government agents in metal suits. The agents seem to have powers, as one is shooting plants out of his/her hands, and the other is shooting water. There is one boy and one girl running. A beam of water surges at the boy, but he looks at it, bored, and it suddenly turns back and hits the agent. The other agent shoots plants around the girl, but she yells something, and turkeys start pecking the vine. I dodge some of the other agent's water blasts and run up, hitting him. Tifa helps me take him down. Arlen turns her hand into a knife, and cuts through the plants. Cookie starts shooting rain to interfere with water blasts. Zeke helps Arlen by cutting the plants with a card. The water agent is pretty much down now, and Drako throws bits of metal from the his/her suit at the plant agent to distract him/her while Michael attacks him/her. The agent's rocket boots turn on, and (s)he rockets at the the turkey girl. The agent grabs her, and rockets away before any of us can catch him/her.
"No..." I say. "We lost them."
"Don't worry, we didn't," The boy says, "Turkey Girl wasn't real. I have the power to bend reality, so I made her to help me defeat them."
"One question... why the turkeys?"
"It is Thanksgiving, isn't it?"
"I guess. I'm Ian, by the way, Ian Koal."
"I'm Josh Chainheart, but call me Terror in the field."
"I guess I don't really have a hero name, I'll be Bruiser."
"Hi, I'm Arlen, and I guess I'll be Ghost as a hero name."
We all introduce ourselves to Josh and pitch in superhero name ideas. I head home, and the turkey is still warm on the table.

Chapter 14
In a meeting at base, I pull out the books.
"These were in the papers the man gave us."
"What are they?"
"Books for children. From back before the start of the Dark Ages. Nobody knew these even existed. They're beautiful. We need to show them to the public, show them what they've lost."
"One problem," Green began. "Why would the public listen to us?"
"They probably wouldn't," I say. "So we're gonna have to show them we're the saviors."
"Meaning stop random crimes?" Cookie asks.
"Yep."


* * *

We set out to the city. Everyone split up.
Riiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiing! The alarm of the bank goes off. I jump down off the building I'm on, and run inside. A man has bags being filled with money.
"Stop right there!" I yell.
"What makes you think you can stop me?" the robber asks.
"Why don't you come over here and find out?"
"Nah. But if you worked here, you'd be FIRED." He shoots fire at me.
"Oh, so that's how you wanna play, is it?" I slam the ground, creating a shockwave that knocks him off his feet. I run up, and knock him out, accidentally grabbing something off his chest. The police come in and arrest him, so I decide to head back to base and tell everyone what happened.


(Rather short but important)