Cursed #3

"You've got some nerve..."

"It's good to see you too, Sarah".

"You've got some real fucking nerve, you know that?"

"Well, you've told me multiple times now so yes, I'm starting to get the idea..."

Sarah walked up to Speedfreak, who had taken off his mask to see her. She looked at him with abject anger in her eyes.

"Four years. FOUR YEARS you've been gone".

"I would've called".

"But you didn't. And I waited for you. We ALL waited for you. We thought you were dead..."

Speedfreak sighed.

"I know. And I'm sorry".

Sarah shook her head.

"Do you know what the worst thing about this is? You just said you were sorry, trying to pass it off as honest, when we all know you're not. You're not sorry at all and we all know it. So don't treat us like we're stupid, Jody".

"Then what do you want from me?"

"An explanation! One minute you're mourning Alicia and Lucy, then the next you go after Speed-Demon and we never see you again. So I want an explanation as to where you were. AND IF YOU LIE TO ME SO HELP ME I WILL MAKE SURE YOU GET SENT TO HELL WHEN YOU FINALLY DIE!"

"I can't tell you right now".

"Bollocks. Josh told me my dad was involved".

Speedfreak looked over at Karma.

"YOU TOLD HER!?"

"How else was I supposed to get her to help?"

Speedfreak puts his head in his hands. 

"Thinking of a lie to tell?"

"Nope. I'm wondering how badly Karma's going to attack me when he finds out...I've lied to him too..."

Karma looks confused.

"You've what now?"

Speedfreak sighs.

"The bit about looking for Speed Demon was true. So was seeing your dad, Sarah. That was true. What I didn't tell you was that there were many more of our villains all preparing something. Teaming up to take us down. In the largest attack of its kind to date".

"WHY DID YOU NOT SAY ANYTHING!?"

"I never found out specifics. And even if I did, this is Speed-Demon. They'd always be one step ahead of us!"

"Who was there?"

"Various"

"Tell us, Jody..."

Speedfreak sighs.

"Speed-Demon, BodyBuilder. Timeman, Energie, Fairie, Slipshod and Fool's Gold. However, others turned up later. Fleshwound, Lifeforce, Cyberpunk...and Doctor Eureka".

Miss Invincible steps forward.

"What about Cosmos?"

Speedfreak shook his head.

"As far as I'm aware, he's still in Darkside Prison". 

Miss Invincible looks relieved. Sarah looks confused.

"And my Dad". 

"The only good piece of intelligence I could get was that your dad was a target on their list. Presumably because of what happened a few years ago!"

Sarah looks uneasy. Karma steps forward.

"What about the spiel you gave me about the global civil war thing?"

"That's true from what I understand. All I lied to you about is not knowing who was involved".

Sarah slaps Speedfreak. After a few moments, she slaps him continually.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! THE ONE PERSON I THOUGHT I COULD COUNT ON AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!?"

"BECAUSE THEY WOULD'VE KILLED YOU IF YOU WERE WITH ME!"

"I CAN'T DIE!"

"YES YOU CAN!"

Sarah stops and steps backward.

"I can...I can die?"

Speedfreak takes a moment.

"During one of the meetings I was able to bug, you came up in conversation. Speed-Demon claimed you couldn't be killed which made you a difficult variable. But Fairie then said that if your head was removed from your shoulders, if enough nerves in your neck were severed, you would die".

Sarah thinks.

"So they want to behead me?"

Sarah turns to her right where Frank stands.

"Frank...did you know this...?"

Frank looks sheepish. He did.

"Is there anyone I can trust anymore?"

Speedfreak steps forward.

"You can still trust me, Sarah..."

"NO I FUCKING CAN'T. YOU RAN AWAY. YOU LOST MY TRUST THE MOMENT YOU RAN OFF AND DIDN'T COME BACK. I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD FOR FOUR YEARS AND I'VE DONE PRETTY WELL WITHOUT YOU SO FUCK YOU JODY!"

"You call getting arrested doing 'pretty well'? Thirteen arrests in two years? That's not the Sarah I helped raise!"

"WELL MAYBE YOUR SARAH IS DEAD, HUH?"

Everyone takes a moment. Eventually, Sarah steps forward once again.

"We could argue forever. But Doctor Eureka could still do his worst in that time. So we'll work together this time. But then, when we win, we will talk more seriously about what happens next. Sound good?"

Everyone else nods.

*****

A fairground. Children are playing and enjoying themselves. The rides are packed with children. They're having the time of their lives.

A man stands next to one ride with boxes of something. Small spheres that glow yellow. Every so often, the man will stop a child and ask them if they want a toy. The child will agree and will take a yellow sphere home. None the wiser. Not questioning what's in it or what it does. It just lights up. And children like things that light up. They'll take them home and put them in a position where they can see it until they fall asleep. Quite ingenious really. The man smiles as more and more children claim a free glowing sphere. Again, asking no questions, just asking and receiving. The man smiles more as they all go. All the spheres are gone. This man is Doctor Eureka. And you can bet he has a plan...

*****

Miss Invincible flies a few circuits of the city trying to find anything that could point to Doctor Eureka but she can't find anything so far. Back at the police station; Sarah, Speedfreak and Karma attempt to find anything online that could point to his whereabouts. Sarah checks her phone for updates.

"I hate this city".

"Oh, come on, Daybourne isn't too bad!"

"You don't live here, Jody. You're a Trillingham boy".

"I'm an Eden boy".

Karma interjects.

"I live in Newton. I trump both of you".

"Newton's paradise compared to Daybourne".

"Joe never complained!"

"Joe moved away!"

Sarah continues to check. She sees something.

"The Daybourne Echo are reporting children getting glowing spheres at the fair. Apparently, this guy was just giving them out for free".

Sarah shows Speedfreak and Karma her phone, which has a picture of the sphere. They look confused.

"What a monstrosity! Why do kids like the weirdest things?"

"Pass".

Sarah checks some more. As she does, Miss Invincible comes through on the comms.

"Jody?"

"Reading you, Elsie, what's up?"

"I'm noticing a chemical readout near the fairground. Do we think that could be him?"

"Mystery spheres and a chemical readout all coming from the fairground? Worth checking out, right?"

Speedfreak puts his mask back on.

"Race you..."

He vanishes in a blaze of lightning. Sarah and Karma look unimpressed.

"I will save him a spot in hell if he continually does that..."

Speedfreak returns for a moment, picks up Sarah and dashes off again. Karma is left on his own at the police station.

"Ok. I'll wait here then..."

*****

Doctor Eureka starts to walk away from the fairground, carrying empty boxes. He has an evil smirk on his face after realising that his plan is close to succeeding. As he does, Miss Invincible lands just ahead of him. She looks at him unimpressed.

"Ah. Miss Invincible. What a lovely surprise. You're a bit far from Plymouth?"

"I came here all the way to see you, Eureka. What are you doing at a fairground? And why can I sense chemicals around you?"

"I'm a scientist. I'm sure you can do the math. Even you with your brute force!"

"Everyone knows you. You always do things intentionally. So what's the plan this time?"

"Nothing that can be solved with brute force..."

Another voice can be heard in the distance.

"THEN HOW ABOUT SPEED?"

The boxes Eureka were holding get removed from him after a flash of lightning appears in front of him. A second later, the boxes are in a recycling bin and Speedfreak is standing next to Miss Invincible. Eureka smiles.

"Ah! Speedfreak! I'd heard rumours you were back in town. 4 years out of it, huh? Must be a bit rusty?"

Speedfreak smirks.

"Prepared to find out?"

Speedfreak gets ready to put him down when Eureka reveals a control switch.

"Ah, ah, ah...not so...fast, Speedy..."

Speedfreak stands at ease but still observing his every move.

"This is a control switch. It controls over 150 chemical weapons across the entire city of Daybourne. Some kids liked the spheres I made so I gave them to them. They unwittingly took back 150 bombs to all the corners of the metropolis and now, I get to blow them up. But, because I like a bit of fun first, I've put them on a countdown. Even with your speed and your brute force, you can't stop them..."

Speedfreak and Miss Invincible look at each other in horror as Eureka laughs. After a few moments, Eureka is hit around the head with something and falls to the ground. Sarah can be seen behind him with a piece of wood. She chuckles.

"I love it when they drop their guard. Don't you?"

They smile for a moment until the control unit beeps. A countdown of two minutes starts.

"Shit..."

"It was a dead man's switch!"

"Jody...I'm sorry..."

"It's ok, no one knew!"

"We have two minutes to get all the bombs and get them away!"

"Even with my speed that isn't possible!"

"Or my speed and flight!" 

"We wouldn't even know where to start!"

They think for a moment. Sarah has an idea first.

"I can handle the knowing where they are...I have access to the land of the dead, remember? I can ask them to look. Infinite eyes, everywhere, at once!"

Speedfreak smiles.

"Good thinking, kiddo. But how do we get all of them at once?"

"Can't you Quantum Jump?"

"I'll miss the locations when they come through...unless..."

Speedfreak thinks for a moment.

"...I can do that. I can be everywhere at once. Let's do it!"

Miss Invincible looks concerned.

"I'll get to the TV station and alert people to the danger!"

Miss Invincible flies into the night sky and towards the TV station. Sarah looks at Speedfreak.

"What are you going to do?"

"Oh, only something that will endanger the very fabric of time itself. I'm going to mess with time so much that Akara and her daughter may feel ill. But I can't think of anything else. Trust me..."

"...I'm starting to..."

Speedfreak smiles.

"Akara, you're going to kill me for this, but I require access to your greatness..."

A portal opens up and Speedfreak runs into it. It disappears. Sarah closes her eyes and connects with the land of the dead.

"Souls, I need your help. I need you all to descend on every house, flat and residential accommodation in Daybourne city. Many lives depend on this..."

*****

Speedfreak runs through the fabric of time itself and closes his eyes. He thinks for a moment projects it through time.

"Calling all Speedfreaks...I need your assistance. The city of Daybourne depends on this. If you can hear this, request a portal and meet me in the Akara!"

Speedfreak opens his eyes for a moment and sees the fabric of time run past him. After a few moments, a figure appears in front of him. A woman. She looks terrified.

"Jody! You need to listen to me!"

"What the hell!?"

"SPEED-DEMON WAS MORE THAN ONE STEP AHEAD! HE'S BEEN MANIPULATING US ALL THIS WHOLE TIME! EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED TO US SINCE WE WERE YOUNG, IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. HE CHANGED HISTORY TO FIT HIS OWN GOALS AND NOW THE UNIVERSE IS FIGHTING BACK!"

"WHO ARE YOU!?"

"YOU'LL MEET ME SOON. BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT NONE OF THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. POLARIS, DOCTOR EUREKA AND THE CHEMICAL BOMBS, THE WATCHERS, IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! YOU NEED TO FIND THE INITIAL PARADOX AND COUNTERACT IT. ALL OF OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT!"

Another voice can be heard from the image.

"MARION, SHE'S DYING! YOU NEED TO HURRY UP!"

"YOU NEED TO GO BACK! YOU NEED TO GO BACK! FIND ME, FIND JESSICA, FIND EVERYONE TIME SENSITIVE AND STOP TAMARIND WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"JESSICA! SPEAK TO ME! JESSICA!"

The figure looks back to something Speedfreak can't see.

"Is that my voice!?"

The figure vanishes. Before he has time to think about it, a number of different versions of him appear in the timeline and run alongside him. He smiles at them all, nods and carries on running. In total, 20 versions of Speedfreak appear. They run out of the portal next to Sarah. Sarah opens her eyes and looks around.

"...well, shit..."