Circles Of Life (1/6)

Detective Warren looks down at the body and tuts.

"The shopkeeper's name was Nurul Khan. 33 from Trillingham. Originally from Babylonia apparently. And he's another one".

PC Jenna Wilson stands next to him and looks horrified. Warren continues to monologue.

"Broken neck, seemingly a surprise attack and nothing stolen. Money's in the register, no stock taken it seems, it looks like he does this just for fun!"

Wilson looks up and sees a camera.

"Sir, there's a camera! We haven't had a camera before!"

Warren looks up with her and smirks.

"Well, well, well, it's worth a shot!"

******

Warren and Wilson sit in the camera room back at the station and observe the footage. They fast forward until the door opens on its own and the shopkeeper looks up from his paper.

"From here..."

They watch. They see the shopkeeper look around and then go back to the paper. As they do, they notice a figure suddenly appear behind him.

"Woah..."

They then see the struggle and the death of Khan. They then start to see the man grab something invisible and seemingly consume it. However, as he does, the camera starts to spark and ultimately break. Warren and Wilson look stunned as they see it. There's a slight pause before Wilson speaks up.

"I know it's against protocol...but might it be worth taking it to...them?"

Warren sighs and looks annoyed.

"It certainly looks like we'll have to..."

Warren gets up to walk out of the room. But Wilson stops him.

"Oh, don't forget, it's someone new now..."

Warren stops and doesn't turn back. He looks sad.

"Thanks for the reminder..."

He leaves the room.

******

"Laura, can we please focus on the task in hand?"

"THERE ARE MULTIPLE COPIES OF SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS UP HERE. GO DO IT YOURSELF!"

Jody sighs and puts his hand to his head. Mel stands next to him.

"You did put her in the biggest library in the universe, Jody..."

Jody walks back towards the fountain and sits on it.

"She does this. I can wait".

"HOLY CRAP IT'S THE FIRST EDITION! JODY! JODY! IT'S THE FIRST EDITION!"

"HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME!"

Mel laughs once more. Jody sighs.

"Jody, to be fair, you've pretty much spent the past two weeks solidly looking for Tragedy. Your constant looking won't bring Roberta back!"

"I know. But what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Well, Roberta was constantly busy, right? You said you'd read her logs?"

"She had to foil something most days".

"Then think of the past two weeks as the honeymoon period. Every honeymoon period has to end sometime!"

Jody sighs.

"I guess you're right!"

"Besides. You're, like, the fastest guy alive. There must be SOMETHING you can do to foil stuff. Heck, you could probably foil stuff before it happens!"

"That's not entirely possible, Mel".

"I'm new at this. Go easy on me".

They chuckle. As they do, Detective Warren walks into the Archive. He can visibly be seen. Jody, Laura and Mel notice. As they do, they assume defensive positions.

"What the!? Who are you!? How'd you get in here!?"

Warren looks at them and looks confused.

"Kids? Roberta replaced herself with...kids!?"

Mel looks offended.

"Kids!? I'll have you know I'm 12!"

"Good for you, Charlotte's Web".

Jody speeds forward.

"Who are you? And how do you know Roberta?"

Warren and Jody lock eyes.

"My name is Detective Peter Warren. Roberta Neave was my niece. And I worked closely with her. You must be the new one!"

Jody smiles a bit and holds out his hand.

"Jody Kent. Caretaker. The girl on the upper level is my twin sister, Laura, and this is my friend Mel".

Laura and Mel don't say hello. They remain cautious.

"So, Detective, what can we do for you, today?"

Warren looks cautious.

******

"Obviously, things in the world have been getting weirder for a long time. But, now we're in the 21st century, things seem to get even weirder. Sometimes, when I had a case that included something weird, I'd get Roberta involved. Seeing as that was her day job".

Laura interjects.

"And something 'weird' has just happened again?"

"Something like that..."

Jody, listening attentively, nods.

"What is it this time?"

Warren sighs.

"There have been 7 murders in as many weeks. All have the same MO. Snapped neck, no robbery, just a dead body".

"The Ripper-Snapper. I've seen the news reports".

"For ages we had no leads. Just a string of dead bodies. That is until last night. A shopkeeper called Nurul Khan was murdered. Only this time, we had store security footage..."

Warren pulls some stills and shows them. The team peruse them. Mel looks astounded.

"What's he grabbing? In the air there?"

Detective Warren shrugs his shoulders.

"I have absolutely no idea. There was nothing at the scene that suggested anything!"

Jody picks up the still of the man grabbing something and opening his mouth. Warren notices.

"That was the last clear still before the camera shorted out. This is why I came to you. Because a camera shorting out during this guys's behaviour? Suggests weird, right?"

Jody nods.

"In this one, the way his mouth is open, it looks like he's sucking something in. Or releasing something? Like a weird hoover?"

Jody thinks.

"Can we see the scene?"

Warren shakes his head vehemently.

"I can't allow children onto a crime scene! Are you insane!?"

Jody looks annoyed for a moment. But then he realises something.

"You wouldn't have to allow a child onto a crime scene...but you could allow a new...powered hero?"

Warren looks confused.

"...You what?"

******

PC Wilson returns to the crime scene and continues to look around for clues as to what happened. As she does, Warren returns.

"How did it go with...them...sir?"

"It went ok thanks, Wilson. They've sent for help!"

"Help? The Caretaker needs help?"

"They're new".

Suddenly, something whooshes in and stops next to them. They look and sees a figure in a blue suit with purple streaks across it. Wilson looks impressed.

"And, who might you be?"

Jody looks up and sees Wilson holding out her hand.

"You must be PC Wilson. I'm Jo...Speedfreak!"

"Speedfreak. Pleased to meet you. New on the scene?"

"Yes. But I've been sent by the Caretaker to assist you guys in your enquiries. So, this is the scene of the crime?"

"Yes. I don't know what you want to do in order to look around but..."

As Warren continues, Jody speeds around the crime scene and returns to his original position.

"I'm not seeing anything weird".

Warren looks shocked while Wilson looks amazed.

"In the camera footage, it shows the perpetrator holding something in the air or, possibly, consuming something. Did you see anything that could shed light on what that was?"

"No. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, Detective..."

Laura looks on as she remains invisible. She sees Jody and Warren talking to each other as she continues to look around as another pair of eyes. She looks around closely until she does an entire circuit. As she does, she sees something by the counter. A figure stands by the counter looking at her. It's not the same figure that killed the shopkeeper, but it's a figure. Laura freezes in fear as they lock eyes.

"Please...you can see us...you need to help us...the Veil is terrified...You need to stop him taking us...Please..."

Laura looks terrified as the figure goes down onto its knees and begs her.

"You need to find him and stop him before he takes more of us! Please! Don't ignore us!"

Laura closes her eyes and starts to fade back into existence. Jody notices.

"I'll call you later, Detective..."

As Laura reappears, but before anyone can see her, Jody speeds over and grabs her, then leaves. 

The pair end up in an alleyway. Jody holds her while Laura hyperventilates.

"What the hell happened!?"

"I saw something!"

"You saw the person that did this?"

"No! I saw...someone else! Talking about the Veil and someone 'taking' them!" 

Jody looks confused.

"Did you say Veil?"

"Yes!"

They look confused.

"What the hell is the Veil?"

Day One (4/4)

"Your brother doesn't know it right now, Laura...but he'll become great!"

Tragedy sits on a chair facing Laura. Laura is strapped to the chair, but not gagged. She just looks annoyed at Tragedy for tying her up. 

"Oh, the adoration he'll get. The things he'll accomplish! The things he'll do. You can't comprehend it now but he's going to go stratospheric!"

"So why are you doing this? If you know all this stuff from the future then why are you doing this now? Trying to change it? Don't you know history can't be changed?"

Tragedy looks at Laura and chuckles.

"The future? You think I'm from the future?"

"You have to be!"

"No I don't..."

Laura looks confused.

"Then where? Are you psychic or something?"

"Haha. No. I'm not a psychic, or a Visionarie. The truth is, Laura Kent, you wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

Laura looks sassily at him.

"Try me..."

Tragedy smiles evily.

"You really think your little mind could cope with the truth? You really think you could handle everything I could tell you? About your brother? About you? What's going to happen to both of you? I could tell you about friends you haven't made yet. Loves you'll see perish. Sunsets that will become your worst nightmares. I could tell you everything I know and it would blow...your...mind. Are you sure you want to know?"

"Stop stalling and just tell me. I'm a big girl now, I can handle it. You evidently know who I am so you know the problems I could make for you. If you're going to tell me, just tell me. If you're not, stop stalling and just shut the hell up. How does that sound?"

Tragedy smiles again.

"Excuse me, Miss Kent. I'd rather forgotten how much gaul you had..."

******

"So how do we beat this dick?"

Roberta pauses.

"You could've worded that better but you're 11 so I'll let you off. Well, we still don't know much about this Tragedy guy so we don't know any weaknesses he might have or any associates we could use as a bargaining chip!"

"Can't the Split tell us something?"

"The Split is a diversion of the Akara and you know how secretive she is. She won't show us a thing!"

"So we're on our own?"

"Yes".

Jody looks around for a moment.

"Actually, that's something I've been meaning to ask you...do you do this alone?"

Roberta stops for a moment.

"Yes..."

"Have you always done this alone?"

Roberta's expression changes once more.

"No. I once had...friends..."

"Well, can't we ask them for help?"

Roberta continues despite looking sad.

"They're...indisposed".

"Well, call them! If this guy is as much of a threat as we think he is, get them up here!"

"Kind of hard from the grave, Jody..."

Jody stops and realises.

"Roberta...I'm sorry...I didn't realise..."

"One thing about this job that does get you down. You WILL lose people along the way. That's the nature of the beast. We come up against rogue Naturals, Augs, Aliens, you name it. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you can't save everybody. Sometimes, that includes friends and family...and lovers..."

Jody looks subdued. Up until this point, he'd made this all about him. The fact he's about to become the Caretaker, the fact his sister was kidnapped, the fact this guy seemed to be out to get him, that he didn't think for a moment that there was a whole history with Roberta. Six years of Caretaking obviously had taken its toll on her. And Jody didn't realise until now.

"Is that why you're stopping?"

Roberta paused.

"It's part of the reason. The truth is, after a while, you get tired. You see so much shit that you just can't take anymore. It's like being a soldier on tour. You see a lot of shit, dwell on it and think of the what-ifs and the alternate endings. Especially when you know you could've done more to save someone close to you. I don't expect you to know what that's like Jody Kent. And I hope to God you never will. But, truthfully, if you do take up the Caretaker mantle, it's likely you will. I wish my mentor taught me that before he left..."

There was a silent pause.

"What was his name? Your lover?"

Roberta chuckles.

"HER name was Sophie. Sophie Stopps. She died at the hands of a Leptil".

Jody's face shows silent recognition. He know of the Leptils. The creatures that had invaded Earth two years previously. He took a few down himself after they tried to attack his family. 

"I'm sorry".

Roberta nods.

"Thank you".

As they smile at each other, something comes on over a tannoy.

"THIS MESSAGE IS FOR JODY KENT AND JODY KENT ALONE. I HAVE YOUR SISTER. I'M BY THE CREATIVE ARTS BLOCK SO IF YOU WANT HER BACK, COME AND GET HER. SCHOOL'S OUT SO MINIMAL CASUALTIES! I'LL GIVE YOU 20 MINUTES BEFORE I KILL HER. AND, BELIEVE ME SPEEDFREAK, HER BLOOD WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS!"

Jody and Roberta look at each other sternly.

"Roberta, I have to do something. She's all I have of home..."

"And we will. But we need to do it properly. We may have an advantage, we can't afford to let it go to waste...I have an idea..."

******

19 Minutes Later - Creative Arts Block

Tragedy looks around as Laura is tied to a metal pole that Tragedy has erected. She still looks annoyed as Tragedy patiently waits.

"I'm starting to wonder if your brother really loves you, you know..."

"You tell me. You're his biggest fan!"

Tragedy laughs.

"Oh, I am ANYTHING but that!"

As Tragedy finishes this, something zooms past him and goes to release Laura. As Jody touches the ties holding Laura, he's electrocuted and sent flying back. He hits a brick wall. Tragedy jumps up and down while laughing.

"Aaaaand it's a SHOCKING entrance from the blue bolt as he tries to rescue his lovely sister! But, as usual, he fails in that endeavour!"

Jody struggles to stand up but does so.

"It's over, Tragedy. I don't know who you are but it's over. Let my sister go!"

"You're in no place to make demands of me, boy! I know everything about you! Who you love, who you hate, your favourite colour, what you get up to in your bedroom when no-one else is in the house..."

Laura looks at Jody with confusion. He chuckles embarrassed and laughs it off.

"I...I don't do...that..."

"You are in no place to make ANY kind of demand..."

"Then tell me why you're doing this. Tell me why you're targeting me!"

"Because we are meant to be!"

"What? Like boyfriend and...manfriend?"

"You have NO idea what we are to each other. What we've been to one another..."

"Then just tell me!"

"No. You're not ready yet. You're not the man you're meant to become. That's a little while off. I just got excited this time and decided to start the process a little early..."

"What process?"

"Of you becoming Caretaker. Your destiny. Your life's work. It usually doesn't happen for another few years but I thought, what's a little change now and again?"

Jody looks confused.

"You changed history?"

"I didn't change anything. You wouldn't understand yet!"

"So what did you do then!?"

Tragedy starts to walk over to him and laugh.

"Oh. It was easy really. Wait a little while, kill all of Roberta's friends...oh and Sophie! Killing Sophie was a joy".

"Sophie was killed by Leptils!"

"And who do you think set them free?"

Jody looks stunned.

"That killed hundreds of people..."

"Thousands!"

Jody starts to get more progressively angry.

"You're a monster..."

"No. I'm small fry compared to what you're going to face. Who knows, you may not face them now...Then you can thank me..."

Jody looks stern.

"Why kill Roberta's friends? Why kill Sophie?"

Tragedy smiles evily.

"Would you believe me if I said it was for fun?"

Jody smirks.

"Oh, you've opened yourself up for a world of pain now..."

Suddenly, an electric surge can be heard behind Tragedy. It doesn't affect him though. He turns around to see Roberta holding a Taser to him. It hasn't affected him in the slightest. The more he turns, the more she realises it hasn't worked. She retracts it eventually.

"Roberta. Roberta, Roberta, Roberta. How lovely to see you again!"

"We've never met!"

"You haven't met me. But I've met you. Countless times!"

Roberta takes out a Katana blade.

"You killed Sophie!"

"Yup. And I'd do it again!"

Roberta screams at him and race towards him. Tragedy produces a blade from his sleeve and they engage in a sword fight. As they do, Jody races up to Laura.

"What do I do?!"

Laura looks amazed.

"Do you not pay attention in science?"

"If I did, would I be asking you to help me?"

Laura sighs in disbelief.

"Use your speed and absorb the electricity. You might be able to drain it!"

Jody races around it at full speed. Lightning sprouts from the tower into the vortex. It gets more intense for a moment and then it starts to trickle away. Jody stops and takes a breath before releasing Laura.

"Right, run home, now!"

"What!?"

"GO HOME, LAURA! NOW!"

"I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!"

"I HAVE TO HELP ROBERTA!"

Laura sighs.

"I'm helping too then!"

Laura closes her eyes and goes invisible. Jody smiles and looks over at the sword fight. Tragedy grabs Roberta's wrist and sends her flying.

"ROBERTA!"

Jody races towards Tragedy who notices him coming and swings his sword. In what seems like slow motion for him, Jody dodges every stroke of the blade. Tragedy tries frantically to get him but fails every time. Jody lands a few punches instead before Tragedy grabs his arm and throws him. He hits the wall again and hits his head. He falls to the floor and comforts his head. Tragedy walks over with the blade and places it at Jody's throat.

"You don't know this yet, but you're going to be a great man...or maybe not...how lucky do you feel, Speedfreak?"

Jody says nothing.

"Strange. You're usually the first with a witty response. Maybe I've changed too much this time..."

Before Jody can look up, Roberta screams once more and races towards Tragedy with her Katana. He turns around, knocks the blade out of her hand and kicks her in the shins. She screams out in pain as he throws her away once more. She lands on the floor about 20 feet away from Jody. Tragedy goes up to her and grabs her by the neck. He pulls her up so their eyes are level.

"The last time we were here, I pulled out your heart through your chest. The time before that, I ripped out your vocal cords. The time before, I just shot you. But this time, I'm going to make sure Jody remembers how powerful I truly am...and how ruthless I can be..."

And with that, he drops Roberta back to the ground.

"Kill me. I don't care. Just leave him alone..."

"Say hi to Sophie in the Veil for me..."

With a quick slash, Tragedy beheads her. Roberta's head flies over to Jody, who catches it like a rugby ball. Her face, frozen in a state of terror as he stares at it. A girl he had a crush on less than 2 hours before, dead. Traumatized, he drops it and stands up.

"You're fucking sick..."

Tragedy smiles evily.

"Oh, Jody Patrick Kent, or Torah Al-Nivah...you have no idea..."

As he smiles once more, the Katana blade pierces his throat. Confused and outraged, he turns around to find Laura fading back into existence. Blood pouring from his mouth, he smiles at her.

"Well, well, well. Looks like Ghost gets me again. Didn't see that coming..."

Laura stands there looking sassy as usual. She chuckles as blood pours out of his mouth. Tragedy splutters as he faces Jody one more time.

"We will meet again, Speedfreak. When you're more like how I remember you. But, spoiler alert, your sister isn't ALWAYS going to be around to save you..."

Jody, still traumatized, speeds over to him and punches him in the stomach. After that, Tragedy vanishes into thin air. Jody and Laura are left with a decapitated body and a head frozen in horror. As they walk over to the body, the hand starts to blaze brightly with light. Jody turns her over to see a coin appearing from under the skin. Laura looks horrified as it rises to the surface.

"What the hell is that!?"

"I think this is the coin that Roberta mentioned before..."

"What coin?"

Not answering, Jody looks at the coin, then back at Roberta's head. He knows he has to do it now. He has to do it for her. She sacrificed her life to save his. Now, to make things right, he has to avenge her. He picks up the coin and places it on his palm. The light comes again as it sinks into Jody's skin. A few moments pass before it disappears again. Laura looks amazed.

"What the actual fuck was that?"

Jody looks at her but says nothing...

******

Two weeks later.

Two weeks ago, I met an incredible woman called Roberta Neave who was the Caretaker of Planet Earth. Someone who defends the planet against Naturals, Augs and Aliens. She died trying to save me from a being known as Tragedy. He killed her in the most brutal of ways and he did it, seemingly, so I could become the Caretaker after her. While I don't want to be Caretaker, I have a duty to now. For Roberta if nothing else. 

I have no idea what this new adventure will bring, nor do I know what I'll lose along the way. But with my sister, Laura, and my friend, Mel, I know we can do it. I know we can save people, find Tragedy and make him pay for what he did to Roberta.

Jody steps out in the Speedfreak costume he saw in the Split.

My name is Jody Kent. And I am the Speedfreak...

******

Convenience Store, Downtown Trillingham.

The shopkeeper sits and reads a paper as his shop remains empty. He looks up for a moment and sighs at how desolate it is.

"Bloody online shopping..."

He goes back to his paper for a moment before the door opens. He looks to see who's come in but can't see anyone. He stands up and looks again but, still, sees no one. Annoyed, he sits back down and reads his paper.

Suddenly, the room goes cold. He notices and looks away from his paper again. He looks around and notices he can see his breath. He looks towards the shop floor again for a moment and, still, sees no one. He turns around and, before him, stands a hooded figure. The shop keeper looks shocked as the figure grabs him by the neck. After a short struggle, the figure snaps the shop keeper's neck and drops him. Moments later, something rises from the shop keeper. His spirit. He looks around.

"Where am I!? Help me!? Someone help me!? Where am I!?"

A light descends from the ceiling and covers the spirit. The spirit starts to rise and the man looks happy as he ascends to heaven. As he starts to rise, the figure grabs the spirit and holds on. The spirit struggles once more to escape the grasp but fails. The figure opens his mouth and the spirit gets sucked in. After the spirit has been digested, the figure starts to shine a purple light for a few moments before coming to peace again. The figure looks down at the body and smiles.

"I still need more...there has to be more...and I have an entire city...buffet..."

Day One (3/4)

Jody sat on the side of the fountain in the Archive. He looked around it and admired its glory. 2 levels of books and shelves and practically every book ever written. He'd never seen anything like it before. Nor would he again he supposed. He sat there thinking and admiring.

"How did I get to this point?" "Is this what Laura warned me about?" "What does a Caretaker do apart from take care of stuff?" "Can I use my speed for this?"

As he ponders the difficult questions, Roberta sits next to him.

"I understand if this is all a bit overwhelming..."

Jody chuckles.

"That's one way to describe it..."

Roberta puts her hand on Jody's.

"I felt exactly the same as you are now when I was first shown this place. I felt the same sense of wonder, dread and amazement that you'll be feeling now. But I promise it gets easier!"

"How? Please tell me how?"

Roberta smiles.

"Let me show you..."

*****

Roberta takes Jody into a different room. It has a desk in the middle of it. They walk up to it and lean on it.

"This is a diversion of the Split in space/time. It allows us to access different parts of the time line. See the past, the present...even the future..."

Jody's ears prick up.

"The future?"

"Yes"

"Why would you want to see the future? Surely that's a bad thing?"

"Not in all cases. We don't do it often but it's sometimes useful..."

"And you're telling me this...why?"

"Because I figured that maybe seeing a part of your future would rest your worries?"

"But then I can't prevent it...Akara is predetermined. Time is a cycle and it cannot be changed or altered..."

"It might help. I won't show you everything..."

"I don't want to know..."

As Jody protests more, a blue light comes from the desk, pointing upwards. As they look, a clear picture starts to appear. It's a man in a blue suit with purple rims and purple streaks across it. Jody stares at them as the image looks panicked and looks around. It speeds off before returning.

"Is that...me?"

Roberta nods.

"I look...like a...superhero!"

"You're definitely not a Superhuman, Jody. Trust me, they're assholes. No, you're something much more fun!"

"What?"

"You're the Speedfreak!"

Jody looks unimpressed.

"'Speedfreak'. Seriously?"

Roberta nods.

"Great. Now I can't change the name..."

Jody looks at images and more appear. A woman appears. A pretty young woman appears on the screen. She's wearing a green suit and produces a force-field.

"I can send you back there, but it might take a little while..."

The image changes to a woman in a gothic outfit.

"My name is Stilio. What's it to you!?"

The image fades away to just Speedfreak again. Jody looks astounded. He stumbles back as he finds it hard ti process.

"I'm going to be a...superhero?"

Roberta nods.

"Like The Flash?"

"But real, Jody..."

Jody lets out a big sigh. He pauses for a moment and then opens his mouth.

"No..."

Roberta looks astounded.

"No?"

"No. I don't want this".

"You don't have a choice..."

"We have free will don't we? That's what your God teaches us?"

"But your God teaches you that you can't fight time. I know a bit about Edenic culture and I know Akara controls all. This is Akara's work!"

"Then I'll fight her!"

"Jody, can you hear yourself? This is meant to be. That young girl in green? She's called Jessica and you two become very close over time. That gothic chick? She's going to be a pain in your arse but valuable in the future. All the things you'll do NEED to happen. You don't have a choice!"

"I DEFY YOU! I DEFY AKARA! I DEFY TIME ITSELF! I DON'T WANT THIS AND NO ONE CAN FORCE ME TO BECOME A STUPID SUPERHERO! I COULDN'T EVEN TIE MY OWN SHOELACES UNTIL TWO YEARS AGO! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO LOOK AFTER A WHOLE WORLD AND ITS MOON!?"

"Well I know damn well you do..."

"How!?"

"Because I've seen it, remember?"

"SCREW THIS CRYSTAL BALL! I MAKE MY OWN FUTURE!"

"You can't. No one can change time. History is pre-determined!"

Jody sits crossed legged on the floor and stares into space.

"I can access time, you know...I once accidentally ran back to the 1930s. I've never been more scared in my life. And then I met you. I only followed you because I have a massive crush on you..."

Roberta smiles, she's flattered.

"...I don't want your life, Roberta. I don't want that life for me. Or my sister!"

Roberta looks at him confused.

"Why would you not want her to share this adventure?"

As she finishes this, an alarm goes off in the main room of the Archive. Roberta notices and runs back towards it. Jody gets up and runs back there too. They both enter the main room of the Archive and to a computer. Roberta presses a button and an image comes up of Mr Joel. He looks at the camera and smile as he moves away. He's dragging a body behind him. It's Laura, unconscious. Jody looks shocked and saddened.

"LAURA! WHERE IS THIS TAKEN!?"

"In the sports block. But, Jody, don't do anything..."

Jody speeds away before Roberta can finish.

"...rash. Great!"

Roberta picks up her belt and runs after him.

******

Mr Joel continues to carry an unconscious Laura through the sports block. He turns into a room which has a long corridor ahead of it. He walks halfway down before something stops him.

"HEY!"

Mr Joel turns around to see who's at the end of the corridor. As he sees who it is, he smirks.

"LET GO OF MY SISTER, ASSHAT!"

Mr Joel laughs.

"Speedfreak...as I live and breathe..."

Jody looks angry.

"...You look so young...you're not quite ready yet!"

"Don't make me hurt you. Because I could, and you wouldn't see it coming!"

Mr Joel laughs.

"Feel free to try, Mr Kent...Go on...There's a good boy..."

Jody looks more angry. He starts to power up. Electricity crackles around his body as Mr Joel smirks more evily than before. Jody screams as he runs faster than anyone can see. He races towards Mr Joel, who throws Laura to the floor, and turns around. As he does, he throws his fist towards the blur. He strikes Jody with force and sends him flying into a nearby wall. Jody shakes his head and tries to recover as quickly as he can. Mr Joel laughs as Jody stands up again.

"Yeah. You're definitely not ready yet. You really think it'd be that easy, Jody? You're more naive than I possibly thought!"

He removes Mr Joel's face to reveal his own. Jody looks terrified as Mr Joel disappears...and Tragedy appears.

"Do I look beautiful, yet?"

Jody looks terrified as a throwing star streaks past him and into Tragedy's shoulder. Tragedy flinches as it enters his body. Jody looks back to see who threw it, only to see Roberta in her gear, waiting to take Tragedy on. Tragedy pulls it out and laughs.

"Looks like your friend got an upgrade, Speedfreak. No matter, it makes no difference! I always win!"

Tragedy opens his hand and a beam of energy comes out of it towards Jody. He speeds out of the way before it can hit him. Tragedy sends another one towards Roberta. As it nears her, Jody outruns it and speeds Roberta out of the way. Tragedy chuckles as he realises he and Laura are alone in the corridor now.

"I STILL HAVE YOUR SISTER, SPEEDFREAK! LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AGAIN SOON!"

*****

Jody speeds Roberta back into the Archive. When they stop, Jody paces around angrily.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH IS GOING TO DIE!"

"You can't think like that..."

"HE HAS MY SISTER! I'LL KILL HIM MYSELF!"

Roberta runs across and grabs his shoulders.

"Now you listen to me. You're about to become the next Caretaker. And, as such, you should know that the role comes with a strict 'no kill' policy. When I transfer the coin onto you, you'll be bound to an oath of not taking a life. If you do, the coin will corrupt your brain and will cause you to become a dark being. It's only happened once before in 1823 and, trust me, that wasn't pretty! We'll get your sister back but there's something you missed!"

"WHAT!?"

"He seems to know you!"

Jody looks confused.

"Huh?"

"He knew you were going to be called Speedfreak! He knew your full name! Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

Jody thinks.

"I haven't become Speedfreak yet..."

"Exactly!"

Jody thinks some more.

"So he's someone from my future?"

"That doesn't matter right now. What matters is that he knows you. And maybe, just maybe, we can use that to our advantage..."

* Stilio was created by Josh Elliott. Used with very kind permission.