AQua Surfer Pt. 5

    Ellie, Analise, Madison, and all of their friends were enjoying a dinner made by Ellie’s mom and dad. They were finally back and they were going to take care of Ellie with all of their might. “So Ellie, how has your entire life been?” Ellie’s dad asked. Ellie looked at everyone else sitting at the long table. Everybody started laughing so hard! But mom and dad weren’t getting the idea. “Ellie! Your father asked you a question! Why is this so funny?” Madison was laughing harder than everyone now. Ellie finally answered in between hiccups. “Well, I have been fighting battles for the past few years now mom. Madison, Analise, and I fought and won the Triple War. We went against ‘The Morphers’, Skullette, and Mrs. Stone. Then, we recruited all of our friends to give them powers. But Analise supposedly went missing. Madison and I went on an unnecessary mission to find her with a result of… Of Shadow’s death. Then Analise came back with pixiedust and all of our friends got unique powers. After that, Gourmet intruded with our spell to defeat the monsters. The powers weren’t taken away, but all of them were supposed to unite and defeat the monster army! But Gourmet’s magic must have interrupted. He targeted me first. He killed me, but I was saved by Analise and Madison. Then he killed them and me again. But we reunited in the afterlife and got immortality from the god Borealis. Then the monster army came. We defeated the monsters one by one. Everybody had their own section, and did a great job with it. But then you guys came and said Gourmet ran away to his birthplace to get stronger. You said that there are records at the hospital, right?” Everyone nodded in agreement. All of them were done with dinner and had been listening to Ellie speak. Ellie’s mom looked shocked. “You did all that without me? How rude!” But this was obviously a joke so Ellie chuckled. But Ellie’s dad continued. “Since we are all done with dinner, why don’t we go to the hospital and find those records!” Everybody cheered and ran out the door, ready to defeat Gourmet once and for all.

    “Could we have a look at Mr. Gourmet’s birth records please? Me and my tour group would like to observe them.” Ellie’s dad was trying to convince Mrs. Sarasa to give him the birth records. But Mrs. Sarasa wasn’t giving in. “I’m sorry sir, but that is private information. Unless you are from the FBI, then you have no rights to look at Mr. Gourmet’s records. Anyways, he left yesterday. Down to Las Vegas I believe.” Dad looked at Ellie and winked. He pulled out a badge from his wallet. “I am Mr. James Baker of the FBI. Please let me see them. Or else, I can call in forces.” Analise gasped. “Your dad was in the FBI?” Ellie shook her head. “No he wasn’t. My aunt told me my grandpa was though. And my dad was named after my grandpa. The badge was probably passed on to him. Cool, huh?” Mrs. Sarasa was shocked. “Oh, well I’m so sorry for the delay. They should be under G in the back room. Go on.” Ellie’s dad nodded in appreciation. He motioned for Ellie, Madison, Analise, and all of her friends to follow them. The back room was full of drawers and files. It took all of them a while to find G. But soon enough, they found it. “Here! I found Gourmet! It’s over here!” Ellie yelled, and her dad rushed over to her. “You are right! It says here…” But her dad stopped talking. A shadow crossed over his face. But he continued and said, “It says U. N. O. In other words, unknown.” Madison gasped. “So that means we don’t know where he was born? We can’t find him!” Analise interrupted. “No. We didn’t need the records at all. Mrs. Sarasa said he was moving on to Las Vegas. So we just need a bunch of plane tickets to Las Vegas!” Dad nodded. “Good detective work Analise. Let’s go home and tell Ellie’s mother.” They all cheered and ran out the hospital doors.

    Gourmet was sitting in his room, wondering what he could do to get rid of the three immortal superheroes. “Ughhh! What is it with good guys and bad guys! Can we bad guys get credit one time?” Gourmet had crumpled up papers everywhere. He had been trying to think of a plan to outwit Ellie. But everything had a downside. “DAD!! You can control death right? And I can control pain. So can you just… Ya know… Kill the filthy rats?” Gourmet’s dad was sitting in his room on the bed. He was looking a bit annoyed. “Walter. Why do you want those girls out of the way? You have nothing to do with them Right?” Gourmet thought, Walter! Why can’t my own dad call me Gourmet and not Walter. But he answered, “Wrong! I have everything to do with them. Miss Ellie’s grandfather was in the FBI. Cool, right? But one day, I was playing with my best friend. His name was Rocky. We were outside playing tag. I shouted, You’re it! But he didn’t answer. Rocky? Are you ok? He was just lying there on the ground. Not moving. I walked over to feel for a heartbeat, but there wasn’t one. I turned him over onto his backside, and I was shocked to see what was there. A pool of blood was staining the grass dark crimson. I ran inside to call 911. Later, the FBI came to investigate. I was called to court, and Ellie’s grandfather blamed me for killing him! I was in juvenile jail until I was thirteen. There. You have it? I was wrongly accused of murder and now, I will get back at those people.” Gourmet’s dad was silent for a few seconds. But he then answered, “Son. I am Hades! God of the underworld! But I cannot kill people on purpose. This, is up to you. You can be the next god! Take my place! But those girls are immortal. Unless they die a natural death of course. And then there is…” But Hades was interrupted by Gourmet. “Yes! Of course, why didn’t I think of that! Those children will be gone once and for all!!!” He ran out of the room into the famous underworld, ready to accomplish his final mission.

    Ellie was begging her mom for plane tickets to Las Vegas. “No! All of your little friends have powers and magical ways of transportation! You and Analise can ride on Madison’s wings! Like always, right?” Ellie groaned. She had always wanted to ride an airplane. But her mother was insisting not to right now. Her dad was driving with Rochelle on her plant… mobile… thingy. Lucky him! But she had to go the old-fashioned way. The way she has used for years and years. But by the next morning, everybody was in Las Vegas! There were casinos and stores and bars everywhere! Ellie was squeezing Analise’s and Madison’s hand. But she wasn’t doing it because she was amazed or excited. It was because she was scared. She could sense something around her. An evil aura of power. It was almost as if she could feel that she was getting closer to Gourmet. “Can you feel it?” she asked Madison. “Can you feel that he’s here? That Gourmet is here?” Madison’s smile was wiped off of her face. “What do you mean that you can feel it?” Ellie looked at her and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I can feel that Gourmet is here. He is near us! I think he knows that we’re here.” Madison swung her head around, looking to see if Gourmet was behind them. Analise looked at Madison and Ellie. “Are you guys ok? You looked worried about something. Like someone’s watching you.” Ellie nodded her head in fear. “Gourmet is watching us. I don’t know where he is but he is here!” Ellie’s dad suddenly spoke up. “Hey! If you girls want lunch you can come with us. If not, you can just go back to the apartment building. See ya!” Ellie’s dad and mom walked over to the lunch place with the rest of the group. But right before mom walked in she yelled back, “Be safe Ellie! Be safe!” Then she ran back inside into the lunch place. Ellie looked at Analise, the Madison. “Apartment?” Analise and Madison answered in unison, “Apartment.” They grabbed a taxi and got back to the apartment building in seven minutes flat. “That was quick!” said Madison. She plopped down on the couch with Analise. But Ellie didn’t sit down with them. She was pacing around, holding her head with her hands. “Ughh! It’s not just a gut feeling! I really can feel it! It’s giving me a huge headache. It’s almost as if he is right under my nose.” Analise stood up and said, “Well, I don’t mean to give you a larger headache, but maybe you should try following the aura. It might lead us back to Gourmet!” Madison stood up too. “Yeah! Just follow the aura.” Ellie looked scared, but she started walking out of the apartment. Down the stairs. Into the employee basement. And lay down on the floor. “Why are you on the floor?” Madison asked curiously. But No one had to answer that. Analise walked over a few steps away from where Ellie was and stomped on the floor. Even though there was nothing there, a trapdoor appeared and opened. “That,” Ellie said. “Is where Gourmet is.” Everyone was silent, afraid to go down the dark tunnel in the floor. But Ellie didn’t even glance at her friends when she jumped down the hole. Analise screamed, “Ellie!!” and jumped down there with her. Madison walked over and closed her eyes. She took a step, and fell into the tunnel.

    “Uh… Hi honey! Over in Las Vegas having a great time except that Ellie, Madison, and Analise are missing! Ha ha! Such a great time! Right? A. K. A. come help me find them!”
“What!? I’m am coming right now!”
“Ok… BYE” Ellie’s dad had brought all of her friends to the apartment to say hello. But Ellie, Madison, and Analise weren’t there! Dad had panicked and called Mom. She was now coming to Las Vegas to help find her children. A few hours later, there was a very loud knock on the door. “Come in honey!” But it wasn’t Mom. It was the person everyone most despised. Gourmet with an unconscious mother.

    Ellie and Madison and Analise were traveling in a dark corridor. “Is there any light down here?” asked Madison. She could barely see her hand in front of her face. “Oh sure! You can see the sun down here!” Ellie answered in a joking, sarcastic voice. Analise stopped moving. Since it was dark, Ellie and Madison bumped into each other. “Why are you stopping Analise?” Ellie asked. Analise answered in a happy voice, “Doesn’t this corridor seem… familiar to you guys? If this is what I think it is…” She moved her hand around the wall. Surprisingly, a light switch was on the dirt wall. When the light lit up the corridor, Ellie and Madison gasped. They were in a special place. Skullette was standing in the dim light. The same Skullette Ellie had defeated and saved from the hands of Mrs. Stone. Skullette wasn’t a skeleton anymore. She had beautiful pale skin, long and flowing black hair, and ruby red lips. She was wearing a wonderful dusty blue dress that looked like it was from the 1800s. “Wait,” Ellie said. “If you are the same Skullette, then that must mean that this is the tunnel Shadow built for us!!” Skullette nodded. She walked up to Analise and whispered some quiet things. Then, she walked back and waved goodbye. As she was dissolving in a golden glow, Madison shouted, “Goodbye Skullette!!!”  Skullette surprisingly shouted, “Goodbye Ms. Madison!” Then she dissolved completely. Analise turned around. “You are right! This tunnel can only be the one Shadow made. And if we go backwards, Then we will arrive in California! That is even closer to Las Vegas than the apartments! And guess who’s in Las Vegas? Gourmet!” Ellie, Madison, and Analise all cheered and started marching backwards toward the entrance.

    Gourmet was standing in the doorway holding an unconscious mother in his hands. Well, dad hoped it was unconscious. If she was dead that would be heartbreaking! Sadly, all of Ellie’s friends had left the house and went back to their homes. Only one friend remained. That was the kind and faithful, Rochelle. She had plant powers! But she had no idea someone had knocked on the door because she was in her room with the door closed studying the birth records. She was trying to see if there were any mistakes in the birth records. Rochelle was a very helpful friend. But little did she know, that they were being ambushed as she spoke. Meanwhile, Ellie’s dad was so astonished, he didn’t even care about Gourmet. Instead, he ran over and grabbed mom away and lay her down on the couch. He would only find out the devastating news until Gourmet left the room. He had no powers to stop him. Just his bare hands. But Gourmet did have powers, and Gourmet was acting as if dad was a toy. He made a flipping movement with his hands, and instantaneously dad’s neck was being pushed and pulled in every which way. Dad was a very strong man, and he was fighting against the power. But only five minutes had passed, and he was getting tired. He tried to catch a breath, but he suddenly felt a jolt of pain in his neck. Gourmet had easily …. Broken dad’s neck. He threw dad on top of mom and two unconscious bodies were on the couch. But luckily, Rochelle heard the plop on the couch and ran out into the living room. “Hey! What are you doing with my friend’s dad?” Rochelle yelled at Gourmet. Before Gourmet could react, Rochelle summoned some very strong grape vines, and tied Gourmet up so that he was unable to use his powers. Rochelle knew that Ellie, Madison, and Analise weren’t missing because she knew her friends were not like that. She would watch Gourmet until her friends got back home. She swore out loud, “I swear Gourmet, if you even try to move any muscle, I will tighten these until you can’t breathe!” Since Rochelle had to control her powers, she couldn’t help Ellie’s mom and dad. But Rochelle used some common sense and was the first to figure out one thing. Gourmet was a child of Hades, and he had been cursed with the power to hurt other people as much as he wanted. ‘I just hope they come soon.’ Rochelle thought.

    About an hour later, A very happy bunch of friends had made it back to the secret lairs in California. Since all of Ellie’s friends had gone back home, she was able to see all of them too. “Hi guys!” shouted Ellie. “Ellie! Madison! Analise!” shouted everyone in unison. Analise shared the news that Skullette had shared with her. “Guys. We met Skullette back down in the tunnel. She gave us help to find Gourmet. She said ‘He is where the past is.’ I have no idea what that even means!” Usually, Madison wasn’t the one who figured out the problems, but it was almost as if a lightbulb was floating over her head. “I know the answer! If Gourmet is where the past is, and we met Skullette after we went to Las Vegas, he must be in Las Vegas! The most recent past that we had in Las Vegas is when we were at the apartments! So, whether you call it a gut feeling or a hunch, I think Gourmet is at the apartments with dad, mom, and Rochelle!” Analise and Ellie’s faces both lit up with enthusiasm. Analise thought that this was a brilliant idea and that they should all go investigate. Everyone agreed with her except for Ellie. Ellie knew that Madison was one-hundred percent correct. But that meant that there was a one-hundred percent downside. “But if Gourmet is at the apartments…” Ellie argued. “Then that means that he could be hurting mom, dad, and/or Rochelle! So we have got to get there now and save them!” Madison grew ot her wings immediately so that Ellie and Analise could hop on. Madison would fly straight to Las Vegas in a hurry. But little did they know, that Rochelle was the hero!

    Rochelle tightened the vines every time Gourmet spoke. Soon, Gourmet would be choked to death. But Rochelle was really hoping that Ellie, Madison, and Analise would arrive soon. Of course, as a friend, she knows that they are on their way. “You might get away with killing me. But along with me, your little parents will come too. If I die, my powers die. And anyone that I have ever cursed will die along with me…. Oh! Isn’t that a few of your stupid little friends? I hope not. That would be devastating!” Gourmet said in a mocking voice. Rochelle tightened the vines even more. Her anger was rising. And Rochelle wasn’t usually angry. “You will not get away with this Gourmet.” Rochelle answered. “We have all defeated your monsters once. Why would you be any harder than a hundred flesh-eating monsters?” Gourmet laughed. “I wouldn’t tighten those vines anymore if I were you. Why don’t you just wait and see what happens? And to answer your question, I can control pain! Do you want to end up like mom and dad?” Rochelle didn’t answer. She wished on the spot, that Ellie, Madison, and Analise would arrive soon. By soon, she meant right now. Almost as if her wish was granted, Madison knocked down the door with a gust of wind. Talk about a dramatic entrance! “Guys! Don’t kill him!” Rochelle yelled before she could even be happy about them arriving. “Why not? That is what we came here for, right?” Ellie asked. Analise was a patient girl and decided to listen. Maybe killing wasn’t the right choice. “Guys. Just hear her out. Maybe we should spare him in exchange for him never bothering us again.” Rochelle explained to them what was wrong. Nobody had noticed the parents on the couch quite yet. “Gourmet has told me that if he dies, his power dies. And along with that, everyone he has ever cursed dies along with him. That would include you even though you have immortality!” Ellie took a step forward. “Is that true? If so, then we will die! Everyone dies eventually, but not at such a young age?” Analise interrupted Ellie. “This isn’t about  dying. Even if we did, wouldn’t you rather die with a reputation of a hero that a reputation of being cursed by an old man?” Ellie and madison chuckled a bit. Gourmet wasn’t old. He was probably only in his early thirties. “Excuse me? Are you calling me old? You will pay for that.” Suddenly, Gourmet ripped the vines apart, and stood up. Apparently, Analise’s comment had gotten them into a bit of trouble. Gourmet raised his hand in an upward motion, making Analise float in the air. “Let me down!” Analise was yelling. Gourmet made a tight fist motion. Analise started choking. You could almost see her neck being squeezed. Her face turned pink, red, violet, purple, and a dark blue. Gourmet wasn’t going easy on her. “Analise!!!” Ellie yelled. Everyone was trying to grab her out of the air, but Gourmet only held her higher. When Analise’s face was as dark as it could possibly be, Gourmet flipped his hand upside down. Analise was being choked upside down. “Let her go!” Madison yelled. But everyone took another look at Analise, and her eyes were closed. Gourmet dropped her, and her limp body fell to the floor. Ellie dropped down, and put her head to Analise’s chest. “There is no heartbeat.” She said. Ellie couldn’t bring her eyes to look at anybody. Her flesh was cold. Ellie rose up, and looked at Gourmet, who was laughing and smiling as if this was a comedy show. “Do you want me to do this again? If not, just come with me, and let me keep you! No harm will be done. You took so long to find me. Would you rather come? Or have another person die?” He picked up Analise, opened the window and threw her down. “NOOO!!!” Madison yelled. Analise fell four stories down to a gravel ground. Ellie was weeping and she went to sit on the couch. She felt a cold body instead of a warm cushion. She turned around and saw her mom and dad. “What?” She felt her dad’s neck, and could tell it had been completely snapped in half. When she felt her mother’s chest, there was no ribcage. Nothing was there. No bones at all. Just skin. White skin. “UGGGH!!! You are going down Gourmet! First my mom, then my dad, and now my best friend Analise. You will pay!!!” Ellie summoned up a huge bubble of water from nowhere, and threw it at Gourmet. “You think soaking me will do any good?” Gourmet laughed as he knew he’d figured out Ellie’s weakness. The weakness was her friends. She cared about them so much, that just ‘killing’ them would break Ellie. He immediately held Madison in the air too. “Put her down!” Ellie yelled. Rochelle didn’t know that Ellie could get so mad. She ran over and stood by her side. “I’m with you Ellie.” Rochelle said. But Gourmet smiled. “Not for long.” he said. He picked up Rochelle and put her next to Madison. “Should I do a quick death? Or a slow and painful death? It’s up to
you Ellie.” Gourmet was looking at Ellie. So were all of her best friends. Gourmet did something worse than he had ever done right then and there. While holding them up in the air he used his powers to pick up a knife. “No! You will not kill them!” Ellie was yelling. But this made Gourmet happy. Ellie had thought that she had gotten over her fear of blood. But it turns out she hasn’t. Gourmet slashed Madison up a million times. Her calves. Thighs. Chest. Neck. Head. He did the same to Rochelle. He dropped them on the floor with blood staining the carpet. Ellie screamed and cried and covered her eyes. Her friends were dying right in front of her, and Ellie couldn’t take it anymore. She knew that falling into a pool from a high spot would be just like landing on asphalt. So she quietly shot a ton of water out the window. She walked over and pushed Gourmet right out the window. Suddenly, Ellie looked at Rochelle and Madison. There cuts were closing and the color was returning to their pale face. Analise appeared out of nowhere alive and healthy. Her parents were changing. Dad’s neck was becoming straight and mom’s body was getting volume, bones! Then, all at the same time, Their eyes fluttered open and they all stood up. “I had a weird dream last night.” Rochelle said. But as she looked around, she could tell it wasn’t a dream. “Oh. Never mind.” Everyone laughed. “Rochelle you are a hero! Even though my parents were hurt and we weren’t here, you stood up to Gourmet and held him captive for hours! We couldn’t have done it without you. Literally. He would’ve gotten away!” Ellie said. Everyone cheered and hugged Rochelle. Rochelle was as happy as ever! “Thanks! But the only thing that would make me happy is another famous family dinner made by Ellie’s mom!” Everyone cheered and looked at mom. “Oh…” she said, blushing. “You shouldn’t have.” She turned and looked at her husband. And out of nowhere, they kissed! Ellie looked at them and said, “Ewww, mom! You’re embarrassing me!” Everybody laughed, and went home to a good old homemade dinner! Ellie knew that Gourmet was lying about everyone dying. Just trying to get a free pass to life, huh Gourmet? Well I guess you ordered the wrong ticket! Rochelle was now the hero of the family, and got to eat the first slice of cake. Everyone thought that this would be the end of their troubles. But they were wrong. Their troubles were literally right outside the door of the secret lair.