Chapter 3 - Extreme Makeover: Evil Lair Edition

Art by NeverCatchMe 

Two weeks later, I finally got a chance to visit Lady Quake's castle. Dad let me borrow the car again, and I drove it out to Skystead, a suburb just outside of San Urbano. As I drove, I saw the massive skyscrapers of the city turn into small houses and shops, with majestic mountains in the distance. My GPS directed me down a winding road that led me away from the residential areas of Skystead and into the surrounding forest. I followed the road up a steep hill, and as I approached the top of the hill, I spotted the castle.

I could see why Lady Quake wanted to live there, even after her retirement. Her castle was enormous - its towers seemed to reach up into the sky forever. I found the castle to be quite intimidating, and to be honest, I was a little bit scared as I pulled up next to it. I parked my car in front of the castle and climbed up the staircase that led to the castle gates. When I got there, I carefully knocked on the huge wooden doors. At first, there was no response, but then I heard someone say, "Aunt Ellen, I think there's someone at the door."

The door creaked open, and I saw a woman in her mid-fifties with short brown hair streaked with gray and deep brown eyes. She didn't look much like she did in the newspapers, but then again, what did I expect? "Hi there," Lady Quake said as she shook my hand. "You must be Jay."

"It's nice to meet you, Lady Quake," I said.

"Call me Ellen," she insisted. "Come on. I'll give you a quick tour, and then you can get started on putting those souls in the backyard." She headed down a corridor, and I followed her, barely able to keep up with all of the twists and turns within the castle. As it turned out, the interior of the castle was a state of the art supervillain base, with everything that a villain might need to plot and execute her crimes. It was all very impressive, from the surveillance cameras posted around the city and its suburbs to a whole floor dedicated to training and superpower development. "All that I'm missing is a little bit of decoration," Ellen said.

The tour was fascinating, but I got a little bit distracted when we passed by one of Ellen's several break rooms. I spotted three people sitting on the couch in there, and all of them were around my age. I recognized one of them immediately. I hadn't seen Terry Black in years, but I could never mistake him for anyone else. His scars and his prosthetic right arm looked exactly as they had four years earlier, and although I wasn't sure if he remembered me, I knew that I would still be stuck at the Academy if it wasn't for Terry. "Can you two please stop bickering?" he said to his two companions. "I'm trying to watch the news. Apparently something happened with the Dastardly Demon, and the mayor of San Urbano is giving Captain Fedora an award for something..."

"Not until Percy agrees to clean his stuff out of my office," the blonde-haired girl next to Terry said.

The dark-skinned boy next to her, who I presumed to be Percy, didn't seem to be paying much attention. He didn't look up from his phone as he said, "Vanessa, it's not your office. Ellen said that we had to share it."

"I'm the only one who uses the office for anything productive," Vanessa said.

"That's not true at all," Percy said. "Terry and I both use the computer."

"Percy's right about that," Terry said.

"You're always hogging the computer, and I don't think you've ever used it for anything productive," Vanessa said. "Every time I enter the office, you're in there playing video games or trolling somebody."

"It's the only computer in the whole castle!" Percy exclaimed. "That's not my fault!"

"Maybe you should get a real job so you can buy your own computer," Vanessa suggested.

"Why would I do that?" Percy asked, still not looking up from his phone. "According to the TV Tropes Sorting Algorithm of Mortality, I'm probably going to die soon."

"Percy, will you ever shut up about TV Tropes?" Vanessa asked.

Percy ignored her and said, "I got a 4.09, and that means that I am so dead. I think it's just because I'm black, gay, and evil. That's just a bad combination right there when it comes to the Sorting Algorithm of Mortality. Maybe I should check the Sorting Algorithm of Deadness to see if I'm going to come back to life or not..."

"You're not really evil, Percy," Vanessa said. "Just because you're kind of annoying doesn't mean that you're evil."

"They kicked me out of the Academy, Vanessa," Percy said. "If that doesn't prove that I'm evil, I don't know what does. It's nearly impossible to get kicked out of that place."

"I tried to get kicked out," Terry mumbled. "It backfired. Anyways, can you two please be quiet?"

"How can I be quiet when I know that I'm going to die?" Percy asked.

"You're not going to die," Vanessa said. "In case you haven't noticed, this is real life. Reality doesn't operate by the same rules that govern fiction."

"Oh, but it does," Percy said. "Haven't you heard that art imitates life? TV Tropes even has a whole section on Real Life."

Vanessa sighed and said, "Let's get back to the original topic. Can you please clean all of your clutter out of our office, or at least find a better way to organize it? I'm sick of trying to work with all of your stuff in the way."

"All of it's there for a reason," Percy insisted.

"I doubt it," Vanessa said. "Do you really need to have a bean bag chair in the office?"

"Yes!" Percy exclaimed.

"What about the Daft Punk CD that I found next to the computer?" Vanessa asked.

"I'm going to download that today," Percy said.

"Fine," Vanessa said. "How about your rubber duck collection? Can you move that?"

"I guess I can move it somewhere else," Percy said.

"There we go," Vanessa said. "Now we're making some progress."

"Can you two please stop arguing now?" Terry asked. "We're all working for the same goal here, at least until my Aunt Ellen retires."

The three of them continued to chat, but when I looked away from them for a moment, I noticed that Ellen had headed further down the corridor. I ran to catch up to her, and when I did, she said, "I see that you've met my apprentices."

"They're your apprentices?" I said.

Ellen nodded and then said, "I've been training Terry, Percy, and Vanessa to hopefully take my place after I retire. Let's keep moving, Jay. I'm sure that you'd like to see the laboratory that I set up on the fourth floor."

Ellen wandered down another hallway and then climbed up a flight of stairs until we reached a huge research lab. In some ways, it reminded me of the Academy, but something was off. Instead of the blinding fluorescent lights of the Academy, the lab in Ellen's castle was a little bit darker. Nevertheless, I couldn't escape the feeling that I was back at the Academy.

All of a sudden, I heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the back of the lab. "What was that?" I asked Ellen worriedly.

"It's nothing," Ellen said. As a brown-skinned woman in a lab coat walked by, Ellen stopped her. "Carmen, I think the Jersey Devils are hungry again. Can you please go tell Vanessa to feed them?"

"Yes, I'll do that," Carmen said. She headed downstairs, leaving me a little bit confused.

"Why do you have Jersey Devils?" I asked. "We're nowhere near New Jersey."

"My sister lives there," Ellen said. "She sent me a Jersey Devil for my birthday a few years ago, and Carmen has been cloning it ever since. The devils are quite useful in terrorizing the citizens of San Urbano, but they need so much food, and that scream is just irritating." I followed Ellen out of the lab, and she went downstairs and towards the castle gates. "Are you ready to get started on those souls?"

"I think so," I said.

"I'd like a few souls scattered around the property, but don't go too crazy," Ellen said. "Make sure to keep the most tortured souls near the castle. I want to be able to hear their screams."

"I'll do what I can, Ellen," I said. I walked outside, worried that I wouldn't be able to fulfill Ellen's request. Normally, I focused my efforts on giving the souls that I stole some freedom to go where they wished, not tying them down to a particular location. I hadn't had a lot of practice with this, so something could very easily go wrong. I convinced myself that everything was going to be fine, and I let my powers surge through me as I circled around the castle.

At first, I let all of the souls roam free. All of the stolen souls floated around the castle, and after I calmed my nerves, I focused on a single ghost. I commanded that ghost to stay in place next to the castle, and it obeyed me, even as it let out a cry of pain. I did the same for a few more ghosts, and before long, I had a whole field of souls surrounding Ellen's castle. Hearing all of those tortured souls filled me with sorrow, but I knew that it would make Ellen happy. Wasn't that what counted?

When I was done, I entered the castle again and showed Ellen what I had done. "This looks amazing, Jay," she said with a grin spread across her face. "Did you put some out by the garden too?"

"I didn't know that you had a garden," I said.

"Of course I have a garden," Ellen said. "Poisons are always more effective if you grow the plants yourself." She paused for a moment, and then said, "How about you come back again tomorrow? It's getting late, and I'm sure your parents want you to come home at a reasonable hour."

"Actually, I just live with my dad," I corrected.

"I apologize," Ellen said. "I'm sure that your father wants you to come home at a reasonable hour. Just stop by whenever you're free tomorrow. I'll be home almost all day, and if I'm not home for some reason, one of my apprentices can let you in."

"That sounds good," I said.

"Excellent," Ellen said. "Thank you for everything, Jay. I'll see you soon."

"See you tomorrow, Ellen," I said. I headed out the castle gates and hopped into Dad's car, and as I did, I looked back one more time at the looming castle. Ellen was right. It was even more terrifying with all of the souls crowded around the castle, all simultaneously screaming for mercy. For a moment, I felt awful about what I had done, but that feeling passed quickly. I had helped Ellen, and that was what mattered. I had managed to benefit a real, living person with my powers, and that wasn't an easy feat when my main power was stealing souls.

I left Skystead and drove back into the city, and by the time I returned home, I felt rather proud of myself. I had helped Ellen, and I would do it again the next day. For me, that was an achievement. However, my job wasn't done yet. I still needed to finish the garden, but that could wait until the next day. For now, I could celebrate a job well done.