It was a normal day in Cholla Valley, California. The air was crisp and cool as the sun rose into the sky, warming the neighborhood once again. I got out of bed and got ready for school. Today was the school talent show and everyone was practicing and getting ready for the big performance. I wanted to be a part of it, but I was afraid that I would mess up or get laughed at. Besides, I didn’t have a talent to display anyway. As I walked to school I had a strange feeling in my stomach, as if something was not right, but I ignored it. As I walked I saw something move at the corner of my eye, but when I turned my head, there was nothing there. Something was amiss. Every step I took, I felt more and more like something was following me. The sound of footsteps echoed around me. I began to run. The noise became louder and louder as I ran. Louder, louder, louder! To the point that it rang in my head like a storm of lightning was upon me. I had no idea what it was, but I ran faster, and faster. My legs felt like they were going to fall apart, but I continued to run. The sound of loud heavy footsteps pounded behind me. Louder, louder, louder it rang, more powerful than my own. Then my legs gave out. I could run no longer. I breathed heavily, gasping for air, then I turned to face my foe. It was a tall skinny white haired man with a pointed nose and a smug smile on his face. He wore a white lab coat with some rather strange green stains on it, and rubber gloves that were too big for his hands. He bent down to look into my eyes, studying me, never blinking or changing his expression. I told him to go away. He winced, ever so slightly, then straightened his back and spoke in a very deep voice.
“Come with me little girl,” he said.
“I can’t,” I said, “ I have to go to school”
“I’m afraid that you have no choice!”, he barked, as he snatched me by the wrist and yanked me violently away. I screamed and kicked at him, calling out for help, but no one came. The man cackled loudly and shoved me into some kind of hidden capsule hooked up to the back of a large green truck. I hollered and screamed, but no one could save me now. I pulled and pushed at the door, but it was locked up tight. I beat at it with all my might, but to no avail. Minutes passed, my fists were bloody and sore from endlessly pounding at the door. Tears welled up in my eyes, I now recognized the strange man. His name was Doctor Toxic. He was a dangerous supervillain with a goal to turn innocent people into monsters, and use them as human weapons. THe superheros had been after him for months. Tears rolled down my face and I stopped pounding the door. It was pointless. I could not escape no matter how hard I tried. I was trapped. And I was alone.
Suddenly I heard a strange clicking noise and then a whirring of fans. A yellowish green smoke filled the air. I struggled to breath in the foul smelling fog as I tried to fan it all away, but more came billowing down. I began to feel dizzier and dizzier, until my eyes blacked in and I fell unconscious.
I awoke, startled by new surroundings. I was now in a dimly lit spacious laboratory. In a cage. There were many desks and work spaces around me, all covered in paperwork and scientific specimens. In one corner there were shelved with glass flasks, viles, and elixirs of every color imaginable. The sight of it made me shudder with fear of what horrid things Doc. Toxic would do to me. Then, from the shadows a figure appeared. It was him. I screamed and kicked at the bars.
“Let me go you freak!”
“Silence!”
Then a cold hard shock came from the bars of the cage. I jumped back in pain and a devilish smile stretched across his face. Then he laughed mechanically at me and shocked me again.
“So, the little brat’s finally awake!”, he cackled. I tried not to be afraid, but I can tell it showed on my face that I was terrified.
“What are you going to do to me?” I stutter and shake as I speak.
“I'll do to you what I did to the others!”
“Others?”
“Yes, you are test subject number 3!” He then laughed like crazy, flailing his arms around and stomping his feet. “ I’m going to turn you into a disgusting, drooling, savage monster!,” he said slamming the desk spilling paperwork everywhere. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop me!”
“One of the superheroes will stop you!”, I yell.
“The superheroes can't even find me!”, he hollered back. “Face it kid, you’re dead, monster meat, Ahhahahahahahaha!!!” He walks away, back into the darkness of the other rooms, leaving me in the cage. I listen, his laughing grows fainter and fainter ‘till I can't hear it anymore. A thousand thoughts echo around in my head. I don’t want to be a monster. He's going to hurt me.I don’t want to be here. My friends and family must be so worried. I want to go home. Tears start to well up in my eyes but I push them back and stand up straight. I will not be a monster, I have to get out of here. Around the room there is a desk close to the right side of my cage. I ran over to it and reached with all my might to grab it, but it's too far away. Then I stuck my leg out and pulled it forward. The desk had paperwork in the center and some empty beakers on the side, then on the very end of the desk there was a flask with a strange green liquid inside. I pulled out the cork sealing it and the liquid inside fizzed and bubbled, it smelled awful. The stench made my nose flare and my eyes water. Suddenly I heard the sound of footsteps come into the room again. I quickly slipped the flask behind my back and looked around the lab. Doc. Toxic walked up carrying a large blaster-like weapon.
“Say hello to my monster ray”, he said with another evil grin, “I have been absolutely dying to test it out, and you are the perfect test subject!”
I bit my lip, I had to act fast. If I fail, this would be the end. He aimed the gun at me and it began to power up. I stared down the dimly glowing barrel of the ray, ready to make my move. “You’re going to be a wonderful monster!,” he yelled, opening the cage and about to pull the trigger. My heart raced.
“ No...I’m… NOT!”, throwing the flask with all my might, it shattered all over Doc. Toxic’s face spilling the green chemical all over him. He screamed and fell backwards, clawing at his face and eyes, writhing with pain. I jumped out of my prison, and ran towards the exit. I tugged at the door as hard as I could but it wouldn’t budge, he locked it on the way in. I searched the workspaces for a key, but I found nothing. Doc. Toxic stood up. His face was red and burned all over, he had his mouth wide open and he stood bowlegged and shaken. Placing both hands over his left eye, he then turned to me and yelled something I could not understand. He ran at me, mouth open, drooling, clawing at nothing. I had never been so scared in my life. I ran away from him, looking for something to defend myself with. Every second he lurched a little bit closer, I could feel his hands swiping at my hair, closer and closer, breathing hard, nearer nearer, almost there. Suddenly I was not paying attention to where I was going and I smashed into the tall shelf of potions and chemicals. I stumbled backwards slamming my back into the floor. Looking up I saw Doc. Toxic standing over me. Suddenly he jumped back and away from me, and then I knew why. The shelf teetered and swayed, and then came crashing down on me. The weight of the shelf knocked the breath out of me, potions , flasks, beakers, and viles, all filled with chemicals and concoctions spilled on me soaking my clothes. This was bad. The gasses made it hard to breath and the chemicals stung at my skin, but somehow I felt calm. Something deep down inside me was changing. I could feel it. Then I felt something I hadn't felt all day: power. It flowed through my blood, in my bones, I could feel it in my very soul.
Doc. Toxic walked over and lifted up the shelf, he pulled me up and looked into my eyes.
“ Now, back to the cage for you!” He said, “ We still have lots of work to do, and I’m going to have so much fun punishing you and torturing you for what you’ve done.” I was no longer afraid. I stared into his nasty, hate filled eyes and said, “No , it is YOU that will be getting punished!” I swung my right fist and it hit him right in the jaw. Then I lifted my foot and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled backwards into a desk and screamed, “Why you little brat, you underestimate my power!” Suddenly he pulled two ray guns from his utility belt and laughed mechanically, shooting everywhere. I dodged and ducked, bullets bounced off the walls and shattered glass. Then, bullets came at me from all sides, I wished I was protected, or hard to deflect the shots. I closed my eyes
accepting my fate. Moments later I opened them. I looked around, I felt strange. I looked at Doc. Toxic, he had suddenly grown very tall, and so did everything else in the lab. Doc. Toxic stopped shooting and his jaw fell open. His arms swayed at his sides and his knees began to shake.
“Y,y,y, you’re a Turtle!!!!”, he screamed. I looked down at my feet, and indeed, I saw the front legs of a turtle. I was a turtle. Doc. Toxic shook his head in disbelief. I had powers. I then suddenly without warning turned back into myself! I swung my fist at him. I wanted to hit him hard. Suddenly my fist turned hairy and large before my very eyes. The mighty paws of a bear! I slugged him right in the face. He fell backwards and slammed into the ground. He cursed at me as he struggled to stand up again, so I pushed him back down with another swing of my bear paws. He collapsed instantly and crawled away as fast as he could. I was filled with anger and hate for this man. He had hurt so many people, and now was time for his punishment. I then suddenly turned into a large (?) black bear and raced after him. He screamed as he attempted to escape by unlocking the backdoor, but he was too slow. I growled and thrust my bear arms forward, knocking him out of the way. He was cowardly like a baby and begged me to spare his life. I did not want to kill him, but he was too dangerous to let escape. I needed to get the police. So I told him that I would not kill him if he got in the cage. He scrambled over to the cage as fast as he could and locked himself in tight. I did it...
Doc. Toxic coward in the cage. He didn't even try to escape or talk to me. I had just called the police and told them everything. At first they didn’t believe me that I had taken him down all by myself, because I didn't tell them about the strange powers.. But when the superheroes heard me on the phone about the monster ray they said they'd come right away. I wandered around the strange secret base, looking at his evil devices, when I noticed something that made my heart drop. There in the corner of the very last room, there was another cage. There stood two little children. Both little boys, and both with long horns and tiny claws. I could feel my eyes well up with sadness. They didn't look like monsters, but their lives were changed forever by the toxic evil ray. I wanted to free them. But when they saw me coming they shrieked and huddled together in fear.
“It's a bear!” One of them said as they huddled closer to the other. I was still a bear from the fight. I had completely forgotten. I needed to turn back to myself. I tried to change, but I felt too sad. I tried again and again to change back but I was so afraid... (?) turned into a tiny bug. The little boys watched in fear as I crawled around on the ground. I could tell on the looks on their faces they had never seen anything like it. I needed to calm myself. I closed my eyes, took deep breaths in and out and thought of only myself. When I finally opened them, there I was. It was me again! I approached the cage slowly so as not to disturb them.
“Hey little guys”, I said in a reassuring voice, “It's all going to be ok, I'm going to get out of here.” The two boys looked at each other and the biggest smile grew on both of their faces. They hugged each other and pointed to the key to their cage hanging on the wall. After unlocking the caged they jumped out and hugged me so tight, it was like they were never going to let go.
“Are you a superhero?” one of them asked. I hesitated for a moment before saying no, and that i'm just here to help. They looked at me with big happy eyes and said something I would never forget. “Well, you're my superhero, no matter what.” The little boys chanted over and over “She is my hero.” as we walked out. I felt so strong.
As we walked out into the main room, Doctor Toxic noticed me leading the boys out.
“How dare you.” he snarled at me. “First you beat me, then you lock me up, and now you steal my work!” He kicked the bars of the cage and hollered. “You're not even a real superhero!!” Suddenly, one of the little boys ran to the control table and yelled.
“Yes she is!” And pressed his little hand on the cage electrifier. Doctor Toxic hollered in pain and turned red with anger.
Hours later after calling the police, me and the two boys stood on top of his secret base’s roof waiting for the hero’s and police to arrive. His base was high up in the mountains overlooking Cholla Valley. My town. Down there I could see the school and my house. I wondered what to tell my friends and family when they asked where I've been. I thought about it for a while. With my powers I could help a lot of people, but I don’t want people to know who I am. I can’t risk people getting hurt. I had an idea when I remembered what the little boys had said . I used my powers to change my appearance, my body shifted and changed color. I looked like them. I looked like a hero.
Just in time, the police came up to the front of the large house and saw me with the kids on the roof. Behind them came two men in cool masks and bright colored clothing. I recognised them right away. Mega Guy and The Blue Warrior. They were world famous heroes known for their many heroic acts.
After they took Doctor Toxic away, the two superheroes came onto the roof with me. And picked up the boys.
“Where so glad you were able to stop Doctor Toxic, but uh… who are you?” Said Mega guy
“It’s, uh, um, Shapeshifter!” I said. My voice was different and it surprised me to be talking in a strange voice.
“That’s amazing, thanks for your help with taking down Doc. Toxic, we’ve been after him for weeks!” Said The Blue Warrior.
“Trust me, It wasn’t easy!” I said.
We all laughed nervously and talked for a few more minutes, then when the sun began to set, we decided what would be best . I transformed into a bird and flew across the sky back home, knowing that my life would be changed forever.
Being a hero isn’t just something you are, it's a power given to you by others.
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