I see Lord Snider run towards us and we both hide in the shadows behind the wall. Lord Snider stops at the other side of the wall to catch his breath and Rickie and I both exchange glances, not knowing whether to be worried about being seen or to laugh at the ironic situation of him being so close to us and not knowing.
We hear him start to talk on his mobile and listen carefully.
“Officer Dobson, I want you to send police officers around to my headquarters this instant!” he commands angrily.
He suddenly goes quiet as he listens to whatever’s being said on the other side of the phone line.
“What?!” we hear him yell furiously. “What do you mean? How can the city police stations be destroyed?”
Officer Dobson must be telling him what else we’ve been up to so far and I feel happy that the others managed to pull off their part of the plan.
“All the police stations and all my buildings as well?” We hear him rant angrily.
We try really hard not to laugh and give ourselves away, but we risk a quick peek over the wall and see him throw a tantrum and start to cry. We duck back down and cover our mouths, trying hard not to have hysterics.
“Those freedom fighters will pay for this!” he rages furiously and then continues his conversation on the mobile. “Gather all my employees; we need to leave the city immediately.”
He hangs up the call and then leans against the wall defeated. “All my plans, all my dreams ruined,” we hear him yelling to himself. “Those stupid brats may have won this battle, but they’ll never stop me dominating elsewhere.”
We hear him laugh evilly as he runs away towards his helicopter which is parked further down the grounds.
“Oh no, he’s getting away,” I say, wondering what we are going to do.
“Don’t worry, he can do a runner if he wants to,” Rickie says. “As long as he’s not dominating the city then it’s cool.”
We watch him get inside the helicopter and take off into the sky, flying out of sight.
“At least we did it,” I say and feel excited. “We got rid of Snider.”
“Yeah we did,” he grins and hugs me back, “and now maybe the city will be safe.”
Chapter 26
Once we arrive back at our temporary base, a celebration has already begun as news of Lord Snider’s departure has spread. Sarah runs towards me and gives me a hug.
“Did you hear about Snider?”
“Yeah, we just watched him leave,” I giggle. “He was even throwing a tantrum.”
Carl laughs too. “Looks like he’s left for good and he’s taken some of his evil workers with him.”
“But what do we do now?” asks Sarah. “We’ve got rid of Snider so I suppose we don’t have a job as a freedom fighter anymore.”
“We need to reclaim Twilight City,” answers Carl. “Now that Snider is no longer dominating we can return to the way things were all those years ago.”
“I bet your parents are gonna be so proud,” Rickie says to me. “Imagine us being the ones who got rid of Snider.”
“I know, I still can’t believe it,” I say happily, “and I really hope they are proud, if they really are watching over me.”
Rickie smiles and pulls me close for a long kiss. We finally part from each other moments later and I gaze into his eyes, feeling so in love with him.
Rickie is about to lean forward for another kiss when Kat appears beside us.
“Carl! Rickie!” she says urgently. “There’s someone here to see you.”
Carl and Rickie exchange glances. “Who is it?” Carl asks her.
“Her name is Marlene, she says you both know her pretty well,” Kat explains and lets the woman come forward to speak to Carl and Rickie.
The woman is tall and thin, her long black hair cascades along her back and her brown eyes sparkle as she looks at them. I see that both Rickie and Carl are shocked to see her and I’m not sure whether that’s a good or bad thing.
Marlene’s eyes suddenly fill with tears as she smiles. “Carl, Rickie, I’ve missed you both so much,” she puts an arm around each of them and hugs them close, tears of happiness roll down her cheeks.
I smile, feeling tears in my own eyes as I realise who she is.
“Mum, what are you doing here?” Carl asks her looking stunned.
“I needed to see you both,” she says wiping her eyes. “I’ve been looking for you both for years and I’ve missed you every second you’ve been gone.”
“We’ve missed you too, Mum,” says Rickie, smiling up at her. “It’s awesome to see you.”
“Why did you run away all those years ago?” she asks them, looking upset and hurt.
Don’t you know?” Carl asks her. “We didn’t want you and that idiot making us work for Snider when we knew it was wrong.”
“You were so unhappy about it you really wanted to leave me?” she asks, starting to cry.
“Sorry Mum, but we needed to be freedom fighters,” Rickie explains. “We never really wanted to leave you.”
“We had no choice, your husband made sure of that,” Carl answers sounding annoyed.
“I’m so sorry I let you down. I was very upset when you both ran away and I was so worried. I searched for years, hoping that one day I would find you…” She continues to cry and Rickie puts his arm around her.
“Don’t cry, Mum,” says Carl, looking worried. “We know it wasn’t really your fault.”
“Yeah, we’re together now, right?” says Rickie.
Marlene smiles, “Yes, we are and I’m so relieved that I have found you, I was almost giving up hope. I was so proud of you working as freedom fighters; you must have worked so hard.”
“But why couldn’t you have become a freedom fighter with us?” Carl asks. “We really needed you.”
“I wish I could have, but it was not the right time,” answers Marlene. “I still let myself be bullied and ordered around by your stepfather and I couldn’t get away; but no matter what he said or how much he tried to make me forget, I still loved you both and thought about you.”
“So where he is now?” Rickie asks. “I thought he wouldn’t have let you see us.”
“Don’t worry, I left him shortly after you both ran away,” she tells them. “At least having something so awful happen made me see sense about him.”
“Cool,” says Carl and looks happy. “So we can live together again, at home?”
“Of course we can,” she answers.
“Mum, since you’re here now, there’s someone I really want y’ to meet,” Rickie grabs hold of my hand and leads me over to meet her. “Mum, this is my girlfriend, Star.”
“Hi,” I say and smile shyly at her. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Marlene smiles back at me, “Hello Star, I’m pleased to meet you too,” she looks at Rickie. “I suppose it’s serious between the two of you?” she guesses.
“Yeah, they’ll probably get married one day,” Carl tells her and grins at us. Rickie and I blush.
“In that case, I can’t wait to meet your parents,” she says.
I look away sadly and Rickie squeezes my hand for support.
“Star’s parents died when she was a baby,” he tells her.
“Oh, I’m very sorry,” she says apologetically. “Well you’re very welcome to be part of our family, Star.”
She gives me a hug and I feel tears of happiness in my eyes. For the first time ever I finally feel as if I’m part of a family.
“So she can really stay with us?” Rickie asks her. “Please, she hasn’t got anywhere other than here to stay.”
“I would be happy for you to stay at our house,” she tells me and I have to try really hard not to cry.
“Thanks,” I say and Rickie hugs me excitedly.
“How about we go back home tonight?” she asks us excitedly. “I can easily make up the beds and you can get your things and move in properly tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Carl agrees, “but first we’ve g
ot a party to attend.”
After all the excitement of Carl and Rickie being reunited with their Mum I almost forgot about the party happening around us.
“Guys, check this out!” Bryan calls to us and we all rush to the window to look. Outside the people of Twilight City are having their own celebrations now that they’re free from Lord Snider.
“Looks like they’re happy,” jokes Rickie.
“Let’s just hope Snider stays away,” says Carl.
“He will, bro,” says Rickie. “Star and I heard he was moving to try and dominate somewhere else.”
“Once he does try, we’ll be ready,” Carl smiles. “If he thinks we’re going to let him do the same somewhere else he’s wrong.”
“We’ll hear from the other freedom fighters if he does,” says Bryan. “I’ll send them all a warning email and they can contact us if he tries to take over their cities.”
“Come on, let’s go join the party outside,” suggests Rickie and takes my hand as we run outside to join everyone.
Carl, Marlene, Bryan and the rest of the freedom fighters are soon all outside in the streets as we join the public celebrations. Everyone is congratulating us and look really happy, some are even crying because they’re so pleased.
Rickie dances around with me happily and I snuggle into his arms, “this is the best day ever,” I tell him. “We’ve got rid of Snider and you’ve found your Mum, plus I get to be part of your family and stay with you.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait,” he replies. “It’s gonna be awesome, me and bro being back with our Mum and you being there with me too. It’s a new beginning…”
We stare into each other’s eyes for a few seconds and then share a long kiss while fireworks light up the sky above us.
When Rickie finally gets the call to say that the evil dictator Lord Snider has now been found, he and Starlet go straight to Dragon City to find out what he’s up to; but they soon discover that he’s not after revenge or to reclaim Twilight City.
Lord Snider is now planning to take over Dragon City instead and wants to kill the Mayor in order to dominate. Rickie, Carl, Starlet and the others must return to their roles as freedom fighters and begin a new fight to protect another city from evil.
Turn the page to read sample chapters.
This story is told by Rickie.
Chapter 1
There’s a delicious smell of bacon wafting from the kitchen and I smile as I walk in and see Starlet making breakfast.
Starlet has been my girlfriend for a year and a half now and we met when we were both working as freedom fighters. I’ll always remember the day she strolled into our secret base looking as gorgeous as ever. Once I’d caught sight of her I knew instantly she was the girl for me.
After a night of flirting and dancing at the party, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I sent her pink roses with a message and mobile number on the tag, hoping for a date. Luckily she accepted.
After our second date, when we nearly got arrested and shot at by corrupted police officers, I told her how I felt and she became my girlfriend. That was one of the best nights of my life.
Starlet is still working as a dancer, doing it full time now instead of part time, so she’ll be at rehearsals later on. I’ve been working as a trainee mechanic for the last few months, so I need to leave in an hour to start my shift at the garage.
A lot has changed for all of us since we took back Twilight City over a year ago. Back then my older brother Carl and I had been working as freedom fighters, trying to defeat an evil dictator named Lord Snider. Luckily we forced him to leave the city thirteen months ago but he’s still out there, most likely trying to plan another attack and wanting revenge. The rest of the freedom fighters have been working hard trying to track him down, but so far we haven’t been able to find him.
Carl and I managed to find our mum, who we hadn’t seen since we ran away from home a few years ago to become freedom fighters. It was a pretty hard decision to leave her, but we didn’t have a choice back then. We were being pushed out by our stepdad, who was trying to force us to work for Lord Snider like him. My mum never did anything bad, but we still hated how she’d always take our stepdad’s side and never dare stand up to him.
After we ran away from home, I was pretty angry with her because it felt as if she had chosen our stepdad over her own kids and didn’t really care about us. Luckily our mum eventually tracked us down and we found out we were wrong. Instead of my mum and stepdad living happily without us, she ended it with him and spent years searching for us. I’m really glad she found us in the end and we became a family again, with Starlet as a new member.
Things were kind of weird at first because we hadn’t seen her for years and so much had changed with our lives. Our house still looked the same and mum had left our bedrooms exactly how we left them. We had a lot of catching up to do with mum and now things are cool with her. With our stepdad still off the scene, we’ve put all that bad stuff behind us, and being away from her has become a distant memory.
It’s amazing having Starlet here living with us too. Starlet is an orphan and didn’t have any family to stay with, but obviously things are pretty serious between us, so I was happy when she moved into our house and became part of the family.
Everyone else in our team seemed to move on with other stuff as well now that we’re not really needed as freedom fighters. Carl was elected as the new city Mayor to take over from Lord Snider, so he’s always mega busy.
As for the rest of our friends, Bryan now works as Carl’s assistant instead of training freedom fighters. Starlet’s best friend, Sarah, has been working as a make-up sales assistant in one of the department stores. Josh still works as a spy, but for the police now instead of us.
My best friend, Mick, is still teaching self-defence, karate and other martial arts at his new studio. Kat still works as a trainee nurse practitioner for the local hospital and is now onto her second year of medical training at college.
Like I said, a lot has changed since we were freedom fighters.
I feel hungry and walk over to Starlet to see if breakfast is nearly ready.
“Hey babe,” I say and grin at her.
“Morning Rickie,” she smiles and her eyes sparkle with happiness.
She looks as hot as ever, even though her long blonde hair is messy from sleeping and her green eyes still look tired. She’s really pretty, five foot five in height, and has a slim but curvy figure. She’s still wearing her summer PJs and looks so sexy.
My appearance is pretty different to hers. My hair is black, always spiked up with gel, and my eyes are brown. I’m taller than her, just under six foot, and I’m slim with toned arms. Starlet says I’m handsome, but I’m definitely not one of those cocky, big-headed guys who fancy themselves. I’m more of a funny and flirty sort of guy.
“You made me breakfast?” I ask hopefully, my stomach begging for some crispy bacon.
“Yeah, I thought I’d surprise you.”
I feel touched and give her a hug, holding her close, “you’re the best girlfriend ever.”
I’m planning to take her somewhere later on today and she’s gonna be so surprised and happy when she finds out. It’s been hard work but it’s definitely worth it.
I smile and pull her closer, giving her a long kiss.
My mobile starts to ring and buzz in my pocket, so I reluctantly stop kissing her, “sorry, I better get this.”
I pull the mobile out of my jeans pocket and check the screen. I’m expecting it to be someone from the garage, phoning about some emergency job, but the caller ID says it’s from my best friend Mick.
“Hey,” I answer.
“Hi Rickie,” I hear him reply. “Are you okay to talk?”
I’m surprised to hear from him so early in the morning so I know it must be important, “Yeah sure, what’s up?”
“It’s about Lord Snider. We’ve found him.”
Chapter 2
I almost drop my mobile in
shock. I see Starlet look over at me, wondering what the phone call is about.
“So you’ve found him? Where is he?” I ask, starting to feel anxious in case there’s something bad going on.
“We’re not sure of his exact location but he was spotted here in Dragon City an hour ago. I think there’s something going on, Rickie; he seems to be working on something.”
“I’ll let Carl know and get back to you,” I reply. “Laters.” I quickly hang up.
“Do you know if Carl’s up yet?” I ask Starlet.
“I haven’t seen him, so I guess he’s still in bed,” she answers. “His sports car is in the driveway so he hasn’t gone to work.”
Carl is pretty lazy in the mornings so it isn’t a surprise that he’s still buried under his duvet.
“Why? What’s the matter?” she asks, looking concerned.
“That was Mick, he said Lord Snider has been spotted in another city and we think he’s up to something.”
Starlet’s eyes go wide with shock, “That’s awful. Do you think he’s going to try and attack Twilight City again?” she looks nervous and I don’t blame her.
Lord Snider caused heaps of trouble the last time he took over our city. He stayed in power for nearly seventeen years before we managed to defeat him. He had murdered a lot of people, including Starlet’s parents, so I know we have to stop him.
“He’s not sure yet,” I answer her question, “but we’d better find out. I’ll go and wake Carl.”
I manage to drag my older brother out of bed, although he groans lazily and is pretty annoyed with me for waking him up earlier.
“Sorry bro, it’s an emergency,” I explain. “Mick has found where Snider is.”
He soon becomes wide awake after hearing that, “I’ll be down in ten seconds,” he promises and I leave him to get changed.
Soon we’re all sitting in the kitchen, talking it over and eating the toasted bacon sandwiches that Starlet has made. I don’t feel so hungry now, after the shocking news, but I try to eat them. It tastes so delicious that after a few bites my appetite magically comes back. Starlet nibbles on her breakfast, looking anxious too. Carl is still tired and half asleep, but he’s already wolfing down his share and reaches for extras.
“Thanks, Star. These bacon sandwiches are so good,” he says, gobbling down the last one.