Part 3: Chapter Eight

     "AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Holden screamed as he crashed through the top of the lighthouse. Remember how the lighthouses were portals? Well, this was literally like the video game "Portal", and Holden exited this alternate dimension and was immediately launched into the sky of his own dimension. He crashed through the bottom of Columbia, his impact rupturing a generator, causing the floating city to lose propulsion and fall down to Earth. The force of the impact detached Holden's robot hand and knocked him out. He continued to catapult through the sky, crashed through the side of his ship, and hurtled into future space; whited out.

     "Arg! We've sprung a leak, Cap'n. Cap'n?" a sailor shouted. "The Cap'n's gone! ABANDON SHIP!!!" Holden's invisible crew jumped off of the ship and into invisible future space ghost lifeboats; rowing down to the planet's surface.

     Holden was biking through Future Town Future Forest on his future bike, enjoying the peaceful quaintness of it all. He made it to the end of the trail and rod out of the trees. He was now in a wide open field with blooming flowers as far as the eye could see. He looked to his left and saw something that he couldn't believe. His dad was there with a woman that Holden couldn't see, but from her back he could see that she wasn't wearing a shirt.

     "I've missed you, Cleo," said George Washington Carver, embracing the woman in a warm and jiggly hug.

     "Ditto," she whispered, giving him a jiggly kiss.

     "NOOOO!" Holden screamed. He jumped off of his bike and ran to his father, pushing the woman to the ground, knocking her out. He grabbed his dad by the neck. "How Daddy? HOW?!?!"

     "Holden, you don't understand. She's your--" Holden squeezed with all his might, watching the life leave his father's eyes.

     "How, Dad?" Holden whispered. He turned around and scanned the field for any witnesses. His eyes locked onto a tuft of red hair about twenty feet away. Dlanor, a small boy who lived down the street from Holden was watching him, his mouth agape, a Crimson Fin action figure dangling from his hand. Holden just stared at him, a terrible feeling stirring inside his gut. Suddenly, he felt himself growing hot, and when he looked down he saw his skin was slowly turning bright red.

     "Hey, Holden!" Dlanor shouted. "What happened to your skin?"

     Holden's eyes began to glaze over. "You killed him," he whimpered.

     "What are you talking about, Holden?" asked the innocent Dlanor. Holden raised his arm, unable to control himself, and uttered his first word of magic, one he knew he must never utter again. "Holden, you killed your father. Why? Holden, wh-AIHHH!" Dlanor atomized, his molecules binding the fabric of time and space.

     "Dlanor," Holden whispered. "I'm sorry."

     "Sorry about what?" Dlanor asked from behind Holden. He spun around to see the young ginger standing in the field.

     "AHHHhh!" Holden screamed, roundhouse kicking Dlanor in the face. His head catapulted through the sky. Holden breathed heavily.

     "Holden, are you okay? You look frightened."

     "NO! IT WASN'T ME!!!" Holden shouted, grabbing a stone and running at his friend. When the deed was done, Holden stood up, breathing heavily. He collapsed, Dlanor's blood caked over his skin.

     Hours later, Holden stood, unsure what had happened. He looked over and saw both Dlanor and his father's bodies. "Dlanor must have killed him," he said. A single tear rolled down his face, and he slurped it up once it reached his lips. Oddly, it tasted fresh, not salty. Then tears were streaming down his face. But no, these weren't tears. It was water. Holden looked up and saw it was snowing. "But, it's the summer?"

     Holden opened his eyes and found himself lying in a snow bank. "Am I on Planet Hoth?" he asked himself as he stood and looked around. He could see Hoth City, the capital of Planet Hoth, in the distance. Immediately he knew what he needed to do.

     Holden trekked through the snow and into the city. Once he found the town hall, he entered and run the bell at the help desk.

     "Hello?" he shouted. "Anyone here?"

     A man brandishing a magnifying glass and wearing a deerstalker cap jumped up from behind the desk. "Well, good day boy!" he exclaimed in a British accent. "What can I do for you?"

     "Well, I just had this whole flashback thing and it made me remember my family. I know it's been one-hundred-plus years or whatever, but I was wondering if you could point me towards a detective to help me find my mother."

     "You're in luck. I'm Earth famous detective Sherlock Holmes, member of the public domain!"

     "Wow, really!" exclaimed Holden.

     "Yes indeed. Now, I'll just look your mother up on my fancy new computer system here. What's her name?"

     "Miranda Secretbees."

     "Let's see here," said Sherlock. "Ah yes! You're in luck boy. She seems to just live in that house across the street that those Mercution thugs with bloody pipes just ran out of."

     "WHAT!" Holden screamed. "We need to go!"

     They dashed over to the house and threw open the door. The place was a wreck. Blood soaked everything. Holden walked into the living room and found his mother laying on the floor in a crimson pool.

     "MOM!"

     "What an atrocious mess," observed Holmes. "Most likely caused by some sort of violence."

     "Gee thanks, Sherlock."

     "Holden," Miranda whispered. "Come closer Holden." Holden crouched to the ground.

     "Mom, I've missed you so much. I mean, not enough to visit you, but I missed you a bit. And you know what, you don't look a day over one-hundred and ten."

     "KCHOKKH! Holden, I don't have much time. You need to take this." She handed Holden a portable hologram pod. "Those robots left a message for you. You need to avenge me, Holden. Avvveeeennngggggeeeeee meeeeeeeee." The light faded from her eyes and she drifted into blissful death.

     "Mom..." Holden whispered, a tear rolling down his face. He put the hologram pod on the table and pushed the button.

     "Hello, Holden," said the holographic Mercution. "It's been a very long time, and you seem to have gotten a bit off track in your attempt to stop me. Yet, you've managed to accidentally thwart my endeavors. Your destruction of Columbia took out all of my cyborg troops I was holding there. However, I will still destroy you with my secret base of science that I'm using to create a virus that will turn everyone into evil robots just like me. OH CRAP! Did I just say that on camera?! Can we just cut that part out? You're kidding me right? We didn't purchase the editing software? Well, let's just get a new hologram then. THEY COST HOW MUCH! Find then. Holden, I seem to have let slip my evil plan, but I still didn't tell you that my science lab is located on Neptune. DANG!" The image cut off.

     "I know what I need to do," said Holden, standing. "Sherlock, make ma an appointment for the noon teleport. I'm headed to Neptune.

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