Superhero Epic Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Betrayal

Frank Caiman started out as normal as most teenagers, but certain people are destined for greatness. He lay asleep in his bed as the gentle rain littered the window pane.
"Frank!" a shrill voice shouted from downstairs. "Carter's here!"
At that, Frank jumped up out of his bed and bolted down the stairs. Carter Kang had been Frank's best friend since the two of them were very young, and Frank wasn't going to miss the chance to spend time with him. He reached the bottom of the stairs when Carter greeted him.
"Jeez bro, nice P.J.'s," Carter said with a smirk.
"You've seen me in worse," Frank replied groggily.
"Good point. So, are you gonna get dressed or what?"
"Yeah, hang on." Frank said as he ran back upstairs looking for something to throw on. He found a black pair of jeans and a red T-shirt, he ran back downstairs. "All right, let’s go," he said, pulling on his shoes.
"Don't forget to clean your room when you get back," Frank's mother said.
"All right mom, I will," Frank replied as he and Carter began walking down the street. "So, where are we going?" Frank asked eagerly.
"Another training session with my dad. This time though, he said it was very important."
"Huh, wonder what that's about."
"Dunno, but at least we'll get a training session from it."
They finally made it to Carter's house, and like every time they go to Carter’s Frank just stopped and stared. Carter's house was just a step below a mansion with three floors, not including the basement, five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and a gorgeous kitchen. It had a huge backyard and another large front yard which was locked in by a gate with an intercom to keep out intruders. Carter leaned up to the intercom and pressed a button.
"It's me and Frank, Rupert," Carter said as the gates swung open. They made their way to the front door, where they were greeted by Rupert, the Kang family's loyal butler.
"Welcome sir. Mister Caiman, lovely to see you."
"Rupert, I told you, you don't have to call me mister Caiman."
"My apologies sir."
"Where's dad, Rupert?"
"The last time I saw him, he was in the basement."
With that, both Frank and Carter darted off to the basement. When they got there, however, the only thing they found were two wooden boxes inscribed with their names.
"What's this for?" Frank said.
"Don't know. Maybe this is the something very important your dad was talking about." Carter replied.
Carter walked up to his box curiously, followed by Frank who walked up to his box, which was considerably smaller then Carter's. They both opened their boxes and Carter shouted with joy.
"This is my family's sword! It's been passed down for centuries! What'd you get, Frank?"
"Some kind of scepter," Frank said.
"Must be from the dig dad went on not too long ago," Carter replied.
"Is that all you know about it?"
"Dad said that the villagers think that it has magical powers."
"Well, isn't that something?"
"Hey there is a letter in my box," Carter said as he began reading the letter.
"Carter, I can't say everything I'd like to in this letter, but there is a disc in the house with more information. In the meantime, your mother and I have left due to unforeseen reasons. Give Frank our best. And son, your mother and I love you very much."
After reading the letter Carter's face contorted, and Frank stood dumbfounded.
"This isn't possible! He's never left without notice before, something is wrong!" Carter exclaimed.
"How do you know?" Frank asked.
"Because, I can just tell, all right? He is in trouble and I can't do a damn thing about it! Well I'm going to do something, and I refuse to allow anyone to get in my way!"
"Carter—"
"No Frank. Nothing you can say is going to change my mind. Just go home and take your little trinket with you!" Carter said with tears running from his eyes.
Looking hurt, Frank put his scepter in his pocket and started walking home. When he got there, he explained what happened to his family.
"Oh my god! Carter sounds upset." Frank's mother said with concern.
"He is. I've never seen him so upset in my life. Well mom, I'm going to go clean my room. Let me know if Carter comes over."
Frank went upstairs and made his way to his room. He started cleaning when his scepter began digging at his side.
"Stupid thing," Frank said as he took the scepter from his pocket and threw it at the wall. After it hit the wall, the scepter emitted a beam of light which was aimed directly at Frank's head. "Okay what’s going on here?" The scepter then shot into the air and began hovering. It then fell on its side and began spinning. "What the hell is this thing?" Frank said as the scepter abruptly stopped spinning and shot toward Frank who caught it. "Carter was right about this thing being magical. I wonder if his sword is giving him this much trouble." No sooner than Frank had said "sword" did the scepter turn into a sword. "What other surprises does this thing have? I wonder if it can change into other weapons." "AXE," he shouted and the scepter transformed into an enormous battle axe, that he shouldn't have been able to hold up, but for some reason it felt light as a feather. "Man, this is awesome! I can't remember feeling this strong. I'd better put this away for now, though." Frank said as he went back to cleaning his room.
Meanwhile, Carter was searching his house trying to find the disc his father said was hidden.
"Goddamn it! How the hell am I gonna get to my dad if I can't find this damn disc?" At the word "disc", a projector came from the ceiling and began beaming an image into the center of the room. A slight humming filled the room as the projector began to focus. The Image then became three-dimensional and began speaking.
"Carter, I'm sorry I had to leave, but it was inevitable. A local crime organization has picked up on my artifact collecting and has come after me. I left to keep you safe; they're after me and my possessions, not you. Now, I'm sure you've always known that you were an incredibly gifted child, but you have no idea how gifted. When you were a child, your mother and I discovered that you had the ability to move objects with your mind. Not only did you have powerful telekinetic abilities, you were also an incredibly gifted telepath. Eventually, this became a concern for your mother and me, so we sent you to DracoCorp Laboratories to suppress your abilities and remove your memory of ever having them. Your mother doesn't want me telling you this because she's afraid that you will be corrupted by your abilities. But you are destined for greatness and you have been held back for far too long for you to not realize your full potential. Just know that I love you, and I will be home soon."
After hearing the message, Carter just stood dumbstruck, absorbing the information he had just received.
"How can this be possible? I've gone my whole life having these abilities and I didn't know about it? That's not-" at that moment, Carter found that he could no longer speak due to a massive pain in his head. A horrible screech then filled the air as a telekinetic pulse emitted from Carter and nearly destroyed the room he was in.
"Finally I am free from that wretched prison!" A distorted voice said.
"Who's there?!" Carter demanded. The same eerie voice replied.
"You mean you can't tell? I'm you, silly boy, just the you that thinks more clearly."
"You can't be me, I'm me!"
"Then explain how I have no body or form to speak of if I am indeed not you."
"You're just a voice in my head!" Carter said, panicking.
"Really? Well, then, if I was a voice, I suppose I wouldn't be able to do this," he said as a table shot across the room.
"What do you want from me?" Carter said, trying to reason with what he originally believed to be a voice.
"Just your cooperation. I do not like the idea of sharing this mind with you, so either allow me to take over your mind, or I can simply take it from you."
"I don't get a choice?"
"Of course you do. Your choices are: let me take over your mind, or I can take it by force."
"Um...okay... What exactly is it that you want to do?"
"To remove everyone that stands in our way of greatness, no matter how close you are to them."
"You're talking about Frank! Forget it! He's my best friend!" Carter said angrily.
"That's what he wants you to think. Why do you think he was always trying to gain your father's favor? He was trying to replace you."
"That's not true, I can't believe it!"
"Do you need further proof? Very well. He is the one who convinced your mother to tell your father to ship you off to boarding school."
"I remember that fight. Mom told dad that boarding school was good for me, but dad wasn't having it. I must be going crazy. This is starting to make sense." Carter said confusedly.
"The truth usually does. If you do not believe me, perhaps I should convince you further. Let us go to the security room." Carter obeyed, and when they made it to the security room, a tape suddenly began floating in the air and then went in the V.C.R. What Carter didn't know was that the darkness within him put a blank tape with no information on it into the V.C.R. Carter saw a video image pop up on the screen which contained Frank.
"Man, I can't wait 'til Carter gets shipped off to boarding school. Then I can get some of this stuff!" The tape then abruptly stopped.
"You see? He is jealous of what you have and wants to take it."
"You're right," Carter said with tears in his eyes. "I didn't want to believe it, but he is just like everybody else! All he wanted was my stuff!"
"Now you're thinking properly."
"What happens now?"
"We shall become one, and I shall take complete control of your mind. We shall cease to be we and become I. Then, we shall remove everyone that stands in our way, especially Frank. Eventually, we will create a grand army, and the earth shall tremble at our feet!" The merging process began immediately. Carter's face contorted and became worn. His eyes gained a yellow tint and became bloodshot. Most noticeably, his already pale skin became grayish and gave Carter a dead look. Carter and the "voice" had become one.
"Frank must pay for what he's done!" Carter said in his new, distorted voice, as he began floating. He tore out a window in the room he was in and flew out it.
Meanwhile, Frank had finished cleaning his room and was about to go out.
"Where are you going?" Frank's father asked.
"To get some blank CD's and some batteries," Frank replied.
"Don't forget to get your brother something for his birthday, it's tomorrow."
"I will dad, don't worry," Frank said as he left.
Carter arrived at Frank's home ten minutes later. He walked up to the front door, ripped it off its hinges, and sent it flying into the air behind him. He went inside, where he found Frank's father walking toward him.
"Carter? Is that you? What happened to the front door?"
"I ripped it off its hinges," Carter said smiling.
"You did what? Why on earth would you do that?!"
"I'm here to kill you and your family."
"You've got to be joking."
"I've never been more serious in my life."
"Well then," Frank's father said while grabbing a baseball bat, "if it's a fight you want, then that's what you'll get!" He started swinging the bat at Carter, who then used his telekinesis to pry the bat out of his hands. The bat then struck Frank's father in the stomach, hard enough to cause internal bleeding, and then, with a massive force, the bat was shoved down his throat.
"One down, three to go," Carter said smiling. He made his way to Frank's brother's room, which was on the first floor.
"Carter what are you doing he—" he couldn't finish his sentence due to an enormous pain in his head. A horrible screeching then filled the air as Frank's brother's head exploded.
"Two more." He then went into the kitchen where Frank's mother sat, cowering.
"Go on, kill me. I saw what you did to my husband." She said.
"Why haven't you called the police?"
"What could they possibly do to stop a freak like you?"
"Very well," he said as he then broke out a window and several glass shards started encircling Frank's mother. Then, he took every knife and sharp object from the kitchen and sent them into orbit as well. Every now and again he would let one of the knives or sharp object cut her ever so slightly just to increase her pain and suffering little by little. With a shuddering jolt, the knives and other objects stopped in mid air and plunged, skewering her, killing her instantly.
"What the hell are you doing you bastard?" Frank screamed as he walked into the kitchen.
"Good you have arrived. I thought I might have to go search for you."
"Answer my question, what the hell are you doing?"
"Getting rid of all that stands in my way, including you!" Carter said as he flung Frank to the ground.
"We’re supposed to be best friends! Why would you do this to me?"
"You've always been jealous of my life. I've just now realized how eager you are to take it from me."
"You're insane! I won't let you get away with this!" Frank said while getting back to his feet.
"You don't have a chance against me!" Carter said while knocking Frank unconscious."Worry not, Frank. I'm going to spare your life. However, know this: you are alive only because you have not suffered enough. When you have endured the pain of a thousand broken hearts, you shall be destroyed. Carter flew out of sight, and just when he was gone Frank awoke and began sobbing. After crying for nearly an hour, Frank went upstairs grabbed his scepter and a few other items and left his house behind.