"What is that?" Jenna screamed, as the intense wind blew back her long brown hair.

"I hate to say it, but I think we all know." Shane yelled to be heard over the wind.

"But that's impossible!" Jeremy exclaimed. "He's locked up!"

"Apparently, not anymore." Alyssa said grimly.

Quinn didn't say anything, she only stared at the figure in the distance with her mouth open.

I scanned the panicking crowds, all running from the south of the Kingdom.

Where was Mom?

"Well, come on!" Shane yelled. "We have to fight him!"

Jeremy grabbed Shane's arm, holding him back. "Are you crazy?" He yelled. "News flash: Our dads could barely stop him. We can't fight him!"

"We can't just let him get away!" Shane argued.

"We'll be no good dead." Quinn finally spoke up. "What's important now is that we get out of here."

"She's right, Shane." Jenna said. "Come on, guys."

Still no sign of Mom.

"Shane." Quinn stared at me as the others turned to run. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

My house was in the south of the kingdom.

"My mom is still out there."

Quinn's face whitened. "Cameron, don't you dare-"

Too late.

I jumped over the wall, aiming for the water pond below.

Please don't miss...please don't miss...please don't miss!

I could see the pond, but it was a few blocks away from where I was going to land.

I squeezed my eyes shut. This is the end, I thought. Of course, I messed up. Should have known my mess-ups would eventually kill me. They've always screwed up my life, looks like they're ending it, too.

I braced myself for death.

Here it comes...

SPLASH!

Water flooded my lungs, and I did the first thing that came to mind. Swim.

I gasped for air when my head broke the surface. How was I alive? I should be a Cameron-pancake on the ground right now.

No time to question, the actually smart part of my brain told me. We have to go find Mom.

That part was the stupid part, considering the fact that Mom was somewhere in the south region, and the south region was currently being terrorized by someone we all knew and hated.

Darklox.

We all knew the stories. We all knew what he had done. Problem was, he was supposed to be locked up.

Looked as though he had managed to get free.

Lucky us.

I climbed out of the pool, and set off at a run toward the south region. I turned to see if anyone was following me, and saw Quinn being dragged away by Jenna, presumably to safety. She kept her eyes on mine, and seemed to say "Don't do it."

I tore my eyes away, and kept running-or at least attempted to. I tripped over my own two feet, and ended up faceplanting into the ground.

Typical, I thought.

Peeling myself off of the ground, I set off at a run again, and it wasn't long before I could see my house in the distance.

"Mom!" I called, but my voice was swept away by the wind.

My run slowed to a walk as the wind got stronger, threatening to send me flying along with everything else.

There.

I could see her in the doorway of my house.

Why wasn't she running away?

I could see her mouth moving, but I couldn't hear anything over the wind.

Then I saw it.

There was a barrier in front of the door, blocking her from escaping, I looked around, and a similar barrier was on every door, barricading people inside homes.

...What?

Suddenly, the wind stopped. I looked around in surprise. Was he gone?

I ran towards my mom, and instantly faceplanted into the barrier, knocking me backwards onto the ground.

I got back up immediately. "Mom!"

"Cameron, you have to get out of here, go!" Her voice sounded muffled from behind the barrier.

I started pulling at the barrier. "No, Mom, I can get you out, we can find Dad, it's going to be oka-"

I was cut off by a sudden force yanking me upwards into the air, and the wind started up again. I could hear my mom screaming below, but all I could process was the man across from me.

The man with bright red eyes.

"Woah, woah, hey, time out!" He laughed, holding me in place. I tried to move, but I was completely frozen.

"What have we here?" He questioned, staring me down. He looked down at my mom, and back at me.

"Oh, don't tell me. You're Ssundee's son, aren't you?" The grin on his face was sadistic.

I didn't say anything, but he laughed. "So it's a whole family? Oh, this is just too good! First that imbecile Sky, and then the rest of them follow suit? They really thought they could just move on? Ha!"

He got closer to me. "What did'ja think you could do, kid? Come up here, save your mother and get out without a hitch? Newsflash, kid. I'm a being of pure energy with no weakness! You can't stop me!"

I have to admit, I was scared out of my mind. I didn't even try to speak. But I couldn't help but wonder, if he has no weakness, than how did he get captured? He must be lying.

"Hmm, you're too scrawny to be of any use to me. And your mother, well, I don't need her, either. If anything, killing the both of you will be just enough to break your father!" He grinned maliciously.

No. I thought. Please no.

"Here, kid, I'll let you see one more thing before you die." He laughed, and snapped his fingers.

And I had no choice but to watch as the roof caved in on my mother, as well as everyone one else trapped behind a barrier.

...No! NO! THIS ISN'T FAIR! MOM!

I wanted to kick and scream and cry and attack all at the same time, but I was frozen in the air, completely vulnerable to anything.

Darklox turned to me, smirking. "Man, you humans really are pathetic! I mean, really, a few hundred tons of blocks fall on top of you and that's it? You're no more?" He laughed. "Your turn, kid."

I braced myself for death for the second time.

"It's good to be free." He said, and before I knew it, I was flying through the air, headed straight toward the ground.

I admit it- I screamed like a little girl. And I'm okay with that now. If you're being hurtled through the air straight toward the ground at alarming speeds, you should be allowed to scream like a little girl.

I slammed into the ground, and could literally feel my hearts drop.

How was I still alive?

I felt dizzy, and it felt like every bone in my body was broken, but I was alive.

I slowly moved my head to look up, and saw Alyssa standing there, with Jenna behind her.

Alyssa had some sort of gun with her, and smiled at me when she saw me look up.

"Half a heart is left but don't die, die, die."Jenna grinned. Her grin was quickly replaced by a look of determination. "Alyssa, help me get him to the others. That gun might have stopped him from dying, but I don't think that means he feels the best right now."

Alyssa nodded. "Right."

Together, they helped me to my feet and half-carried, half-supported me all the way to the gate, where the others were waiting.

--------------------------------------

YAY FOR ALYSSA AND HER AWESOME SPACE EQUIPMENT, AM I RIGHT?

So this is basically showing that yes, the kingdom was indeed attacked, and all of the other kids made it out alive.

There are three references in this chapter, two are fairly obvious, when another is kind of vague (hint: think "Incredibles"). See if you can figure out what they are!