Stopping the World

When I woke up, I woke up in the headquarters this time, instead of a dark room. Everything was chaotic, and because of this, no one noticed that I was awake. I looked next to me and saw that Michael was there. On the other side of him was Anna.

This time, I felt cuffs on my wrists, and upon further inspection I saw that some were also around my ankles. Great.

Darwin was here now, and once he looked over toward me, he finally saw that I was awake.

“Are you trying to make us give you a concussion?” he asked me. “Because that’s what we almost did. Getting knocked out once, okay. But twice? That could be extremely harmful.”

“Look, what do you want with us?” I asked. “If you’re going to kill us for what we did, just do it already. Or just kill me. Michael and Anna have nothing to do with what I did.”

“Actually, your brother does. His girlfriend, alright, she’s just an innocent that got caught up in all of this, but Michael? He’s the one that first stopped the world in your family. You can’t tell me that what he did, didn’t influence you in any way.”

“I didn’t have any idea that he did the same thing until he told me!” I defended. “And that was right before you caught us, long after I stopped the world.”

“But tell me, your mother at least influenced you, right? She told you never to stop it, and what did you do? You disobeyed her. But you’re not totally to blame. Any human being that is told that they can’t do something... often try to beat that and actually do it. It’s natural human reaction that I didn’t exactly agree with as we... developed life lessons for humans.”

“You act like you created this world,” I said, shaking my head. “That isn’t possible. How do you look like that if the world’s been around for... billions of years?”

“Common conspiracy,” he stated, though I wasn’t sure if it was entirely to me. “I already told you we weren’t the average humans. For all you know, I could be that old. The only reason I look like this could be because my body doesn’t age as quickly as the average human’s.”

“What’s with all the messages, Darwin?” I questioned, changing the topic. “Something important going on?”

“That’s none of your business,” he said, “we’re talking about you, not me.”

“Speaking of,” another voice interrupted, “why are you putting all the blame on Marley? Or me, for that matter? We couldn’t have been the only people who have ever stopped the world.” Michael was awake, and giving his input. I was glad for that.

“Actually, Michael, you were indeed the first,” Darwin stated. “But you’d think, since there’s an earth for each of the four Triplicities, that it was bound to happen eventually. Especially with the way the generations have gone to being more out of whack than the previous ones.”

“‘Triplicities’? I don’t follow,” Michael stated. Darwin sighed.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” he said. “The four triplicities, otherwise relating to astrology: earth, wind, fire, and water. Wind is sometimes also referred to as air. Clearly, going by your origin, your family had earth.”

“Origin?” I questioned.

“Our last name, Marley,” Michael stated. Darwin nodded.

“Precisely! You’re a bit rough around the edges, Michael, but it’s too bad you made your mistake. I would’ve trusted you more with keeping the earth in tact as opposed to Marley,” he stated, looking pointedly at me. “You seem to have more knowledge for it.”

“Hey, my sister may have her moments, but she’s not stupid!” Michael defended for me. But then I gave him a look for saying I had my moments. He shrugged.

“I am going to college,” I pointed out. Darwin rolled his eyes.

“Bravo,” he said sarcastically, “Lots of kids go to college these days. Not exactly an accomplishment until you graduate, though, which you still have yet to do.”

“Why are there four other earths?” Michael asked him. “I mean, what’s the point?”

“Well, for starters, they’re back ups,” Darwin said, raising an eyebrow. “But it’s also to level the controlling so no one family has all of the power. Fire controls all of the heat in the world, whether it be volcanoes, deserts... you name anything that involves heat on earth, they most likely control it. Even having a limited control over the sun sometimes, but I’m not even about to go into that... I don’t even believe that family knows how to use it yet...”

“Wind?” Michael questioned next. Darwin nodded.

“Kind of the opposite. It controls all of the cool areas of the world, except... never mind. And anything that involves cool temperatures, such as winter depending on where you are. Oh, and they also control wind related subjects, such as tornadoes, tsunami’s occasionally... but tsunamis are basically water, so... going into that, the water family basically controls those, as well as have access to any water systems... anywhere in the world, not just the major ones. In fact, they know of some that haven’t even been discovered yet.”

“Why are you telling us all of this?” I asked. Darwin rolled his eyes.

“Because I’m informing you of what your parents never told you,” he stated. “Each owner of the world is supposed to help the world in some way. Clearly, you haven’t done that, and rather, just the opposite. And all of the other families know about you, and one another, so I’m just giving you what they know, basically. You need to know this in case something... ever happens. Like this, for example.”

“Well where are they?” I asked. “As far as I know, everyone I passed while I was out there, was frozen.”

“They probably avoided you, which is a smart idea,” Darwin said. “You have to find them. Generally, each earth can be found in one of the four corners of the world. Never on the same continent, unless you try to make contact, but that could just be... a catastrophe.”

“And what about the center?” Michael asked. I looked over and noticed that Anna was finally coming to.

“We’re in charge of that, while also... keeping an eye on all of you,” Darwin said, “which is a good thing to do, I’ve come to realize. Though after the world’s gone a day without any activity, we are informed about the situation. But you’d think my spy would’ve ratted you out before we found you. Could’ve saved us some time.”

“Your spy?” I questioned, as just then, a door on the other side of the room opened. All of the other people turned to look, but then went back to what they were doing once they saw who it was. The headquarters was filled, by the way, with tons of other people. They paid us no mind as Darwin continued to lecture us. Some people.

“Daddy, I can’t take this anymore! I need my friends back! It’s been so boring out there by myself!” the girl whined. And upon further inspection, I realized that I knew this girl, and I couldn’t believe who it was.

“Amberly? You have to be kidding me!” I shouted, and her and Darwin looked at me. She looked at me disgusted.

“Oh, hey Marley,” she said absently. “Long time no see, huh?”

“Why am I not surprised? I always knew you were evil, besides considering the way you treated me,” I said. “And I’m not that shocked that you didn’t turn us in before your father got to us. You never really were smart.”

“She gets that from her mother,” Darwin defended, while Amberly looked at him in shock. “Same with the name. I would’ve chose something more sophisticated, but no. Her mother chose something... average.”

“Daddy!” Amberly shouted. “Are you almost through with them? I can’t take this anymore!”

“No, Amberly. Now please, go see your mother or something,” Darwin stated, obviously annoyed with her.

“If you’re a... ‘spy’, does that mean you followed us?” I asked Amberly. “Did you follow me and Nick?”

“Well, I tried to. But it’s significantly hard when everything’s frozen and you don’t have your own world at your hands,” she said. “You should’ve never told him. I tried to prevent it.”

“It’s all so clear now,” I said. “That’s why you were always hanging all over him and trying to keep him away from me. Not because you wanted him for yourself, but because you had to.”

“Well, actually... I wouldn’t have minded having him to myself,” she stated. “But you got in the way of that.” I scoffed.

“Whatever. He loves me, not you,” I said. She gasped, and turned away.

“Daddy, would you shut her up?” she asked Darwin. “Seriously, she’s so annoying. And if you choose to build a headquarters, can you please not put it in the middle of Antarctica? It’s freezing down here.”

“Amberly!” Darwin shouted, but it was too late. We already heard what she said.

“Antarctica? Ha, I knew we weren’t near the earth’s core!” I shouted, realizing I had been right. “Why lie, though?”

“Because no one can know where we are!” he said, looking pointedly at Amberly. She looked down, ashamed. “This is just, great.”

“Well that explains why no one has found you,” I said. “People come here occasionally, but they didn’t actually believe anyone lived here.”

“Another thing people were too oblivious to discover,” Darwin stated, annoyed. “I mean, really. It isn’t impossible.”

“Darwin, Galilei wants to speak with you. Send her through?” a person asked suddenly, one of the many official people that were here. Darwin sighed, sounding aggravated, but nodded.

“Might as well talk to her since she won’t leave me alone,” he stated, walking away and towards the big screen on the far side of the room. Amberly followed him.

“Aw, Darwin, so you finally answer my calls,” a woman’s voice stated, as a picture of a woman came up on screen. Darwin grimaced.

“Figured I should since you won’t stop bothering me,” he stated. “What do you want, Galilei?”

“I’ll make this quick, Darwin, since it looks like you’re busy,” she said. “I want the three kids you’re holding hostage.”

“Ha, you in what army?” he asked. “No way. They’re still... learning from what they’ve done.”

“Darwin, trust me, I’m sure being around you has been punishment enough for them,” Galilei stated. “Just, give them to me, or I will have an army, if you really want it. Though I don’t think that’s totally necessary.”

“Or what, hm? What will you do if I don’t give them to you?” The Galilei woman sighed.

“Alright, Darwin. Maybe I can’t threaten you, but... I can make a statement that will overall affect someone in the room,” she stated. “If you don’t give them to me, the world stays as is. Meaning, your precious daughter won’t get those... what are they called? Oh yes, college boys she pines after.”

“What?” Amberly shrieked. “No! Daddy, she can’t do that! I can’t take the frozen world any longer! Please, just... give those losers to her! Who cares about them?”

I made a face, though I wasn’t shocked that she said this. Darwin sighed.

“Please, Daddy? You know I’ll just keep complaining until it happens,” Amberly continued, and then started shrieking. Darwin rubbed his forehead.

“Alright, sheesh! I can’t take it!” he shouted, then turned back to the screen. “Fine, alright. I’ll ship them to you. Though I find it pointless to knock them out again. My blabbermouth of a daughter already revealed where my headquarters is, so it won’t take a rocket scientist to piece together where you are.”

“You never know, Darwin,” she said. “Regular procedure, please. And give me everything they had with them.” And then, the screen went black. Darwin sighed.

“Wait, she said she wants the three of us,” I stated as Darwin came back over. “Where’s Nick?”

“Who? Oh right, the boyfriend that caused this mess,” Darwin said, as he uncuffed us. “We only have you three, so, I guess that means he got away.” He didn’t sound too convincing, though.

“What?” I didn’t understand. How could Nick have gotten away?

I didn’t have time to contemplate before Darwin stuck me, Michael, and Anna with a needle. I knew it would make us pass out.

“A more... natural way, so you don’t end up getting a concussion,” Darwin stated, as everything started to blur.

He may not have seemed that caring, but... at least he didn’t want any of us to sustain a head injury.