Chereads / Kirby System / Chapter 17 - Penny and the Grems!

Chapter 17 - Penny and the Grems!

"Someone please help us! The town is being taking over by weird monsters!" A woman screamed below me. 

I looked at the woman below and realized that something weird was really happening! There were these grey little goblin-like creatures running around knocking innocent people out with their screams and then dragging their bodies away. As a hero, I couldn't just ignore this scene! It would take me longer to get home but people needed saving now! 

With my heroic will burning inside me, I flew down towards the town being overrun with the Grems! Yes, I'm calling them that and yes that is what they will be called from now on. Flying above the town, I looked for any safe spots in it. There wasn't any so I guess I had to make one myself, I grew multiple vine seeds out of my hand and threw them around a destroyed home 

"Excuse me!" I picked up the lady screaming for help. 

"Who are you?!" She asked after screaming almost as loud as the grems. 

"I'm a hero and I'm here to help!" I dropped her inside the house. 

My vines were growing huge! The Grems won't be able to get through those spikey vines with their sonic screams and if they try to climb over it, they'll be stopped by the spikes. Landing on the ground, I put my wings away and made a jester ball in front of my feet. Three grems noticed me but the rest were still busy attacking the town and its people. 

"EVERYONE! COME HERE FOR SAFETY! I WILL PROTECT YOU!" I shouted for any survivors to hear me. 

I hoped my voice was loud enough to reach everyone. Now it was time for a good ole game of kickball I'd say. With a small giggle to myself, I kicked a ball into the head of one of the grems coming towards me and it hit it right in the face! The grem was sent flying into the jailhouse and crashed against the bars. His two friends soon joined him in the jailhouse after being kicked with the other jester balls I made. 

I saw a few people down the street screaming and running towards me for help. At the speed they were going, they wouldn't be able to reach me before being caught by the dozens of grems behind them. Even if I ran or flew to them, I wouldn't be able to handle that many so quickly. Maybe I should try not running towards them then? 

"Help my family please! I don't care about myself but make sure my family is safe!" The man yelled. 

"EVERYONE DUCK!" I shouted as I infused lightning energy into my jester ball. 

"Super Mega Lightning Ball of Justice, go!" I kicked the ball as hard as I could down the dirt road. 

The dad and mom grabbed their children as they dove to the ground together. The grems looked scared as they saw my special move coming right for them and tried screaming at it together with their sonic yells to stop it. My special move wouldn't be taken care of that easily though, my Lightning Ball of Justice cut right through the sonic screams and smashed into the stomach of the grem in the center. Lightning exploded from his body and shocked all the other grems until they all fell on the ground twitching. 

"Get up and run to the vine house!" I yelled at the family. 

Vine house sounds a lot cooler now that I said it out loud. It's kinda sounds like the place where the cool kids hangout or something. Ah, Penny focus! Town under attack by aliens! It's hero time not thinking of awesome names for your superhero headquarters for the future! I used my telekinesis to carry them inside the house. The roof was blown off and my vines were basically replacements for the walls. 

"Wow! Mommy look I'm flying! I'm flying!" One of the children started flapping his arms like a bird. 

"Daddy Look! I'm an airplane! Woosh! Woosh!" Their other child held his arms out behind him as I lifted their family up. 

"Thank you, little girl!" The dad shouted his thanks. 

"Call me Penny! Now stay there while I save the rest of the town and deal with the Grems!�� 

"Thank you Penny! I won't forget what you did for our family!" The mom said. 

"Nothing to it!" I flew down the street, looking for anymore survivors. 

I used my telekinesis to lift some of the rubble of the ruined buildings in my search for people. I was really hoping that no one was under these and injured really badly. Because I didn't know any way of helping people from injuries. That's more of Olivia's area than mine. I'm the big guns of our team! 

Thankfully, I didn't manage to find anyone in any of the buildings. The rest of this town's citizens were being carried away into the desert by the Grems. It made me wonder why were they kidnapping these people? Did they have some sort of queen or king leading them? Or are they just like goblins in games that just want to do bad and be evil? 

I flew up into the air and secretly followed the big group of grems across the desert. None of them noticed me as they carried the bodies of the innocent people further and further into the desert. From up here, I couldn't see anything that looked like a secret hideout or den that these little aliens could hide in. Just where were they going? If they wanted to do something with the people, there wouldn't be able problem just doing it in the town. So, they had to have a reason for bringing these people out here. 

The question I needed help with just got answered. The Grems leading in the front used their sonic screams at the sand below them. The sand started to open up into a strange ruin that was underground. The ones leading the group kept screaming so that the ruins would stay open. The rest of the Grems carried the people inside the sand ruin or temple.  

I finally learned what I needed to learn.  

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" I shouted heroically as I flew down towards the Grems. 

The little aliens panicked and tried to hurry up inside the ruins but I stopped them using my telekinesis. Their bodies froze and levitated as I bunched them all up together in a big ball. This was taking a lot more out of me than I thought it would... I was breathing hard and my hands were shaking even though I felt completely fine a moment ago. Is this because my telekinesis is still at F rank? 

Focus! You need to deal with these guys first before thinking about anything else. After bunching them all together, I opened my mouth wide and spat out an ice bomb to freeze them all. The bomb exploded and made them all into a giant ice ball statue. Phew, that was exhausting to try and do. It felt like I just got done playing tag with a cheetah or something. 

There wasn't as many people captured as there were grems. It took around 4 grems to carry a normal adult and 2 to carry children. If these people woke up, I can't just hope that they would go back to the town after being carried out here. I would have to put dealing with the queen or king grem on hold until I get these people to safety. If only I had Tiffany's splitting ability! I could split myself into two and have one of me deal with this ruin while the other me takes these people back into town! Even Olivia could have one of her summons lead these people back into town! 

I sighed and gave up complaining. No one said being hero would be easy even with superpowers. I tried to figure out a way of carrying all these people back to the town. It was night out and the desert wind was blowing some really cold winds. These people could freeze if I don't think of something quick. Using my telekinesis to carry them all is impossible. After freezing all those grems, I can't pull off something that takes so much energy right now. Teleporting with them was out for the same reason. 

I tried hitting my brain to help give me any ideas of how to help these people with my powers but everything I thought it sucked! All my powers could do was hurt someone or help myself! Maybe I shouldn't have picked to get Marx's super power and should've chose someone like Adeleine with her paint skills. She could probably create an army of whatever she wanted and taking these guys back to the town would be so easy.  

Or if I had Dark Matter's powers! I could clone myself, shapeshift into something that could carry all these people, and possess people! Anyone of those 3 could help me right now. Clones to carry everyone, shapeshift myself into a bunch of hands or something, or possess these people into helping them make it back on their own and then freeing them from the possession. 

I started waking up everyone. Sitting here wondering what to do wasn't helping anyone..  

"AHHH! WHERE AM I!? WHERE ARE THE MONSTERS!?"  

"Where is my mommy?!" 

"Honey! You're okay!" 

I waited until I got everyone up before explaining anything. This way I wouldn't have to repeat myself like a million times. 

"Hey everyone! We need to start walking back to the town before it gets any colder out here! Follow me, I know the way back!" I shouted, getting everyone's attention. 

"Who are you?" 

"Where are we?" 

"Why are we in the desert outside of town?" 

"What happened with those monsters from earlier?" 

I infused lightning in my hands and made a sharp clap to get their attention. 

"I'll answer the questions on the way back! Please follow me for now!" I started walking back towards the tiny town with them following behind me. 

I turned around and walked backwards as I faced them to answer their questions. 

"I'm Penny. I'm a hero who saved you from the aliens. You're in the desert because the aliens tried to kidnap you and bring you back to their hideout. I froze them into that ball back there." I tried to answer their questions all at once. 

Many people looked back at the giant ice ball and let out gasps. If the lightning didn't prove that I was a superhero then the ice ball had to. 

"Thank you for saving us!" Many people started thanking me for saving them. 

"Don't thank me yet. I haven't even got you guys home yet or taken care of the main problem." I was waiting for my energy to recharge itself as we walked through the desert. 

"I'm cold..." I sucked in my teeth at the boy's words. 

Those were the words I definitely didn't want to hear. Only one of my superpowers could heat something up and it was another F rank power. I didn't want to use this skill because I wasn't sure I could control it safely enough to not hurt anyone but I had to do something! Everyone was basically huddled together trying to ward off the cold. 

"I can try and do something about the cold but I'm not too sure it will work out right. Everyone gather around me. I might be able to heat you guys up." I spoke up. 

Their faces lit up as soon as I said I could help them. It made me break out into a smile too but this is going to take a lot of focus. They all gathered around me; I told them to give me a little space because I didn't want to hurt anyone trying this. Their faces looked worried but it was either this chance of warmth or the chilly desert winds. I infused lightning on myself and with all the concentration and focus I could muster, I controlled it to only race around my body and not shoot out or go into anything else. 

I couldn't even see the faces or hear the reactions of the people around me. Focusing on controlling this lightning energy was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It just wanted do whatever it wanted and zap everything and anything! It was like trying to contain a wild starving animal that smelled delicious food outside its cage and did everything it could to try and get that food. It might be the most tiring thing I've ever done but I wouldn't let my own powers overpower me. I also couldn't let myself hurt these innocent people just because I couldn't control something that was a part of me. 

Wait! A part of me? Why in the world was I trying to fight something that was already in my body and mine? That doesn't make sense. It would be like trying to fight against your lungs to force them to breathe. That's not how it's supposed to work! I stopped trying to contain and force the lightning energy surging through my body and let it freely zip through me. The lightning tried to explode and release itself but this time I wouldn't stop it. I just needed to show it where to go. 

The lightning wanted to explode outward but I guided it into shooting upwards. A powerful lightning bolt shot out from my head and I could feel myself gaining more control over my lightning energy. It was like something that was once foreign to me was now family. It also felt so much more comfortable to use my lightning power. 

[Lightning Infusion has reached Rank E!] 

[Affinity with Lightning has slightly increased!] 

"Penny!" I heard someone yelling at me. 

"Huh? What?" I opened my eyes to see that we were back in the town and everyone was completely fine. 

"Thank you! We're back! You don't need to do that lightning thing anymore!" An older girl said standing a few feet away from me. 

"Oh. That's good! I'll be right back!" I flew off towards the vine house. 

"Wait I wanted to---" 

I flew out of earshot before she could finish and made it to the vine house. I used the last of my energy to move the vines out of the doorway so that the survivors could leave. Now I was officially empty. I couldn't use any of my powers that used energy. 

[Telekinesis has reached Rank E!] 

[Control over telekinetic energy has slightly increased!] 

"Penny! You're back! Is the town safe?!"  

"I brought back the rest of the townspeople. It's safe to come out now."  

They rushed out of the house to look for the other towns people and I took to the skies. It was time to deal with the Grems. I might be out of energy but that doesn't mean I don't have other skills that couldn't deal with the Grems. I flew all the way back towards the ruins hidden underneath the sand. During that time, I managed to recover a little bit of my energy back but it didn't matter. I still had that item I could use. My mouth opened wide and a black bomb fell down to the ground. It exploded in a huge explosion that revealed the entrance to the Grem's hideout, I flew in and blocked the exit with vines. 

"Now, it's time to deal with some trouble making aliens for justice!" I smiled.