Protectors of Earth

Puppet and the Puppeteer

The ringing in Zayn's ear, alrted the boy that the screaming from the soldiers had finally stopped. On the ground lay the dead soldiers, each burned to a crisp, almost unrecognizable. He blinked away the glaze in his eyes, and stared down at the murder he committed.

As his eyes filled with tears, he heard laughter come from Natalie and Peter. "Nice work" Peter congratulated, giving the boy a clap on the shoulder. "You are quite an entertaining fellow. I knew I picked the right boy to kidnap."

"Let's make him do it again" the girl begged with a mischievous grin.

Peter was about to agree, when Rebecca interrupted. "I think he should go back to his cell, he looks exhausted. Besides, we need to get ready for Tierra's arrival. You know how much she loves making a grand entrance"

"That is true, Zayn will need all his energy for tomorrow" Peter agreed, watching Trish turn over on her towel so she could tan her back.

"I totally forgot about tomorrow" Natalie gushed, locking arms with Rebecca. "Zayn will definitely need all the rest he can get."

Zayn's head shot up. "What are you going to do with me?"

"You'll see" Natalie giggled, winking at the distressed boy. "But since you did so good today, we shall let you see your friend."

The boy wanted to blast Natalie's smirk right off her face, but he had no control over his actions. He was a puppet and Peter was the puppeteer. "Follow me" the mind controller ordered. "You may not speak or attempt to escape or hurt any of my people, while we walk towards the prison."

On the inside Zayn yelled in protest, begging his body to fight against Peter's words. But his body was too weak to fight against the control. Reluctantly he followed behind Peter. He glanced behind and saw Rebecca and Natalie packing up their pool supplies. His eyes met Trish's brown ones, as she waved him goodbye and sent him a kiss.

He was surprised when he wasn't taken to his usual cell. The two boys walked to the back of the makeshift prison, where there was a large cell, twice the size of Zayn's. "You will not use your powers or try escaping" Peter told him, handcuffing his hands together. Zayn wanted to roll his eyes, but he knew doing that would anger the mind controller.

The door opened once Peter unlocked it with his keys. Inside the cell, sitting on the bench was Paul. Zayn went to speak, but realized he couldn't. He would not be able to say a word until Peter told him to do so.

Roughly, he was pushed into the cell and the door was slammed shut behind him. Zayn pointed at his mouth, trying to communicate to the mind controller to give him his voice back.

Peter stared coldly at the firebender through the bars of the cell. "Fine you can speak, but do not be loud. Tierra will want silence for her sleep" he said, turning away from the prison.

Once the villain was no longer in sight Zayn and Paul embraced, each happy the other was alive and well.

"As happy as I am that you are alive, why the hell are you here?" Paul asked, breaking away from the hug. "Are the others okay?"

"I think they are, but it's been awhile since I saw them."

"How long have you been here?"

Zayn leaned against the wall, trying to figure out how long he had been prisoner. "They got me when me and lads landed in America. On the boat ride here, one of our new friend's died because of Peter. When the boat docked, I went into the woods to clear my head. I thought I was alone, but then Peter and Natalie appeared, followed by the rest of their group.'

'I was forced to go with them and the shapeshifter was left behind to take my place.I tried fighting back, but no matter how hard I tried to break from Peter's control, it was no use. They took me back to their base, as I got to watch Tierra change into me. Since then, I have been here  trying to figure out their plan. It makes no sense for them to leave Tierra to pretend to be me, unless she was sent to kill the boys.