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  “I’m so glad you’re okay!” Ondrea whispered, tears dripping down her face.

  “Stop being so sweet. Someone’s not okay,” Avery sighed, exhausted.

  Nick’s eyes were open and less glassy. He was trying to fight something that felt like it was killing him. Ondrea ran up to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and began to focus on Healing him, but no matter how hard she tried, he didn’t get any better.

  “NO, no, no! It’s not working! He’s going to die!” Ondrea screamed, tears streaming down her face. Ondrea pushed her Power as hard as she could.

  “It’s going to be fine! You can do it, Ondrea!” Oliver whispered, putting a hand on her back for moral support.

  Oliver felt strange. Nick spoke, “Oliver! Let go!” Oliver did.

  “Why? It was working,” Ondrea whined.

  “Let me ‘Super Intelligence’ this one for you. First, because your Healing didn’t do squat, maybe this isn’t a normal fever. Second, when Oliver touched you while you were Healing me, I began to feel it work, while Oliver, I assume, felt strange,” Nick croaked weakly.

  “I did. Maybe it has something to do with the needle the lab guys put into my skin way back when,” Oliver sighed.

  “Maybe it was supposed to do something to your Powers, which I had, and you didn’t. Maybe whatever was in that needle transferred your Powers to me. When I gave you your Powers back, you didn’t get them! You didn’t get them because in order to Heal a Power sickness after a Power transfer, you need a Master Healer and a Regular Healer!” Nick yelled, having an epiphany.

  “I don’t get it,” Oliver cried.

  “Oliver, put your hand back on Ondrea’s back. Teddy, get behind Oliver because he is going to pass out. Ondrea . . . ”

  “But you told me not to!” Oliver interrupted.

  “Ondrea, keep Healing me!” Nick growled, getting frustrated.

  Everyone got into position. Oliver began to feel very strange and weak as the fever transferred to Oliver’s Powers. After ten minutes, Nick was sure the transfer was complete. He sat up feeling fresh and renewed. Teddy stepped back.

  “Man, he seems fine. I don’t think I need to keep standing here,” Teddy exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

  “Teddy!” Nick yelled.

  Nick raced behind Oliver as he began to fall back. Nick reached him just in time and caught him before he fell off the edge of the school.

  “Sorry,” Teddy breathed. “But thanks!”

  Oliver’s body heated up from the instant fever.

  “Okay! Guys, please stand back and take a deep breath. We all need to focus and remain calm. Ondrea, stand at the head. I need to go to the feet,” Nick instructed. Everyone did as they were told.

  “Do what I do, Ondrea,” Nick commanded. Nick raised his left arm, and so did Ondrea. Their fingers touched and a black line of electricity appeared between them. Nick began to slowly lower his body until he was on one knee. Despite their hands not touching, the electric connection expanded with the distance.

  “Put your hand on his heart,” Nick whispered, energy fading from him. He didn’t want to tell his friends that there was a good chance he could die doing this. But he figured Oliver was worth it. Oliver had Jessica. Nick had no one.

  But Avery noticed, staring at Nick’s face as it dimmed.

  “NICK! Stop! You’re going to die!” Avery screamed.

  Nick saw Ondrea hesitate. Nick had to push harder to maintain connection. He placed his hand on Oliver’s forehead.

  “ONDREA, FOCUS!” Nick cried.

  Green smoke spiraled out from Oliver.

  “Is this supposed to be happening?” Ondrea shouted over the sudden wind. “Nick?”

  Sweat was pouring down Nick’s face. When the green smoke stopped, Nick let out a scream.

  “Nick!” Ondrea yelled. Nick collapsed to the ground.

  EIGHTEEN

  In Which An Unsuspecting Guardian Appears

  Oliver sat up so fast, the blood rushed to his head and he felt dizzy. Teddy helped him stand up.

  “We have a problem, buddy. It’s called Nick,” Teddy whispered.

  Everyone had gathered around Nick. Avery and Rachel stepped up to Nick. Rachel turned into a mouse and skittered up to Nick’s chest. She stayed there for a bit, then squeaked a few times.

  “He’s dead,” Jessica translated, her voice cracking.

  “He knew,” Avery whispered shakily.

  “Avery, what do you mean, ‘he knew?’” Oliver asked, his voice raising.

  “He knew that doing this would kill him. I warned him to stop, I swear. I did!” Avery yelled.

  Jessica screamed and began to cry. She threw herself over her dead cousin and her body began to shake. Rachel turned back into a human and walked away.

  Will yelled in anger and kicked the ground as hard as he could.

  18.2

  From far away, The Stranger heard a child emit a loud shriek. He panicked and ran to his magic Crystal. He concentrated hard as he chanted the cheesy spell that activated the Crystal:

  I hear a child scream. In spirit I must caress the child or children in great distress.

  The ball lit up with an image of a child as The Stranger’s spirit floated toward the image. The Stranger closed his eyes and a second later, he was standing up, surrounded by large clouds—but the specific cloud he was standing on top of was HUGE. To his far left was a brick building labeled Superhero School. In front of him was a sad and horrible scene. Even worse, he recognized a few of the people—the girl from the dungeon, the boy from the dungeon, his nephew Oliver, his niece Jessica, and their friend Ondrea.

  Jessica was sprawled across the dungeon boy’s body, sobbing and screaming, “He’s dead!”

  “What!” Stranger whispered to himself. “The boy’s dead?”

  “I can’t believe Nick’s dead!” a brown-haired boy said.

  “What?” The Stranger whispered to himself, “Nick? That’s my . . . son!”

  The Stranger thought, “He lived through the military and somehow made it here. I’m so glad he is . . . no! He’s dead! If I show too much emotion my spirit will break, and they’ll be able to see me. Wait, he was in the dungeon. I didn’t even recognize my own son after all these years? NOOOO!” The Stranger screeched in pain, not caring who saw him.

  18.3

  Oliver heard a loud shout and flinched in surprise as the man who had kidnapped him a long while back appeared out of thin air.

  “Hey, Stranger!” Avery shouted happily.

  “Hey, Stranger? Go away, you kidnapper!” Oliver screamed at him.

  “My son!” The Stranger wailed, sounding more human.

  “Your son isn’t here!” Jessica yelled, angrily.

  “Yes, he is,” Ondrea sighed. She had used her Power to read The Stranger’s mind.

  “Oh yeah, Ondrea, who?” Will asked, growling.

  The Stranger walked over to Nick and held his son’s limp body in his arms, crystal-blue tears dripping from his eyes—not like the red tears he had previously shed. As The Stranger’s tears rolled down his cheeks and splashed onto his stomach, the shadow faded. For the first time, color came to The Stranger’s face, neck, arms, legs, clothes, and life. All the kids gasped as The Stranger made his transformation.

  “Stranger?” Teddy questioned.

  “My son . . . is dead,” he murmured.

  “Who are you?” Darla asked.

  “He’s The Stranger. Keep up!” Avery exclaimed.

  “No. My real name is Damian. Damian Fletcher,” he stated.

  “No. No, no, no, no, no!” Jessica yelled. “I’ve heard of you! Uncle Damian!”

  “Nick is our cousin. You are his dad!” Oliver growled. “How could you send him away! Now he’s dead!”

  “This seems like a family thing, so I’m going to just go,” Will said, his voice raising an octave. As he turned around, he tripped and plummeted off the edge of the school.

  “Will!” Oliver yelled.

  �
�Don’t go! Your Powers are still recovering. They won’t work,” Damian warned. Damian jumped off the edge. He came up one minute later with an unconscious Will dangling in his arms. “He passed out from fear.” Damian said.

  “Nick’s dead!” Will screamed as he woke up.

  “Hey! Thanks for that, Will!” Jessica yelled.

  “I think I can help Nick. I am a very magical being. Nick had so many strong Powers because I am magical,” Damian boasted.

  Rachel stepped forward. “I can help, too,” she said.

  “The only other person who could help my son is a Morpher,” Damian explained. “You’re not a Morpher, are you?”

  “I am,” she answered. To prove it, she Morphed into a Pegasus.

  “Ah! You’re a high-level Morpher! Only high-level Morphers can Morph into fabled creatures,” Damian said, in awe.

  “I can help Nick,” she repeated. Rachel Morphed into a small white cat. Damian nodded knowingly. Rachel hopped up onto Nick’s chest while Damian touched her tail. A white, glittering line of electricity formed between the two and extended as they slowly moved apart. Then she jumped up and down on Nick’s chest over and over again. Soon her body grayed, and when Rachel had used up her last bit of energy, she collapsed dead to the ground. Two seconds later, Rachel popped right up back into full color, and then Morphed back into a human.

  “Whatever you did, I don’t think it worked,” Jessica sniffed.

  “I think it did,” Damian whispered as he grabbed Nick’s hand. Color slowly returned to Nick’s face. His hair looked fuller, his skin warmed, and his heart began to beat again—seemingly echoing in everyone’s ears.

  “Nick!” Jessica screamed happily.

  Nick’s eyes shot open. “What? I thought I was dead!” Nick shouted.

  Nick’s face lit up with a smile as he looked around at all his friend’s faces. When his eyes came upon his father, his smile turned into a scowl. In his eyes, you could see hatred bigger than a thousand planets.

  “Damian,” Nick seethed. Damian could see the look of pure hatred in his son’s eyes, but all he could do was smile. He smiled because his son was alive again. His eyes filled with tears as he walked up to his son. Nick jumped back as Damian walked toward him.

  “Son, I mean you no harm. Really,” Damian stammered as he stopped walking.

  “So, what? You miss me now? Is that it?” Nick yelled. “You sent me to the military at such a young age just because I believed in magic and Super Powers. Now here you are, happy that I’m alive—when all you did by sending me to the military was almost kill me!”

  “Son, I . . .”

  Nick looked around at all his friends.

  “Why did you guys even let him come here?” he shouted. Darla began to laugh. “What? Darla, what’s so funny?” Nick mumbled, a little worn out.

  “Oh, this is priceless!” she laughed. “Nick! Damian saved your life, dude!”

  Nick turned toward Damian. “Is this true?” Nick questioned.

  “Yes. It is. Rachel helped mostly, but yes,” Damian said quietly.

  “Then tell me why. Tell me why, after all these years, all this time, all this pain and destruction, tell me why you want me to live,” Nick whispered.

  “Because you’re my son . . .”

  “SO! I was your son when I was 3, when I was 6, and when I was 8, but you didn’t care then. You sent me away!” Nick yelled.

  “Who do you blame for sending you away?” Damian asked.

  “You!”

  “And now tell me why. Why do you blame me for that?” Damian said, his voice raising as he threw his hands in the air.

  “It had to have been you!” Nick exclaimed angrily.

  “But it wasn’t me, son. It was your mother. I protested against it for weeks, and we fought and fought. I even moved out of the for a while. I thought about leaving her for good over this, but I couldn’t do it because I still loved her deep down. When I moved back in, I argued against it some more, but she said she didn’t want to hear it. The only reason I ignored you so much after she told you is because I thought, maybe if I didn’t speak to you, I wouldn’t miss you,” Damian explained.

  “That’s not how it works, Damian,” Nick growled.

  “I know that now. Guess what? I did miss you. I asked for weeks afterward if we could somehow get you back,” he remarked. “Do you want to know the real reason she sent you away? I’ll tell you. She sent you away because of me. I had a lot of Powers, son. They were dangerous and uncontrollable at the time. I protested and told her I had started training my Powers with someone, but she didn’t care. I’m still seeing that person, but only because he agreed to keep you safe. I call him The Boss.”

  “Why should I believe you?” Nick sighed.

  “Do you really think I would take ten minutes out of my day to make up that story and then seven more minutes to tell you the story?” Damian asked with his mouth in a thin line.

  Nick just stared at him blankly. “Are we really playing that game right now?” Nick wondered.

  “Fine, listen. You’re just going to have to trust that I didn’t make up that story,” Damian exclaimed.

  “I’ll trust you until I hear another story,” Nick sighed.

  “Nick,” Oliver began, “I have a secret for you. Man, your dad was The Stranger.”

  “What the . . . Is this also true?” Nick insisted, staring at Damian.

  “Yes,” he answered, his tone lighter.

  “Wow . . .” Nick said. “We are going to have a lot more to talk about later.”

  NINETEEN

  In Which New Twins Get Exciting News

  A month later in another place . . .

  “Jason! Bro, I can’t wait to go to this new Superhero School,” Mason shouted, pumping his fists in the air.

  “I think you’re a bit too excited, Mason. I mean, think about it: new friends, strangers, potential evil . . .” Jason exclaimed ominously.

  “Dude, don’t be a baby,” Mason replied. He couldn’t wait to start his first day of school. Mason wondered what people would think of him and his twin brother.

  “Jason and I have brown hair that swishes to one side and we both have vision problems,” he thought. “I wear contacts, but Jason has to wear contacts and glasses. We literally look the exact same. Same brown hair, same pale skin, same small noses, same dimples, same skinny appearance, and even the same clothing size! The thing that helps us stand apart is our personalities. I make a lot of friends, but I don’t get good grades. Jason has a few friends but gets amazing grades. I like to practice using my Powers on the weekends, but I’m always exhausted the entire week after. Jason likes to read about what Powers can do and which ones you can unlock, and he is a champ in the mornings. I honestly wish I could have his good grades. My brother is kind of a dork, but he is really smart and kind, but also shy.”

  “I am not being a baby,” Jason explained, pushing his glasses up out of habit. “Have you not heard of this group of kids at the school? They are like a posse led by this guy named Oliver.”

  “I’ve heard the group is led by this guy named Nick,” Mason retorted.

  “Could be,” Jason said simply.

  A week went by, and Jason was sitting in his room studying while Mason was outside wearing himself out with Power practice. The twins’ phone rang, a third phone the twins shared and kept in their room. Jason stretched out his arm and leaned far to the right, trying to grab it. The phone kept on ringing. Jason stretched one more inch and fell out of his chair.

  “Ow. Ah, man, I’ll just stand up and get it,” he mumbled, rubbing his elbow where it hit the table leg. He picked up the phone.

  “Hi, sorry for the wait. It is time . . . Really . . . I’ll go get Mom!” Jason exclaimed happily.

  He brought the phone to Mrs. Mackenzie. “It’s them!” he squealed as he raced out the front door. Mason was outside stumbling over to a tree to take a break.

  “MASON!” Jason yelled, startling his twin.

&nb
sp; Mason turned so fast that he fell over. When he saw it was just his brother, he relaxed and scooched himself against the tree. “What the dragon scales! You scared the hair off me, man!” Mason gasped.

  Jason ran over to his panting brother. “It’s time! We are going tomorrow!” Jason laughed happily, flopping down beside Mason and getting in his face.

  “That’s so great!” Mason panted, fixing his twin’s crooked glasses.

  “We need to go inside! Mom probably made some really cool dinner for us,” Jason squealed.

  Mason felt hungry after his practice, so he stood up and walked slowly inside while Jason tried to drag him faster instead. Mrs. Mackenzie made her best steak that night, and the twins thought it was delicious! After dinner, Jason streaked upstairs and dove into his bed giggling like a little child.

  Meanwhile, Mason was still slowly stomping up the stairs, rubbing his eyes. When he got to their bedroom, Jason was still in bed, holding the covers just below his eyes and giggling like an idiot.

  “Dude, calm down. It’s just school,” Mason grumbled wearily.

  Jason lowered the covers from his face and looked hard at his brother. Mason’s eyes were red and half closed. Jason knew then he had to calm down so Mason could sleep. He did feel a little sleepy himself. He put his head on his pillow and drifted off to sleep.

  Mason sat up in bed because, despite being tired, sleep wouldn’t come to him as easily as it did for Jason. Mason stared at his twin and listened to his quiet, gentle breathing. Mason then put his head back on his pillow. The last thing he thought before he went to sleep was how much their life would change after tomorrow.

  He didn’t know how right he was.

  19.2

  Oliver looked over at his friends. Ever since they had gotten back from that whole Vork mission fiasco, Oliver, his friends, his cousin, and his sister had been placed in all the same classes. They were almost inseparable.

  There was a beautiful funeral for Mrs. Thomas, and a lot of people cried. Oliver cried more than the others, though. “Oh man, how far we’ve come and how much we’ve been through together,” he thought.