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  “No, I mean, how are you still alive?” Nick asked in astonishment. “I thought you were killed. I saw the bullet go right through your heart!”

  “I woke up in a lot of pain and realized I’d been shot in the shoulder. When I looked over at you, you were lying on the ground, so I thought you were dead,” Spencer said. “I had tried to protect you with my shield, but I thought I had failed. All was quiet on the battlefield, and there were so many dead bodies. The one I was mostly focused on was yours, and I was calling out for help. Two medics rushed toward us and when they started picking me up, I was in so much pain, I guess I blacked out. I woke up in the hospital with my shoulder bandaged and my arm in a sling. Then they sent me home because I couldn’t fight any more.”

  “Looks like we’re in the same boat then, buddy. Now, what’s this crud about being The Shadow’s son?” Nick wondered.

  “Well, The Stranger was once known as The Shadow. The Boss then came along and stole most of his Power, which led to him being exiled, so The Boss took him in,” Spencer sighed.

  “The Boss is a horrible Super, so why’d he take my dad in?” Nick asked.

  “I guess he saw a ton of potential in him,” Spencer guessed.

  “Well, why are you here—and how?” Nick questioned, still in shock.

  “I told you, I was captured! You don’t believe me?” Spencer wondered.

  “I didn’t say that. I meant why are you here? You know, in this place with me?” Nick repeated.

  “Yeah, yeah, right. I knew that. Uh . . . I don’t know why I’m here,” Spencer stated plainly. “Why are you here?”

  “I don’t know, either,” Nick said sadly. “All I know is that I was fighting The Boss, then I was Teleported here. But I feel weird.”

  “Makes sense,” Spencer grumbled.

  “How so?” Nick asked with an eyebrow raised.

  “Well . . . wait, what? Oh, I just think you feel weird because of the whole ‘seeing the long-lost friend thing,’” Spencer mumbled.

  “Yeah, maybe. But it feels . . . draining,” Nick responded.

  “Well, I don’t know why,” Spencer said quickly.

  “Hey,” Nick hissed, “why are you still standing there? Aren’t you going to get me out of here?”

  “I can’t. The Boss would get mad at me,” Spencer pointed out.

  “So, who cares? If you help me escape The Boss, then I’ll get you out, too,” he sighed. “Are you working for him or something?”

  “Yeah. You know him, The Boss,” Spencer replied.

  “But you’re not evil or anything, right?” Nick snapped quickly.

  “No, no, no! Of course not!” he shouted.

  “WHAT’S GOING ON IN HERE!?” The Boss screamed, stomping into the room. He glanced at Nick and then looked slightly to the right at an object Nick did not know was there. The Boss then looked at Spencer.

  “So, he’s finally present, huh?” The Boss laughed.

  “Uh . . . yeah. I came in here two minutes ago, and he was giving me lip, so I yelled at him, sir,” Spencer explained.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t acknowledge informal swine,” The Boss seethed.

  “Hey, don’t talk to him like that!” Nick yelled.

  “Hah! Now, Spencey, what did you say? I couldn’t understand you through all your child-like words,” The Boss teased.

  “I arrived two minutes ago, now five, and the boy began to talk crap, so I set him straight, Boss!” Spencer repeated intensely.

  Much better. But, really, calling me ‘Boss?’ I thought you knew better!” The Boss exclaimed angrily.

  “Of course,” Spencer agreed.

  “Good, now go and do your chores!” The Boss yelled, pushing Spencer toward the door. Spencer left quietly without a single backward glance.

  “Now, how is my prisoner?” The Boss asked sarcastically. “Oh, wait—I don’t care!”

  “Where are my friends, Boss?” Nick asked, annoyed.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about your friends. I’m sure they can take care of themselves,” The Boss laughed.

  “I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about the others—the ones you haven’t trapped,” Nick corrected.

  “They are where they were before,” The Boss answered cryptically.

  “All right,” Nick said, confused.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  In Which Luke Is Resilient And Stubborn

  After fighting for so long, Oliver was just going through the motions. He kept on using his Wind funnel to push back Luke and any attacks Luke flung at him. Oliver could tell Luke was getting very irritated by the constant push-backs, but Luke could tell Oliver was getting weaker.

  Luke launched himself up out of Oliver’s funnel of Wind and dove at him full speed. Oliver lost his quick reaction time and was hit full force by Luke right in the ribs. He fought to stay in the air as he also fought through the burning pain and potentially broken ribs. Luke saw this as his chance. He flew at Oliver once more, trying to take him out once and for all. Luke was just about to hit him when Mason slammed into Luke’s side, launching Luke a hundred feet to the left.

  “Thank you!” Oliver muttered.

  Oliver heard faint but distinct yelling: “You go Mason! You kick his stupid villain butt!” It was Jason yelling from the top of the school.

  Mason laughed, amused. Oliver scanned the row of his friends standing at the edge with Jason. Some were debating who should fight next, some were cheering on Mason, and Mrs. Macintosh was biting her nails.

  Oliver gave a small chuckle at the sight of them. Just as he began to Fly toward them, he spotted someone. It was a tall boy who looked about his age and had a scar on his lower left cheek. He had blond hair that swooshed over to one side and was staring at Oliver in the strangest way. It was as if he’d seen him before.

  “Hey!” Oliver called out.

  “Gotta go before he wakes up!” the boy yelped suddenly. He snapped his fingers and Teleported away.

  “Oliver! Look out!” an exhausted Mason gasped.

  Luke slammed into Oliver, and next thing they knew, they were both falling toward the earth below—Luke with his elbow pressed against Oliver’s stomach. Oliver was exhausted, and with his rib injury and Luke’s weight on him, he was unable to Fly. He saw his friends, who were watching the fight from above, start to actually help.

  Jessica began jetting downward, using her Wind jet ability. Ondrea was yelling at everybody because she didn’t have any abilities that could be useful in this situation. Darla was standing there unsure of what to do. Teddy was trying to talk Jason out of using his Powers, and Mason was closest to Oliver and getting closer with every gust of Wind he used. Oliver tried using his Wind abilities to get Luke off of him, but Luke had Oliver’s arms pinned to his side.

  24.2

  Mason was struggling to keep up with Luke and knew that even if he got to Luke, he wouldn’t be able to save Oliver in time. He had an idea.

  “Teddy!” Mason yelled. Teddy looked up from Jason and threw his hand in the air as a response.

  “I need you to Teleport down here in exactly fifteen seconds after I finish my sentence—and I promise you’ll see where to do it,” Mason explained.

  Mason pulled all his Earth Power together and brought up a large slab of ground underneath Oliver’s landing zone. No sooner had he finished than Teddy appeared on top.

  “Okay, now what?” Teddy called.

  “I’m way too exhausted for this, and you don’t have time to get Jess! I need you to Super Speed in a circle and create a super-sized funnel of wind. NOW!” Mason commanded strictly.

  “Dude! How?” Teddy asked, suddenly panicky.

  “I just freakin’ told you how! Do it, Teddy!” Mason yelled, angrily.

  “All right, fine!” Teddy exclaimed.

  Oliver was just about to hit the earth mound, but Teddy began working in overdrive and Oliver was caught in the center of the wind funnel. Mason used his last burst of energy to throw a huge boulder at Luke, kno
cking him to the ground below.

  “Finally,” Mason grumbled.

  Mason saw Oliver lying on the dirt mound.

  “Crap!” he yelled.

  Mason flew down and landed next to Oliver, whose eyes were closed.

  “Shoot. I don’t know what to do,” Mason scolded himself.

  Jessica landed beside Mason.

  “Yikes,” she whispered. “Hey, Oliver, wakey, wakey.”

  Oliver’s eyes slowly opened. Mason sighed in relief and looked at Jessica. She smiled at Mason and gave a reassuring nod.

  “Of course, she can do that. She is his sister after all,” Mason thought.

  “Guys!” Mason called out, “Luke is still here.” Just a moment later, Jason began to scream. Teddy, who was just standing in the corner, Teleported to the top of the school where Luke’s hands had flamed up with black fire to Jason’s throat. Luke looked up menacingly and stared Teddy straight in the eyes.

  “What do you think of me now?” he taunted.

  Teddy smiled. “I think you’re still a stupid little bully,” he responded.

  Teddy Teleported directly in front of Luke, revved up his hand with his Super Speed, and punched Luke straight in the face.

  “Ohhhh!” Jason laughed as Luke flew a few feet away. Having been aggravated by Jason before, Luke rushed toward him, ready to just pummel him—but Teddy pulled Jason away. Over and over again, they went at it.

  “He’s not getting tired!” Teddy yelled.

  “Well, I kind of am! Tired of you jerking me around. I can move, too, you know,” Jason announced, annoyed.

  “Well, sorry for saving your life!” Teddy replied, jerking Jason out of the way once more.

  “Well, I can’t do this anymore! Where are Mason, Jess, and Oliver?” Jason questioned.

  “Down there,” Teddy answered, jerking him away from Luke once again. Mason popped up and eyed the scene, snickering at the repetitiveness.

  “I’m done here,” Jason growled. He stuck out his hands and froze Luke a solid blue color. Mason’s mouth turned from a smile into a scared grimace. Given Jason’s poisoning, Mason knew what was going to follow. Teddy did, too.

  Teddy wrapped his arms around Jason, accidentally pinning his arms to his side, but that didn’t even matter. A second later, Jason yelled from the pain and would have collapsed if not for Teddy. Mason used his Wind Power to fly down from his invisible perch and gave Jason a look that Teddy guessed only twins understood. Jason chuckled and weakly kicked his brother in the shin. Teddy carefully let go of Jason and stepped back. Jason then proceeded to plop onto the ground.

  “Someone needs to make sure Frankenstein is actually gone,” he stated tiredly.

  “No kidding!” Oliver exclaimed, Flying up to the top, followed by Jessica. “Where is Mrs. Macintosh?”

  Jason looked at the entrance to the school where Mrs. Macintosh was poking her head out from the door. A second later, she walked outside.

  “Why didn’t you give us a hand?” Teddy asked, smiling.

  “I’m just an old lady,” she replied with a grin. She turned her head to view the scene, and then turned her head back to the group.

  “Has anyone seen Ondrea?” Mrs. Macintosh asked.

  24.3

  Damian had been following Avery for almost a day when she finally stopped walking.

  “Have you finally found a good spot for your shelter?” he asked sleepily.

  “Yeah. Have you been following me this whole time?” she wondered, annoyed.

  “Yes. I don’t want to lose you out here,” Damian said.

  “Well, have you found a good place to build your shelter?” she questioned.

  “Yep, right next to yours,” he said, walking over to her. He stepped aside and gathered up wood, stones, leaves, and grass. Avery just stood by and watched, suddenly intrigued. Damian stopped and stared at the materials for a long time. Avery was about to say something when the materials started to move on their own. She watched in awe as they multiplied and grew, shrank and twisted. A house built itself in the place of the dirt ground. It was a pretty good-looking house, too—big and made from various substances, almost like patchwork.

  “You know what, I think I’d like to stay with you. It’s getting really dark anyway,” Avery decided.

  “I thought so,” Damian remarked. “And, yeah, come inside. The sun is marking the end of our very first day in this stupidly strange place.”

  Avery sighed wearily, knowing that it would be a while before either of them would be leaving. She walked into the house, which had a brown door that swung open nicely. With further examination, she realized the hinges were just thick strands of grass tied to the door and the house.

  Avery proceeded to walk in farther and was amazed to see a well-organized structure with furniture made from many natural items. In the right corner was a small kitchen area with a table made of sticks and bark. There were vines hanging from the ceiling, with chairs made of leaves and bark hanging at the ends. Off to the side, there were two makeshift beds created from bamboo and leaves. The roof had waterproofing!

  “This is amazing!” she yelled. “I assume we will be doing our bodily needs outdoors?”

  Damian nodded grimly.

  “Yep, okay,” Avery confirmed.

  “We should be going to sleep now,” Damian offered.

  “Right,” she answered, still looking around. Avery and Damian walked over to the two beds and went to sleep. Before Avery fully fell asleep, she began to think of Will, Rachel, and Nick. She hoped they were holding up all right.

  24.4

  “Okay, so we’ve been in this creepy world for only a day now. It’s dark out, and we’ve already fought a dragon!” Will proclaimed.

  “And you’ve burned your hands,” Rachel commented.

  “Yeah, that, too,” Will sighed.

  “So far, this has not gone very well,” she added.

  “All true,” Will muttered.

  “Are you okay?” Rachel wondered.

  “NO! I’m not okay! This freaking hurts!” Will complained.

  “Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” she yelped.

  Will walked around in a circle very slowly as he began to think of what needed to happen next. Rachel, bored, turned into a parrot and followed close behind him. A few minutes later, he’d had enough.

  “Rachel! Would you chill with your flapping!” he seethed. Rachel flew over to a nearby tree and perched herself so high up on the branch away from Will that he couldn’t see her. Too far away to hear Will, she fluttered up even higher—without a clue that far below, Will was panicking.

  “Aw really! Come on Rachel! I didn’t mean it!” he called.

  It was too dark to see, so he began to freak out even more. He heard a shriek as, far above, Rachel unwillingly Morphed back into a human.

  “Help!” she screamed.

  Will pinpointed the sound and spotted Rachel super high up, clinging onto the huge trunk of the tree she was stuck in.

  “Well, what did you get yourself stuck up there for?” Will asked jokingly.

  “Not the time, WILL!” she screeched.

  “All right, sorry. Can you get down on your own? By, like, climbing down?” he wondered, suddenly scratching his head.

  “Uh, no!” she yelled.

  “Okay, I’ll just use my Powers to get you down,” Will suggested.

  “Yeah, and how are you going to accomplish that, Water boy?” she called, nervously.

  “Hey! That’s mean!” he pouted. “Anyway, I’m planning to make a deep pool of water appear right beneath you. I’ll make sure it stays in its shape by freezing the outside.”

  Rachel looked up and thought for a moment.

  “Seems like a sound plan,” she said. “Just please don’t screw this up.”

  “Wait! Have you tried Morphing again?” Will wondered.

  “No,” she responded. Will saw her face contort with pain and exhaustion as she tried to Morph. Her eyes closed and she began to sway out
of the tree.

  “RACHEL!” Will screamed. Her eyes snapped open, she screamed and clutched the trunk of the tree again. “What happened?” he asked, shocked.

  “I . . . I just got really tired, and it took a lot of effort just to try to Morph! I literally couldn’t feel ANY of my Power! It’s as if I am now just a human,” she sighed.

  “That’s . . . concerning. I guess we’ll just go with my plan,” Will chided, sticking out his burned hands. Will gathered up rain water from the ground by sucking it out of the surrounding areas like water evaporating from a sponge. He was about to start forming the icy cage for the water, when his hands pulsed and pain shot up his arms. He yelped loudly.

  “Will, are you okay?” Rachel asked. Will shook out his hand and tried again, getting the same result.

  “Dang it! Why does this have to happen now?” he thought. He was about to try again when Rachel broke his concentration. “Will, if it hurts you, stop. I’ll figure out how to do this,” she called, scooting toward the edge of the branch and looking down.

  “You’re not jumping!” he croaked.

  “Of course not,” she muttered to herself.

  Will waited for hours, occasionally asking if there was anything he could do. He heard the same “no” every time. He couldn’t see Rachel for the majority of the night, and by the time the sun had come up just enough for him to see, he was asleep on the grassy floor.

  24.5

  Nick had been sitting in his prison cell for hours since The Boss had left to “go attend to a certain someone.” He felt so hungry, and judging by the timer sitting right in front of his cage he knew it had been a day and a half since he’d eaten. He still had no clue what exactly the timer was for, but he knew it was counting down.

  He had been examining it for the past couple of hours. It had seemed normal, just containing a timer. There were no wires, no noises, no gunpowder. It just appeared to be a clock. There was a small window in the corner of the room, and Nick peered through to see if he could catch any hint as to the building’s location. All he saw was the sun coming up. He figured it was somewhere around five-thirty in the morning but couldn’t be too sure in this strange world. He knew he could get sick if he didn’t get sleep, so he curled up in a tight ball on the cold floor and tried to sleep.