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  24.6

  A few hours earlier . . .

  Spencer walked out of Nick’s view quickly, so Nick would think he was frightened of The Boss.

  “I really am afraid of him, so it isn’t that hard,” Spencer thought. “Now I’ve got to go and do my stupid chores. Plus, he should know I’m going to call him ‘Boss’ around my friend, not that . . . other word.”

  As Spencer walked to the closet to get the broom, he began to feel conflicted. “Sure, I have to listen to my superior, but Nick’s my friend,” he thought. “I’ve got to get him out. If I do, though, The Boss will kill me. But he wouldn’t do that to his own son, would he?”

  Spencer had been sweeping the hallway floor vigorously for about five minutes when The Boss came walking back down the hall.

  “Hello. I see you’re slacking,” The Boss said.

  “Yep, that’s me. Slacking so I’ll get my butt kicked,” Spencer muttered sarcastically.

  “Don’t you talk to your . . .”

  “Listen, just please don’t hurt him,” Spencer blurted out.

  “What?” The Boss asked, confused to have been interrupted.

  “Just don’t hurt the kid in the cage. What’s his name anyway?” Spencer questioned.

  “What’s it to you?” The Boss asked.

  “Look, just don’t do anything to him. He’s a human being just like me. I know you care at least a little bit about me, so don’t hurt him,” Spencer pleaded.

  “If only you knew . . .” The Boss laughed as he walked away.

  “Wait, what does that mean?” Spencer called after him.

  Back to present time…

  Spencer had been thinking about what The Boss had said for a couple of hours.

  “What had he meant when he said ‘If only I knew?’” Spencer wondered. Then he thought about the room in which Nick was being held. His Super Senses had told him something, but it was hard to remember. He felt exhausted and thought maybe he would be able to think better with a clear head. It was difficult, but eventually, Spencer drifted into sleep. That night he dreamed . . .

  He was standing in the corner of a room, but as the room lightened, he saw it was Nick’s cell room.

  “What am I doing here?” he asked, hearing his voice echo in the room. He looked toward the door and saw himself. “What?” Spencer muttered, surprised. He began to get a very familiar feeling—the same feeling he had when he first walked into the room and began to talk to Nick. His Super Senses told him something was wrong. The conversation began with Nick and Spencer, but in his dream, Spencer tuned it out. There was one point in the dream conversation, though, that caught him off guard. He saw nervousness as he glanced at a tube that appeared to be correlated to Nick on the right side of his cage.

  “Does Nick even know it’s there?” Spencer wondered.

  Suddenly, Spencer’s head began to hurt as his vision/dream seemed to be changing before his very eyes. Now the scene showed Nick waking up in his cage. In his dream, Spencer looked outside the window in the corner and saw it was mid-afternoon.

  “This is just a few minutes before I went to talk to him,” Spencer told himself. Spencer watched Nick’s head turn a full 360 degrees. Nick looked confused and panicky. He appeared to sit there for a minute as if thinking. Suddenly, he grabbed the bars and began to pull them apart.

  “He must have Super Strength,” Spencer exclaimed in awe. “I never knew that.”

  A purple shock of electricity shot up Nick’s body and surprised both Nick and the dreaming Spencer. Spencer directed his attention directly toward a tank and saw it fill a third of the way up with a bright green liquid. Nick looked really tired all of a sudden.

  “Oh no! It’s zapping his Power,” Spencer realized.

  Spencer woke up with a jolt. He closed his eyes and began to thoroughly process what he had just seen in his dream.

  “I can’t believe that The Boss would do that to him! Well, maybe I can, but that’s what he must’ve meant! Thanks, dream! You’re a real life saver!” Spencer exclaimed gratefully.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  In Which There Are Many Breakdowns

  Guys!” Jason yelled, “Where is Ondrea?”

  “I’m not sure! No one is!” Oliver shouted, suddenly letting out all the stress he’d gathered from the past few months. “Look! I’m sure if any of us knew, we would go get her and everything would be dandy—but NO ONE KNOWS WHERE SHE IS! No one knows where Avery is, no one knows where Damian is, no one knows where Will is, no one knows where Rachel is, and no one knows where Nick is! Now, no one knows where Ondrea is! WE. ARE. LOSING. PEOPLE. We are losing them left and right!

  “You know why we’re losing them? We’re losing people because we can’t perform the simple tasks of running away, listening to people, or letting other people in the dialogue every once in a while! The only thing we do is wave our Powers around everywhere, without thinking about what we’re doing or the consequences of our actions! We’re losing people everywhere, and that’s why!”

  “I think you’re losing your mind,” Jessica mumbled.

  “Oliver, that may be the case. But if we lose our heads, it’s over. Granted, Jason and I haven’t been in this as long as all of you have, but still, I know we have to keep our heads,” Mason said.

  Oliver jumped up and closed his eyes. He looked confused. He jumped up and closed his eyes once more and lifted up slightly into the air. He appeared to be struggling to Fly.

  “I can’t be here right now,” he thought. “If I stay any longer, I might actually lose it. This is too much chaos, and I need to get away.”

  He looked at his friends. “Don’t follow me,” he said softly.

  “Wait,” Darla began, “What do you mean don’t . . . ”

  Oliver Flew off as fast as he could, thinking the same thing over and over again. “I wish I were normal, I wish I were normal, I wish I were normal.”

  He looked at the ground below him and sighed as the trees and bushes rushed passed, flying the opposite way. It wasn’t long before he felt tired again. Oliver stopped and sat under a tree. He put his head down and began to get sleepy.

  His mind wandered to all the questions he’d had for so many months: Why do people look up to me? Why can’t I be a good brother? Why can’t I be responsible? Why am I such a baby? Why am I so afraid?

  Where is everyone? Who was that guy I saw? Why did Mrs. Thomas have to die? Why do I feel like all of this has been harder on Nick than on anyone else? What is Nick not telling us? Why did I run?

  What happened to me? What do they want with us? Why is The Boss always playing games? Why can’t he just get it over with? Is Rachel doing okay? Is everyone doing okay? Why is life so confusing? Why am I targeted so much? Where is Francis? Why did Luke seem so hesitant? Why . . . “

  Oliver fell asleep.

  25.2

  “Did he really just do that?” Teddy asked, shocked. “Did Oliver really just take off like that?”

  “Maybe give him some space,” Jessica whispered.

  “We can’t!” Darla screamed, “We need him to find Ondrea, we need his help!”

  “Maybe . . . maybe we just expect too much of him,” Jessica stammered.

  “Yeah? Well that’s no excuse to just Fly off! Plus, he was just talking about people getting lost. What about him? Huh? Something could happen to him, and we’d have no idea!” Darla shouted once more.

  “Guys, maybe we should just chill. How about it?” Mason suggested.

  “Oh, and you know what? I’ve got a few more things to say!” Darla yelled. “Mason, you are not cool. You are not smart. You are not very well-versed on everything that’s happening. You’re incompetent! And that’s okay—but don’t tell me to chill when I have things to say! Jason, what the heck! You’re practically useless. You spend your time reading about how to use your Powers, but never use them. Now, you had to go and get yourself poisoned. I don’t even know why you’re still here! Jess, you are too nice and too naive. You always break do
wn emotionally when you could be using that anger to fight! Teddy, why are you even here? What do you even do? You guys need to step it up!”

  Everyone just stared at Darla, feeling so many mixed emotions.

  Mrs. Macintosh spoke up. “Darla! That was rude, vile, and unnecessary! None of what you just said is true and it was all incredibly hurtful! Apologize.”

  “You can kiss my un-sorry butt,” Darla huffed as she used her Fire to project herself off into the distance.

  “Well, guys, don’t take any of that personally. She was just letting off steam,” Jessica said, trying to cheer everyone up.

  Mason sulked off.

  “Besides . . . Jason, there’s nothing wrong with reading. Teddy, you’ve been a huge help the entire time,” Jessica preached. “As for me, there’s nothing wrong with being too nice. Mason, you . . . Mason?”

  Jessica looked around.

  “Oh no! Where did he go?” Teddy asked.

  25.3

  Avery woke up to a strange feeling that something was wrong. She quickly looked to the bed beside her. Damian was still there. She walked outside very cautiously, trying not to disturb her surroundings.

  Then, she heard something. “Help! Someone, please help us . . . well, her!” a male voice shouted.

  “People,” she whispered to herself. Avery ran back into the cabin and shook Damian so hard that he actually fell out of the bed.

  “Dude, I heard people!” she yelled, looking straight at him.

  “Great, and I heard the sound of terror as I fell onto the floor,” he muttered sarcastically.

  “Come on!” Avery said in a rush, already running out the door. She listened carefully just in case she heard it again—and there it was.

  “Help me! I’ve been here all night,” a female voice shouted.

  It sounded like the cry was coming from the right side of the cabin, but really far away. Avery turned to the right and squinted, trying to get a better view. Damian walked out and turned to look in the same direction.

  “I see a plain area,” Damian stated. “It’s circular with a bunch of trees surrounding the perimeter.” Avery took off toward it.

  “Wait!” Damian called. She did not wait. “Here we go again,” he muttered.

  Damian sprinted after her. Suddenly, he heard a loud cry. Damian looked around frantically and saw a red shoe sticking out of the grass.

  “Avery!” he called. “Is that you?”

  “I tripped,” she sighed.

  “Well, why in the world did you go this way? The path is literally straight ahead,” Damian said.

  “It was just a simple short cut,” Avery said, her voice rising a pitch.

  “Help! Please!” the voice called again.

  “Come on,” Damian urged. Avery began to get up when she yelped and fell back down. “What . . . Oh, did you hurt yourself?” Damian asked.

  She nodded slowly. “I’m pretty sure I sprained my ankle, but it’s fine. Let’s just go,” Avery explained, carefully getting up. Damian began using his Dark Magic to manipulate the materials around her until a makeshift splint appeared on her ankle.

  “Aw, thanks, dude,” Avery said. Damian helped her up, and they heard the cry for help again, it was louder and much more frantic. Whoever needed help now seemed desperate. “Come on! We’ve got to hurry,” Avery said as she began hopping toward the open plains.

  Damian ran ahead because he knew he could be of better use. Avery’s Powers weren’t working, plus she was hurt and couldn’t move very quickly.

  “I hope she doesn’t take it personally,” he thought.

  25.4

  Will woke up to find Rachel staring at him. Not from close up, but from the tree.

  “I’ve been trying to get down the whole night and felt soooo sad not hearing someone ask me if I needed anything by the time sunrise began,” she hissed rudely.

  “I’ll excuse that just because you’ve been up all night. When do you think you’re getting down?” Will asked, rubbing his eyes.

  “I don’t know! What? You think I can help being stuck up here?” she asked.

  “Have you tried using your Powers again?” he wondered.

  “No, but I know it’s not going to work,” Rachel huffed.

  “All right, suit yourself,” he replied sleepily.

  He had an idea. “Help! Someone please help us—well, her!” he called, waiting for a response. He didn’t get one.

  “Great idea, Will! Guess what, it didn’t work!” she snapped.

  “All right, I get it. Can you at least try Morphing again?” Will questioned.

  “No,” Rachel refused. “Help me! I’ve been here all night.”

  Will waited. Rachel waited. Nothing.

  “I knew it! No one will come. Maybe I could try using my Powers again!” he exclaimed hopefully.

  “Not the best idea! You want to know why no one will come?” Rachel wondered sarcastically.

  “No matter what I say, you’re going to tell me anyway. So, please, enlighten me,” Will shouted at her.

  “Because no one can hear us!” she yelled.

  “Help! Please!” Will screamed sadly.

  25.5

  “No one will come,” Rachel told Will, her anger fading.

  “Look, if we give up now, you may never get down from there. I know you haven’t gotten any sleep and you’re really grumpy, but keep your cool. I also know, usually, if you tell a girl to chill out, they get snappy and say that never helps, so please don’t get mad,” Will ranted.

  “I’m done being mad. I’ve been mad too much. I’m done giving up,” she responded.

  “You could say you’re giving up giving up,” he joked.

  “All right, that was a good one. I’m going to try Morphing now,” Rachel sighed. She began to Morph, but still struggled to complete the task. Rachel knew she was straining and so she stopped. But as she was in a weakened state, a huge gust of wind pushed her off the branch. She clung on for dear life. Will saw this and let out a huge cry for help.

  “Someone! Please, help! Hurry!” he screeched, panicking. Will sprinted to the tree until he was right under the branch where Rachel was dangling—so he could try to catch her if she slipped. He was about to call out again when he heard a rustling sound from the bushes to the far left of him. His head turned and he saw . . .

  “Damian!” Will yelled happily.

  Damian’s face lit up. But when he stared up into the tree, the smile fell because he saw Rachel slipping. Avery hobbled out of the bushes from behind Damian.

  “Will! Hey. Whoa, Rachel!” she yelled.

  “I’ve got this!” Damian shouted. He pointed toward the wood of the tree right below Rachel’s feet and muttered something inaudible. The wood began to twist and expand as if it were putty. There were no cracking sounds or rips. The wood simply twisted into a flat board right under Rachel’s feet, which she easily dropped onto without harm.

  “Great, now that I’m about five feet from where I was stuck before, everything will be fine!” she exclaimed sarcastically.

  “Hold on, hold on,” Damian sighed wearily. He pointed to the wood and muttered inaudibly once more, but he did something different this time. His finger spiraled down and suddenly, wooden steps protruded from the tree. Rachel walked down them in awe. Once Rachel was safely down, they began to talk.

  “I’m so happy to see you!” Avery yelled, hobbling over to Rachel and giving her a hug.

  “Hey! What about me?” Will asked, irritated and relieved at the same time.

  “You know I’m happy to see you, too, Will. I just don’t want to hug you,” Avery commented shrugging her shoulders. Despite her comment, she gave Will a one-armed hug and moved back over to Damian’s side.

  “I, for one, am glad we found you when we did,” Damian exclaimed. He perked up a bit even though he still felt tired. “Now, it’s time we catch up and talk about this.”

  “Okay, guys, so what’s been happening?” Damian asked, “Will, you first.”
>
  “Well, it was pouring when we . . . I guess . . .spawned in and I came in with Rachel. I didn’t know where I was, but I heard a bark. I followed the sound and figured out the dog I had stumbled upon was Rachel. Apparently, she couldn’t Morph back because she was wet. Anyway, a dragon came and began attacking us, but I used my Powers to help dry Rachel, then she saved me. I freaked out and needed time to think, then Rachel was gone. I looked for her, and found her in the tree. I had fallen asleep while she was still up there,” Will explained.

  “How did she get up there?” Avery questioned.

  “I turned into a parrot and flew up there,” Rachel answered. “While I was sitting on the branch, I unwillingly Morphed back into a human and couldn’t Morph again.”

  “Wait, do your Powers work?” Damian questioned.

  “I don’t know, I burned my hands and can’t use my Powers,” Will responded sadly.

  “I guess my Powers don’t work anymore,” Rachel sighed.

  “My Powers were broken the second I came into this weird place,” Avery mumbled.

  “Mine have been working fine and don’t show any signs of weakening,” Damian exclaimed.

  “All right guys,” Avery started, “think about it. All our Powers stopped working—except for Damian’s, and he has Dark Magic.”

  “Right!” Rachel agreed, “The Boss has Dark Magic and he’s the one who sent us here!”

  “I’ve been meaning to ask, Damian, does Nick have Dark Magic, too?” Will questioned.

  TWENTY-SIX

  In Which Spencer Decides To Be Helpful

  Nick woke up to a strange feeling, then recognized it as the exact same feeling he’d always had since he’d been Teleported into the cage. Still in the cage, Nick realized. Then he heard footsteps.

  “Good morning, twit!” The Boss hissed.

  Nick looked at the timer and did some quick math. “It’s one o’clock in the afternoon,” he stated.

  “Whatever!” The Boss yelled angrily, as he shot black lightning at the bars of the cage. Nick flinched away from the bars, accidentally brushing against the back, surprising him and activating his Super Strength. He felt more purple lightning shock his body and then felt even more drained. The Boss stared toward the right of the cage.