The sudden separation made Angel reabsorb all her energy at once, and she surged. The shock wave sent Penny and me flying in opposite directions – her towards Joel, and me towards the ice-cream truck, hitting it so hard that the metal dented.
More of Angel’s suit abandoned her as she fell to the ground.
Joel didn’t hesitate, stretching open his portal back to the school. The statue of Brock was on the other side … along with a second Ben Braver staring back at me.
Wait … what?
I looked again.
I was on the other side of the portal, at the academy, but I was also in Lost Nation?
There were two of me?
Penny’s skin looked transparent as white energy bubbled underneath it. She frantically tried to rub it out.
The me on the other side of the portal grabbed Penny and pulled her through. Joel managed to escape, too, just before the portal sealed shut.
Angel stared in disbelief at her trembling metal hands. ‘They went back to the school!’ she shouted at her hypnotised henchmen. ‘Find them, but don’t hurt Penny!’
Noah’s feet burned like jets. He grabbed Arnold by the pits and took off like a rocket, leaving all of us behind.
Coach helped Angel up. A hot mess of energy bubbled like thick slime from the cracks in her suit, dripping bright puddles onto the ground.
‘Did you know I could do that?’ she asked Kepler, delighted. ‘Did you know I could switch bodies with her?’
‘No,’ Kepler answered. ‘But it doesn’t surprise me.’
Angel touched her face lightly. ‘I could feel the air on Penny’s arms – the hunger in her stomach – the heart beating in her chest. Things I haven’t felt since before my accident.’
Another piece of her armour fell, splashing into the glowing puddle at her feet.
‘You’re unstable,’ Kepler said.
‘Last chance, Donald,’ Angel said. ‘Either change history or become it.’
Kepler held his ground. ‘I will not.’
‘Then the plan’s changed.’ Angel winked at Kepler. ‘Penny will have to save us all.’
Her body surged again, lighting up what was left of her armour. This time, I could tell, she was doing it by choice.
Lindsay ran away as fast as he could – my clue that we should probably hightail it out of there, too.
Angel was about to blow.
Kepler and I hopped onto the still running Vespa. I pulled back on the handle, and the tiny bike sputtered forward.
The speedometer went up to only one hundred – probably not fast enough to drive away from an atomic explosion.
The old man shouted instructions on how to ‘operate a vehicle,’ his words.
‘I know how to drive a scooter!’ I said, cranking the Vespa’s handle so hard that it snapped. ‘Oh, farts …’
So there we were, coasting on a dying scooter, seconds away from an atomic explosion that would take out Kepler Academy and the city of Lost Nation.
I can confidently say that was the worst day of my short, little life.
Thousands were about to die.
All my friends were about to die.
I was about to die.
And it was one hundred per cent my fault.
The Vespa wobbled wildly, ready to tank.
Angel exploded.
The air cracked like thunder as a wall of fire swallowed us.
Headmaster Kepler threw his arms around my waist and huddled over me, shielding me from the explosion.
And then everything was gone.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Here’s a question for you – if an explosion goes BADOOM and nobody’s left to hear it, does it still make a sound?
Thankfully, I didn’t know the answer.
Headmaster Kepler and I splashed down in a puddle of freezing cold water.
It was just me and the old man.
Angel was gone, and we weren’t in Lost Nation anymore.
A faint whooshing sound came from somewhere. Everywhere. I couldn’t tell.
The sky was black, but not like any night sky I’d seen before. It was empty, like there wasn’t a sky at all. It’s weird, but it’s the only way I can describe it – the lack of a sky.
Underneath me were the stars. Past the water were millions of twinkling suns amid pink-and-blue clusters of galaxies.
It looked like I was above all of it.
Kepler picked himself up off the ground.
We were alone and safe, but my mind was still reeling. ‘This is all your fault!’ I said. ‘We were only down in the city because we know you’re protecting your nephew!’
‘My nephew?’ Kepler said, puzzled.
‘Uh, maybe you know him better as THE REAPER,’ I said. ‘How did you get your power? Huh? You’re not a descendant!’
‘Benjamin,’ Kepler said, rubbing his forehead. ‘I am a descendant.’
‘No, you’re not! You came before the Seven Keys! You got your power before your brother was even experimented on!’
‘Richard wasn’t my brother. He was my father. And that boy you think is my nephew? He’s me! There are two of me because I travelled back in time – one young and one old!’
‘Then why doesn’t he age?’
‘Because he’s skipping forward through time, playing a dangerous game of hide-and-seek!’
Oh.
That made a lot of sense.
I’m such an idiot.
The old man stumbled past me. His back looked like fried chicken from Angel’s blast. I could even see parts of his rib cage.
‘Holy – are you okay?’ I said.
‘I’m fine.’
‘Um, are you sure? Because …’ I trailed off. I wanted to say his ribs were showing, but was there a polite way to do that? Like, when people have food in their teeth?
‘I’m fine, Benjamin,’ he said, frustrated, as he searched the ground.
‘Where are we?’ I asked, realising I wasn’t wet even though I was in water.
‘Outside the universe,’ Kepler said, like it was nothing. ‘Outside of time and space.’
Outside the universe?
Is that even a thing?
‘The water is too murky for me,’ Kepler said. ‘What do you see in the reflection?’
I stared through the water. ‘Stars.’
‘Look at the reflection! The image on the water!’
I shook my head and looked again, noticing something other than my mirror image. The more I focused, the clearer it became.
I saw a faint scene of blue skies and white clouds. A city bus full of people flying through the air, carried by some kind of superhero kid with a familiar face.
Familiar because it was my face.
I was the kid carrying the bus … no gadgets, no supersuit.
It was me, and I had legit superpowers.
‘What the French toast?’ I said. ‘Is this the future?’
‘What do you see?’ Kepler asked impatiently.
‘It’s me, and I’m carrying a—’
‘Do you see Angel?’
‘No, she’s not—’
‘Then you’re too far,’ he said, walking the other way past me. ‘Come back here and look again.’
‘But—’
‘Benjamin, there’s really no time to argue.’
I ran to Kepler’s side and looked at the terrifying images in the reflection.
‘I see the academy surrounded by lava. Angel’s there too.’
‘Good, it means her blast wasn’t atomic, but it will be soon. You can still save the city.’
‘Okay, so we’ll go and – wait, just me?’
‘If I return like this, I’ll die,’ the old man said bluntly. ‘Time stands still out here. There’s no ageing and no dying.’
‘I’m not doing this by myself! Not after what you said about letting me jump even if you knew I was gonna die! How do I know you’re not doing that again?’
‘But you didn’t die. That’s the point!’
/>
‘But I could have! And you didn’t give a flying saucer about it! You just used me like Angel did! All to keep your precious timeline safe!’
‘Surely I’m not the one pulling your strings – if it were as simple as that, why do you keep trying?’
I panted heavily, waiting for the old man to come back at me.
‘You made me believe I had some great destiny,’ I said. ‘But it was a lie.’
‘I won’t change things,’ Kepler said. ‘Not again.’
‘Why not? Just go save Brock! That’ll fix all this!’
‘That problem will be fixed, but a million others will come of it. I’ve spent my entire life keeping this timeline exactly as it is in my reflection, and I will not change a thing even for one student who suffered because of it!’ Kepler said, spit flying. ‘I saw you jump, and yes, I would even let you die if it meant keeping the Reaper away from humanity! In this timeline, the Reaper hasn’t returned, so it’s this timeline I’m going to defend until my last breath!’
The old man huffed and then continued. ‘I’ve seen the end of the world, Benjamin. And it came by my own hands.’
Cue the record scratch.
‘… Are you the Reaper?’ I asked.
Kepler shook his head. ‘No, but we are intrinsically linked. All descendants are. And he used me the same way Angel uses other people. When I realised what had happened, I gathered what I could – newspaper articles and files – and travelled back to 1947 to subdue the Reaper before he became a threat.’
‘Those newspaper articles …’
‘Yes. It happened. It all happened. And I started the school to prevent it from happening again.’
I was blown away.
‘I knew you would jump,’ Kepler said softly, putting his hands on my shoulders, ‘but I also knew you would survive. There was never any other outcome as long as I protected this timeline. I invited you to the school because you were going to save it from Abigail, but it’s a decision you needed to make on your own. You say you don’t want to be you, but it’s you who chose to do what needed to be done. Not because of me and not because of your friends.’
He was describing the kid I wanted to be.
But all this time, I was already that kid.
‘The sad, yet wonderful, truth about the universe is that nobody is assigned a greater destiny,’ Kepler said, ‘which is why we must assign it to ourselves.’
I got it.
Took a while, but I got it.
My path was mine to walk alone.
My friends and my family will always be with me, but in the end, my life is all about my own choices.
‘Twist Angel’s key anticlockwise until it stops,’ Kepler said. ‘And then pull it out. Her remaining armour will cinch together again. It won’t be a perfect fix, but her power will be contained. Professor Duncan can take care of the rest after that.’
‘But … I’m scared,’ I said honestly.
‘Being scared just means you get to be brave,’ Kepler said.
It was the same thing my mum had said to me before I came to school. I wonder if they planned that.
About three metres away, something splashed wildly as it scurried our way.
‘Blast!’ Kepler said. ‘He’s found me!’
‘Who?’ I asked.
‘The Reaper!’
The old man pushed me behind him, but whatever it was had already latched onto my leg and was climbing up my body.
I fell into the water, struggling with the invisible creature as Kepler tried to pull it off me. But we couldn’t grab it.
The creature slid up my neck and over my face, suffocating me as it slipped around my entire head.
And then I heard a whisper, not from my ears, but from the inside of my brain.
‘… BENJAMIN BRAVER … I KNOW YOU NOW …’
Kepler ripped the invisible creature off my head.
‘Remove the key!’ Kepler said, scuffling with the air.
The floor disappeared from under me, and I sank into the water.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
I fell into the middle of the lobby in the academy.
The only other person there was a Cool Beanz employee closing up shop. He looked at me for a moment and then went back to his business.
Everything else was quiet.
No creepy, honking red-alert horn.
No panicking students.
No Angel.
‘Hello?’ I shouted, my voice echoing down the halls. ‘Somebody help me!’
‘You all right, kid?’ the employee asked.
‘Where is everyone?’
‘They went back to their dorms after that weird alert thing. You should probably head back, too.’
Was it possible that Headmaster Kepler brought me back early enough to warn everyone?
I ran straight for the wall and did exactly the same thing I did on the first night.
I pulled the fire alarm.
I stared at Lost Nation as the ringing bell of the fire alarm chimed behind me. Kids poured out of the academy, less groggy but just as frustrated as they were at the beginning of the school year.
‘Stay inside, go outside,’ some kid said. ‘Make up your mind, ya dumb school building!’
My past self was still down in the city getting his heart broken by Jennifer.
Joel would open a portal soon, and …
Brock.
Joel’s portal would open close to Brock!
That’s why I saw myself earlier!
I ran to the statue, passing Duncan as he floated across the grass.
The ghost did a double take. ‘What’re you doing here? Donald took Penny into the city to find you because you went full klepto in my lab, you little punk! Did you think we didn’t have cameras set up in there?’
I stood by Brock, staring at nothing, just waiting.
‘Ben!’ Duncan said, angry.
‘Any second now …’
‘Any second? What’re you—’
The air magically split, and Joel’s portal stretched open in front of me. I made eye contact with my past self, and we stared at each other for a moment.
It was weird.
Joel dove through and landed at my feet.
‘Ben?’ he asked, confused.
Penny was right on the other side, white energy still bubbling under her skin. ‘She was pouring herself into me! She was erasing me!’
I grabbed Penny and pulled her through to the school just as the portal sealed shut.
The glow from Penny’s skin disappeared. She was frazzled but all right.
Jordan slid to a stop next to us.
‘What’s happening?’ he said. ‘Did Coach find you?’
‘Coach is a bad guy!’ I said. ‘So is Jennifer! I mean, Angel! Ack! I’ll explain later!’
‘Please tell me Angel doesn’t have Project Blackwood,’ Duncan said.
‘Wish I could. Also – she’s gonna be here soon,’ I said. ‘So we need to get outta here. All of us! Everyone!’
Duncan was flabbergasted. ‘Where’s Donald?’
‘He brought me here,’ I said. ‘But he was too fried by the explosion to follow.’
Duncan stopped. ‘What explosion?’
At that moment, the sky lit up over the heart of Lost Nation as an eerily silent ball of white energy ballooned until it burst.
The shock wave travelled through the city, shaking buildings and bending trees all the way up the mountain, streaming past the academy and bringing its terrifying sound with it. BADOOM!
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
The students of Kepler Academy gawked at the city. I looked up, afraid, desperate to find the North Star, but instead, I saw Noah fly down with Arnold in his arms.
The two of them landed in the street just past the holopods, their eyes still glowing. Noah walked to the yard and crouched, pressing his fingers into the soft dirt.
The grass around him withered, turning to ash. The earth split in front of my friend, and red-hot lava gur
gled out.
Noah waved his arms like a maestro. The lava obeyed him, rising nearly six metres high, surrounding us all in the front yard.
He was never that powerful before. Whatever Angel did to him must’ve maxed out his stats. It would’ve been awesome if Noah wasn’t a hypnotised bad guy.
Students panicked, using their powers to fight the wall of magma. Some even went after Noah and Arnold, but nothing seemed to faze them.
Arnold’s eyes glowed brighter, and all at once, the Kepler students went powerless. Kids who were part animal became fully human. Jordan was suddenly visible. And Totes was a normal-looking dude pushing his shirt down because it was all he was wearing.
Duncan froze, staring blankly. ‘Ohhhh, please let me finally taste the sweet release of death …’
But he didn’t disappear. As a ghost, he was somehow immune to Arnold’s power.
‘Oh, come on!’ he shouted.
Headmaster Archer’s voiced boomed. ‘Everybody stay calm!’
But he had no effect on the score of screaming kids throwing rocks over the lava wall, hoping to hit Noah and Arnold on the other side.
Penny and I caught up to Archer.
‘We need to leave!’ I said. ‘Angel’s a walking atom bomb headed for the school!’
Nearby students stared grimly at hearing the word bomb.
Archer’s face was desperate. ‘I don’t think there’s anything we can do without our powers.’
Things weren’t looking too good.
‘Hey,’ Penny said, touching my elbow.
I looked at Penny.
‘I think everyone’s waiting for you to do something.’
She was right.
All eyes were on me, students and teachers both.
Millie was right up the front. ‘You have to do something.’
Angel was the ultimate opponent in a Power Battle. She was the final boss in a game with no extra lives and no continues.
It could’ve been a ranked match if I had any of Duncan’s toys, but all his stuff was still in his lab, beyond the wall of lava.
It was just me.
Ben Braver.
I scanned the school grounds, hoping that something would come to me.
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