by Bryan Cohen
Chapter 48
Everything looked familiar to Ted as he looked around the room. Erica and Dhiraj were in the exact same position as they'd been in his dream. The room had been a little foggy both times he'd dreamt the scenario, but now it was all coming into focus. The wall with the glowing indecipherable language. The others in the room with their faces obscured. And Nigel running toward him with an ancient sword. But there was one major difference between his dream and the current situation: Ted felt like he had complete control of everything around him. After a momentarily unsuccessful effort to push Nigel off his course, Ted spied a large rock across the room. The heavy object floated into the air with ease and moved like a major-league fastball toward him. Nigel was within striking distance when the rock landed in its desired location: the exact spot Nigel had stabbed Ted in his dream. The Brit pushed the sword into the stone with all his strength, but it only made it about two-thirds of the way through. Nigel was stunned, and Ted tossed the rock with the sword lodged in it to the side using his mind. He then used his powers to throw Nigel backward with as much force as he could muster. Even though he'd tossed his enemy as hard as he'd thrown Stucky, Nigel gracefully performed a backflip in midair and landed softly on the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, Ted saw Dhiraj and Jennifer run over to somebody on the ground, though he couldn't get a good enough look to see who it was. Erica reached his side.
"Guess what! I didn't get killed!" Ted’s voice echoed against the cave walls.
"Good. We're not out of the caves yet."
"I see what you did there."
Ted saw that Erica had been through a few battles since he'd last seen her. Her cheek was red and one of her eyes was swollen. There was dirt and sweat caked in the side of her hair. And yet, she looked as attractive as she ever had.
"What's our play? They'll be ready for my powers."
"You can do anything if you think it. Any kick, punch or body movement. You can make yourself do that with your mind and they can't stop you."
Ted liked the sound of that. After all, one week he'd spent home sick last year was entirely devoted to martial arts movies.
"Good to know. You guys need a handbook."
She grinned.
"If we get out of this, I'll tell you everything."
For the first time since Ted got his powers, he felt like a hero. They needed to survive this. He wanted to keep feeling that feeling over and over again.
"What do you want me to do?" the sheriff asked from behind them.
"Take one of them," Erica said. "However you deem necessary."
The sheriff nodded.
Nigel and the twins approached them. Phil moved toward the sheriff, while Jason was focused on Ted.
"I've got the team leader," Erica said.
"Works for me," Ted said.
Phil ran at the sheriff first. Nigel moved toward Erica next in what looked like a good old-fashioned street fight. It was just Jason and Ted left.
"Looks like we'll have to dance," Ted said. "I hope you learned your two-step."
Jason scowled.
"You even die like a loser."
Jason swung his fist at Ted. Ted told his mind to move his body faster than humanly possible to avoid it. To his surprise it worked. Jason attempted another punch, but once again, Ted used his mind to move. Jason continued to punch, and Ted kept avoiding every single blow. It didn't take long for Jason to be completely out of breath.
"You may have superpowers, but I'm always going to be cooler than you, more popular than you and better looking than you."
Ted brainstormed his next move. His mind went straight to the arcade. Ted lifted himself into the air and extended his leg. He spun around like a top, letting his foot slam into Jason's face multiple times as he passed by. The kicks were so fast, they made Jason black out while standing. Ted easily pushed him over, making him fall to the ground.
"Maybe so," Ted said. "But I think life goes on after high school."
Ted turned toward Erica and the sheriff. While Erica and Nigel were pretty evenly matched, the sheriff was having a tough time with Phil. The twin was too fast for the lawman, sending kicks and punches into the sheriff's body. When the sheriff picked up his gun from the ground, Phil ducked under his arm with ease, snatched the gun and kicked the sheriff to the ground. Phil immediately pointed the gun at Erica. She stopped fighting with Nigel when she heard the click of the weapon and Nigel sent a painful punch into her midsection.
"Let her go," Ted said.
He wished he'd had a dream of this situation to give him some clue of what to do next.
"Kill them, Ted. Don't worry about me."
Phil kicked Erica in the back.
"Give yourself up, and we'll let her go," Nigel said. "Keep fighting and you're running a real risk here."
Ted had only known the person inside of Erica for a couple of days, but he'd known Erica longer and better than almost anyone in the world. When she looked up at him, there was no way he could ever let any more harm come to her. There was no world worth fighting for without Erica.
"I'll give myself up," he said. "Just get away from her."
"Ted, no!" Erica said.
"Phil, you heard the man," Nigel said.
The twin picked up Erica by the back of the shirt and threw her far across the room. She landed hard near Dhiraj and the others. Ted could feel the pain she experienced when she hit the ground.
"Now it's just us," Nigel said. "Remember what happened the last time you tried to stand up to me one-on-one? You went through a window. Since there aren't any windows here, we're just going to have to shoot you.” Nigel nodded toward Phil. “You may fire when ready."
Phil didn't hesitate, but neither did Ted. As the bullet exited the gun, time slowed down for Ted, as if he'd asked for permission for the world to change its rules. Ted saw the hilt of the ancient sword move across the room in his mind. While any outside viewer would have seen the sword literally move faster than a bullet, it felt easy for Ted. As the hilt reached Ted's hand, he swung the sword, dislodging the rock stuck on the blade. The bullet and the rock collided, resulting in an explosion of small pieces of stone. Ted gripped the sword and moved toward Phil, who fired another bullet. He swatted the projectile out of the air and planted his sword in Phil's abdomen. With a flashing blue light and a scream, Phil disappeared into nothingness. Ted looked down at his weapon.
"That was unexpected."
Jason attempted to sneak up behind Ted, but Ted saw him coming. He stuck the sword behind him and through Jason, resulting in the same burst of light and disappearance. Ted squared up with Nigel, who now held the gun that fell when Phil perished.
"You don't even know who you are," Nigel said. "The living soul isn't meant to be an instrument of war. You could make the entire conflict go away in an instant."
Ted held his sword at the ready.
"I can be whoever I want to be," Ted said.
"You think Erica has your best interest in mind. You think she wants to save your world. It's all a lie."
"Because I can trust you so much."
"You shouldn't trust anyone," Nigel said as he fired the gun.
Ted moved his sword to block the bullet right back into Nigel's chest. The Brit clutched his wound.
"You'll die screaming," Nigel said.
Ted stabbed Nigel with a strong thrust.
"You first."
Nigel did scream before he disappeared with a blue burst.
Ted looked over at the sheriff, who was helping himself up using the rocky wall. He ran to Erica. She was coughing in the corner of the room next to Jennifer and Dhiraj.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
Erica put her hand on Ted's shoulder.
"I'll live," she said. "You did good, Ted."
He couldn't believe the rush he felt, both from beating the bad guys and getting a compliment from Erica. His mood wouldn't last, as he looked over to his other friends.
"We need to get out of here quick,"
Dhiraj said. "Natalie needs help."
Ted hadn't been able to tell before, but now it was obvious. He'd seen Natalie wear that outfit before, and even facedown with a knife in her back, it was apparent it was her. Ted felt all his muscles tighten at once. His voice became low and quiet.
"No," he said.
Tears came to his eyes immediately. Everything from the day was pushed aside in an instant.
"Why is she here?!"
Ted tried to roll her over, but Dhiraj stopped him.
"I don't know if you should move her, man."
Ted used his powers to push Dhiraj a few feet to the left.
"It's her only chance," Ted said.
He wrapped his arm around her and lifted her off the ground. Ted looked back at Erica.
"Find us at the hospital."
Ted put his free hand up to the ceiling of the cave. With a giant blast, a hole big enough for the two of them opened up. He put both arms around Natalie and took off. Flying through the air felt different than it had in the cave, though he wasn't in the right state of mind to enjoy it. Natalie regained consciousness about halfway through the journey.
"Ted," she said. "You're alive. They didn't end the world."
Ted felt himself pick up speed. The wind made their clothes flap wildly.
"And you helped to fight them off," he said. "I need to celebrate with you, OK? You need to hang on."
Natalie coughed. The two of them were only a few blocks away from the hospital. Ted could barely hear Natalie over the sound of their flight.
"I was jealous. I wanted Erica to suffer. Now I know – she's the one who's going to keep you alive."
Natalie's voice grew weaker with each word. Ted felt himself start to cry.
"I need both of you," he said. "I need both of you."
Natalie didn't say another word. Ted landed the two of them on the ground right in front of the sliding doors of the emergency room. This time he had no trouble maintaining his balance.
"I have a stab wound here! I need help right now!"
As the doctors took Natalie off of his hands, he collapsed to his knees and prayed.