by Gracie Dix
“Please go back to bed. I feel like I haven’t gotten any sleep at all, and I know you’re exhausted, too,” Jessica stated.
“Goodnight, Jess,” he said.
“’Night,” she repeated.
SEVEN
In Which Will and Jessica Make a Special Appearance
The next two days were surprisingly uneventful. Nothing happened that was out of the norm. Jessica, Ondrea, Oliver, and Teddy decided to have a “sleepover” to make up for the one that the four of them missed because of Thursday’s events.
On Monday, Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Macintosh had another meeting after school about when to begin the mission to take down Vork.
“So,” Mrs. Macintosh said, “I was thinking we should do this mission on Wednesday because it’s a half day due to ‘Bring Your Pet To School’ day.”
“Why is that always a half day?” Darla questioned.
“Usually the Flamies bring fire-breathing pets to school, so they take half of the day to rebuild the school,” Mrs. Thomas explained.
“I had no clue the school could rebuild itself that fast!” Oliver said.
“Well, I assume that’s the reason they have Thursday, Friday, and one more week off, also,” Teddy pointed out.
“Exactly!” Mrs. Macintosh confirmed.
“Oh, I forgot to mention that we will be adding a different recruit to your team because Francis is still recovering from the trauma of being captured,” Mrs. Thomas said sadly. “The new team member was previously home-schooled, but now his parents want him to have more of a social experience with students his own age, students who also have Powers.”
“What? Who?” Ondrea asked, “It’s not like we know anyone else in this school!”
“That may be, but you guys need to make more friends,” Mrs. Thomas said.
“Is it a girl or a boy?” Darla questioned hopefully.
“He is a guy,” Mrs. Macintosh answered.
“Is he cute?” Jessica asked.
“What is this? Twenty questions? Come on just tell us!” Teddy exclaimed eagerly.
“What grade is . . . ” Oliver started.
“Enough questions!” Mrs. Thomas shouted.
“Let’s just show you,” Mrs. Macintosh hissed, annoyed.
“Come on in, Will!” the teachers called.
A boy suddenly came into the class room. He was wearing a blue T-shirt with blue rough jeans, and his hair was spiked up in the front. He had dark blue eyes and light brown hair. He was skinny and his clothes fit loosely.
“Hi, my name is Will and I am in ninth grade. It’s cool to meet you guys. I’ve heard a lot about all of you,” he said with a confident smile.
“Hey, Will! My name is Oliver and these peeps are Teddy, Ondrea, Darla, and, my sister, Jessica. Once you get to know her better, you can call her Jess,” Oliver said, pointing to each of his friends as he spoke.
“What are your Powers, dude?” Teddy questioned curiously.
“I have Heat Vision, Ice Powers, Super Stretch, Super Strength, and Invisibility,” Will explained.
“That’s pretty cool! My only Powers are Flight and Super Intelligence, or ‘sense the obvious,’ as some people put it,” Oliver sighed, suddenly disappointed. Jessica glanced at Oliver and reminded herself to check up on him later.
“What will we do if the school has another issue on Wednesday?” Darla asked.
“Well, I have two things to say. First, we will get out of the school as quickly as possible if something goes wrong. Secondly, Oliver will be the leader of this mission to shut down Vork, and you must do what he says—unless it’s wrong,” Mrs. Thomas explained.
“What? That’s not fair!” Darla complained.
“Have you been captured by an evil villain and saved someone from a fire?” Mrs. Macintosh asked.
“I just want to say that Ondrea and I have!” Teddy added in. “You know, the fire part. Not the captured part.”
“Okay! Please stop arguing, guys!” Mrs. Thomas said forcefully. “The point is, Oliver will be leading the Vork mission. No arguments!”
“Ummmm . . . ” Will began, “I still have no clue what we’re doing.” They all spent the next half-hour explaining the plan.
7.2
Everyone’s day went on like usual. Boring first period. Second period was a snooze fest. Third period made people wish the bell rang sooner. Fourth period was pretty interesting, though.
“All right, today is power day!” Coach Forest shouted. Coach Forest was always intense, which meant fourth period was never boring. “Anybody who is too scared or too lazy to fight, back out NOW!”
No one dared to back out, so he continued, “Today we will be fighting using our Powers! Whoever doesn’t quit or get their guts spread all over my clean court—wins.”
A plethora of people were called to fight each other. Owen versus Kendal, Evan versus Terry, Callahan versus Lucy, Anna versus Stephanie, and Max versus Alice. After all those students, the next words that came out of the coach’s mouth would surely be the end of Jessica.
“Malcolm and Jessica, you’re up!” he shouted, checking off something on his clipboard. “So far, I’ve sent five students to the nurse! I like you Jessica, so don’t screw this up!”
“Jess, be careful!” Darla called, “I like you, too!”
Just before she headed off to fight the biggest bully in the world, Oliver whispered something in her ear. Whatever he said took a little bit of the tension out of her face.
“One more thing, Malcolm! No Shape-Shifting or Morphing! Break that rule, and I’ll break a lot more than your perfect attendance records!” Coach yelled. Malcolm just nodded.
“Start!” Coach screamed as he blew his whistle.
Malcolm instantly lit up the playing field. Fire spewed from his hands, and he whipped the fire all around like a sprinkler. Jessica felt it coming and put up her Force Field. Her friends cheered. Suddenly, Malcolm disappeared.
TWERP!” he yelled from behind Jessica. He used his Super Strength to punch her into the concrete wall. Jessica felt herself flying into the wall, and she hit it with enough force to dislodge part of the concrete. She was dazed, but felt that something much worse was going to happen. She put her Force Field up, but it was weak. As soon as part of the wall dislodged, the concrete fell onto her weak Force Field and the Field cracked more and more.
Her friends watched from the sidelines in horror, and Oliver had a flashback. He remembered when Jessica was in trouble during the fire, and how he wasn’t strong enough to hold the concrete up. He nudged Ondrea.
“Can you use your Molecular Kinesis on that concrete so Jessica doesn’t die?”
“Oh, thank goodness! I was waiting for someone to ask!” Ondrea responded, her voice shaking. She was able to move her fingers into position without anyone noticing. Ondrea strategically made it look like the concrete was sliding down the Force Field.
7.3
Jessica could barely take it anymore. The strain was almost too much for her. She looked up and saw the concrete slipping down the side of her Force Field. How is that possible? She looked around and saw Ondrea’s arm angled out ever so slightly. Thanks, Ondrea! When Malcolm noticed the concrete sliding off, he began to run to it, but it slid all the way off, and Jessica stood.
Jessica felt really angry. Her eyes began glowing pure white. She floated up in the air and began to speak in a voice that sounded nothing like hers.
“You try to hurt me because you are weak! No matter what you do, your self-esteem will always be as low as your grades. You may be strong physically, but you have the intelligence of a mule and the mentality of a zombie!”
Suddenly, lava shot from Jessica’s eyes. All her friends took cover. Malcolm tried to run, but her main focus was on him. She flew after him, shooting lava while he ran, hitting his leg. His cries were lost in the sound of Jess’s uncontrollable rage.
In her blind rage, she heard an unpleasant sound that snapped her out of her trance.
7.4
“
We’ve got to get out of here!” Teddy screamed, trying to be heard over the sound of all the panicking students. Once they were all to safety, they all sighed.
“What was that? Jess can’t fly and she doesn’t have Fire Power! Whatever demon-like thing is possessing Jess, I hope it wears off soon,” Oliver said. “WAIT! Where is Will?”
“Oh, no!” Ondrea exclaimed. “We need to go find him!”
“Don’t go back in. It’s too dangerous,” Coach Forest said, appearing behind them.
“Since when do you care? You’re the one who started this!” Ondrea and Oliver yelled together. They sprinted inside the gym. Coach Forest closed the door immediately.
“I don’t,” he said menacingly.
7.5
Ondrea heard the doors close behind them as soon as they went in.
“I can’t believe he just closed the door on us!” Ondrea exclaimed.
“DUCK!” Oliver warned. She ducked as lava came in her direction, just barely missing her head.
“Help!” a voice yelled.
“Will?” Oliver shouted.
“Help!” he repeated.
Oliver realized it was Will. He knew he could Fly up and try to spot him, but then he would be the easiest target in the world for Jessica. If he didn’t, though, Will could become the next victim. He knew he couldn’t let that happen. Oliver Flew up and saw Will standing in the middle of the fire zone with Jessica’s eyes locked in on him.
“Use your Powers! Maybe the Ice Power!” he suggested, landing next to him.
“I don’t know how to use it that well! I just enrolled here!” Will whined.
“Where does the Ice come from?” Oliver asked.
“What?”
“Does it come from your mouth or your hands?” Oliver stated, getting a little more specific.
“Hands,” Will answered.
Oliver grabbed Will’s hands and steadied them into the position his sister’s hands were whenever she used her Force Field.
“Think Ice!” Oliver exclaimed. “Don’t let any other thoughts enter your mind.”
Will tried to clear his head of all thoughts, but they all came back.
“What’s going on?” he wondered. “Does my family know about this? Why is this kid staring at me as if I’m a ticking time bomb? How did I get these Powers anyway? Why am I . . .”
“Focus, Will!” Ondrea exclaimed, Super Speeding through the fire.
“I’m trying as hard as I can!” Will shouted.
“I have an idea! Will, have you ever gotten angry?” Oliver asked mischievously.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Oliver, where are you going with this?” Ondrea asked suspiciously.
“Think about a time where you have been so mad that you’ve absolutely lost it!” Oliver hissed, completely ignoring Ondrea.
Will thought about the time when his ex-girlfriend Becky, broke up with him after only two weeks. His eyes began to tear up.
“It wasn’t my fault!” he thought. “I remember what she said. She said, ‘I never really loved you.’ The nerve of that little ...!” He felt adrenaline rushing through his body. Anger filled him, and he felt like he was about to explode!
“Good. You’re shaking! You’ll learn to use your Power the right way, but this should work right now. This is an emergency! The number one rule to remember whenever you use anger to access your Powers is this: You must DIRECT the Power—first to your arms, then your hands, and lastly your palms!” Oliver whispered into his ear.
Will directed all the Power he could into his arms, hands, then palms. Suddenly a bright white, blue, and red beam of light shot from the center of his palms. The rush felt amazing!
“NOW STOP!” Oliver yelled. “I didn’t know you were THAT angry! You still have to control your Power. We don’t want to kill her.”
Will stopped. He looked up.
“She’s still up there!” he shouted. “She deflected it!”
Oliver barely had time to spot the jet of lava shooting toward Will. Ondrea spotted it, too. A broken piece of bleachers slid in front of Will just in time. But Oliver pushed Will out of the way, knowing the molten rock could shoot straight through his “shield” of bleachers. He was right. As soon as the lava made contact with the set of bleachers, it melted a hole right through the center—just where Will had been standing only seconds before. Suddenly, a lava beam hit Oliver straight in the leg. He screamed and was thrown against the wall.
7.6
“Huh? What happened? What was that scream?” Jessica gasped as she fell to the floor. She looked around, completely unaware of the damage she had caused. At least she had been completely unaware of the damage until now. She began to cry.
“I did all of this? NO!” she sobbed, wishing she could curl up in a ball and sleep for a hundred years. Jessica jumped up and down in frustration. She turned, looking for a way through the maze of fire. After a minute, she heard voices and began to freak out.
“What if they hate me now?” she wondered. “They might hurt me. I don’t even know who they are!”
“Jessica!” everyone said as they ran up to her. She got scared and put up her Force Field. Everyone flew back.
“Oh, no!” Jessica whispered shamefully.
“Jess, it’s your friends! Relax!” Teddy exclaimed.
“I know! I’m so sorry!” she cried.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Darla said, wrapping her arms around Jessica. She tried to pull away, but Darla wouldn’t let her.
“Have you seen Ondrea and Oliver? They ran in here to get Will. Coach slammed the doors before we could chase after them,” Teddy explained.
“WHAT! They ran in here? NO! It wasn’t safe!” Jessica yelled, trying to compose herself. “NO, NO, NO! A screaming sound snapped me out of whatever type of trance I was in! I really hope I didn’t hurt them.”
7.7
Oliver passed out from the pain as soon as the lava bolt hit him. He had been unconscious for about three minutes.
“I’m so sorry, you guys,” Will said sadly. “You wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for me.”
“It’s not okay, but it’s not your fault, either,” Ondrea assured him. “It isn’t anyone’s fault. I can only assume this mess started when Malcolm kept attacking Jess. She’s always been mad at him for being such a bully, and this time he made Jess really angry. I’ve never seen anything like that before! It’s like she wasn’t herself, and suddenly could use her Powers in a whole new, and scary, way.”
“I’ll vouch for scary,” Will replied.
“Speaking of Malcolm, where is he?” Will asked.
“No one knows,” Ondrea replied. “Jessica shot a lava blast to his leg, he fell down, and suddenly he disappeared. I think he was Teleported. But where? I hope he never comes back! He is such a bully!”
She looked over to see Will, with his hands one inch above Oliver’s burn, and she saw a blue mist coming out of his palms. “Hey, what are you doing?” she asked Will.
“I’m trying to ‘Ice’ Oliver’s burn. I figured this is my fault, so I might as well try to do something right,” he responded.
“For the last time Will, THIS ISN’T YOUR FAULT!” Ondrea screamed. The sound of her voice rang in his ears and echoed off the walls of the silent gym.
“Ondrea?” a distant voice called, having heard her yell.
“Teddy? Darla?” she replied.
Will turned his head around to see three people coming out of the flames.
“Jessica!” Will yelled. “Oh, hey, you guys! You’re all okay!”
Jessica’s eyes began to water. “I did this to him!” she said.“I don’t know what happened! I don’t know what came over me! I don’t even have Fire Powers, at least not that I know of!” Jessica was confused, in tears, and worried about Oliver. She would never hurt her brother on purpose.
Suddenly, there was a very quick blue, blinding flash. When it cleared, Oliver’s leg was healed, and the entire gym was clear, looking as if
nothing had happened.
EIGHT
In Which Snowball Goes Through Puberty
Wake up Jess! It’s Wednesday. Let’s grab Snowball!” Oliver said, shaking her awake.
“Oh, right. It’s ‘Take Your Pet To School’ day! YAY!” she cheered happily. After they ate a big bowl of their favorite cereal, Cap’n Crunch®, said bye to their parents, and leashed up Snowball, they hopped onto the flying bus that brought them to school. Or at least Jessica did; Oliver liked to Fly with the bus. Little did Oliver know, it wasn’t such a good idea that day.
“Oliver, the clouds look shady. I think you should come back inside,” Jessica said through the open window before the bus took off.
“I’ll be fine,” he said with confidence.
“Okay,” Jessica sighed.
Snowball barked, and the bus took off. It was very chaotic! There were dogs, cats, baby dragons, hamsters, and, yes, even fish. Jessica fell asleep on the bus like she always did but woke up early because something was happening.
“Jess! Wake up!” Teddy exclaimed.
“What? What’s going on?” she asked.
Ondrea was standing at the front of the bus. The doors were wide open, and Jessica could see Oliver swerving around large chunks of hail falling from the sky.
“Oliver! Stay still! I’m trying to get within range,” Ondrea shouted over the wind.
“If I stay still, I’ll get hit out of the sky!” he replied.
“I have an idea!” Will called from the back. “Jessica has a Force Field, right? So, Ondrea can use her Molecular Kinesis to safely guide Jessica to Oliver. She can use her Force Field to protect herself from the hail!”
“Amazing plan, Will. I say go for it!” Darla exclaimed immediately.
“We could do it. Jess, are you up for it?” Ondrea questioned, wanting to make sure she was okay with the plan.
“Yes, we have been through too much for Oliver to die because of some stupid falling rock!” Jessica agreed bravely. “Teddy, hold Snowball!” She carefully walked up to the front of the bus. “Hey, Ondrea, please don’t drop me,” she whispered.
Ondrea took a deep breath and walked to the edge of the door. “Be careful, Ondrea!” Oliver yelled.