by Gracie Dix
“I see you haven’t used your Powers a lot,” The Boss noted.
“Why would I? I get zapped every time!” Nick yelled.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s just a safety precaution,” The Boss falsely reassured him.
“Do I get food?” Nick wondered, his stomach growling.
“Would it make you happy?” The Boss asked in a patronizing tone.
“Um, yeah, kind of,” Nick said.
“Then, NO!” The Boss screeched, storming off.
“It figures,” Nick muttered, sitting down.
26.2
Six o’clock that morning . . .
Spencer decided to get a head start on his plan. He raced out the door of his room and into the stone hallway. On his way to Nick’s prison cell, he checked to make sure The Boss was still asleep and sure enough, he was. Spencer continued on his way to the prison. Nick was asleep, but he looked like he was about to wake up. With the minimum amount of Dark Magic Spencer had, he forced it so Nick would be asleep for a few more hours. Spencer then took a look at the tank and saw it still wasn’t full, which was good. But just then, a dizzy feeling came over him, and he realized he was having a vision.
Nick was still asleep, but just waking up.
“Good morning, twit!” The Boss hissed.
Spencer tuned out the conversation and focused on what he was thinking about when the vision began—the tank. His focus was temporarily diverted when The Boss struck the cage with black lightning. Nick stumbled backward and brushed against the back of the cage. Spencer watched in horror as the tank filled up halfway.
Spencer’s vision went back to normal and he was staring at Nick.
“I’ve got to do this fast!” he whispered.
He thought back to when he was standing by what looked like a floating school, but in ruins. He remembered seeing the kids fighting and thought of a plan.
“Maybe if I go back and try to get their help, they’ll help me,” Spencer thought. “Granted, they probably don’t know Nick and definitely don’t know me, but maybe they’ll help.”
He was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of a timer counting down. Spencer did some quick math, then came to a startling realization.
“No, no, no! This thing has three more days until it zaps all his Power! I could disassemble it, but The Boss would notice. Aw, man, I gotta go,” Spencer realized.
He quickly raced out of Nick’s cell and rushed to the portal. Spencer entered the portal room, admiring its mysterious walls. They were black as night near the entrance. But as he got closer to the portal, the black began to fade into beautiful greens and blues. The portal itself was massive! Spencer thought an eighteen-wheeler could fit in there.
He was just about to hop through, when he spotted a note taped to the frame of the portal. He carefully ripped it off, unfolded it, and began to read: Dear son, You might really want to be careful because I do know that you use this portal despite my demands not to. The portal has become a little bit wonky. Regular Powers have been turning on and off, and the jungle and cage that surround this portal have been plagued with creatures stronger and smarter than anyone could imagine. I believe it has something to do with the magical worlds collapsing. Please be incredibly careful. Dad
“Yeah, right. He’s probably just trying to keep me from using it. Not going to work, Dad!” Spencer yelled as he jumped through. But when he appeared on the other side of the portal, he was horrified to be suddenly bombarded by creatures of all different sizes.
“Wow! Dad wasn’t lying!” he thought. Spencer panted, running through the jungle at full speed. He had almost made it to the door at the other end when he saw someone cowering by a large tree, about to be attacked by a Fire Raptor, which could spontaneously combust into flames.
Nick? Spencer stood still for a moment, terribly confused.
“But Nick is back in my fa-The Boss’ realm,” he thought. Then again, if this were the real Nick, he didn’t want his friend to get blazed by a Fire Raptor, so Spencer raced towards the Raptor, which scared it off, causing it to flee.
“That was too easy. Anyway, hey, Nick!” Spencer called. But when Nick grabbed Spencer’s arm and pinned him to the ground, Spencer realized his mistake—he’d been tricked. This was not Nick, but an Impersonator. The Impersonator stuck out its tongue, which acted as a sleep needle, and licked Spencer across the arm.
“Aw, ewwww!” Spencer yelled. He suddenly felt incredibly sleepy and knew he was in trouble. He felt his eyes close as he drifted off into a deep sleep.
26.3
Back at the school . . .
“Great! Now Mason’s gone because of Darla, Darla’s gone because of Oliver, Oliver’s gone because of Ondrea, and Ondrea is gone, but who knows why?” Teddy muttered.
“Guys, no matter how we’re feeling, we have to stick together now,” Jessica warned. “Let’s get a few things clear. Ondrea and Mason both mysteriously disappeared, Ondrea more mysteriously than Mason. Oliver and Darla disappeared, but we know why they’re gone. Unfortunately for all four of them, we don’t know where they’ve gone.”
“Right,” Jason said. “We know everyone had an emotional breakdown and stormed off—probably due to the fact that it’s nearly three o’clock in the afternoon, and we haven’t gotten any sleep!”
“Right,” Teddy joined in. “Maybe they’ll relax for a bit, then be back.”
“We also need to factor in time,” Jason continued, “Ondrea and Oliver both disappeared yesterday. Mason and Darla today.”
“Yeah,” Teddy agreed. “So if anything, Oliver or Ondrea should be back sooner.”
“Right guys, good talk!” Jessica exclaimed.
“Wait, are we not going to find them?” Jason asked.
“We have to stick together,” Jessica reminded him.
“Then we will all just look for them together. That way no one else will get lost and all will be fine,” Jason demanded.
“It’s a good plan,” Teddy stated.
“Fine, I guess it’ll work,” Jessica muttered wearily. “We have to be very careful though, because, if we get into a physical fight with the enemy, we won’t be able to defend ourselves. All of our fighters fled.”
“That’s true. I am obviously not going to be functioning as an attacker,” Jason sighed sadly.
“Who’s even left to attack us?” Teddy questioned, “I mean, Luke is out of commission. The Boss is in some other place and hasn’t bothered us since . . . well, since the last time he’s bothered us.”
“Still, we need to be alert,” Jessica said.
“Well, of course,” Teddy agreed.
26.4
Back in the forest . . .
Will, Damian, Avery, and Rachel had been sitting and catching up for the past few hours.
“I’m starving,” Will whined, “and my hands hurt!”
“Look, Will, I don’t know what to do about that! I’m not a Healer,” Damian exclaimed.
“Will, quit complaining, would you?” Avery snapped, “I’ve got a sprained ankle and I’m not complaining.”
“Yeah, but my hands are burned! There’s a difference!” he hissed.
“I’m pretty hungry,” Rachel cut in, “and I usually just hunt my food.”
Everyone stopped and stared at her. “We might have to do that out here,” Damian sighed.
“Then let’s get started! This boy’s gotta eat!” Will yelled excitedly.
He leaped up, ready to start hunting. His adrenaline was pumping, and his face lit up with a smile.
“Oh no, Will. You can’t go,” Damian stated firmly, gesturing to Will’s burned hands.
Will’s face dropped. “But . . . but this is exciting, and I’m bored,” he stammered sadly.
“Really?” Damian wondered incredulously, “You’re telling me, after all we’ve been through, you’re bored! And you don’t even enjoy these few moments of peace a little?”
“Well . . . ” Will pondered.
“Exactly. So
you and Avery are going to stay here, while Rachel and I hunt,” Damian concluded.
“Fine,” he responded.
“That’s the spirit!” Avery cut in.
Rachel and Damian walked off, and a spear formed in Damian’s left hand. Will and Avery watched them go. Will sighed miserably and flopped onto his back. He stuck his burned hands out in front of him and sighed again.
“Maybe it’s good to be bored. What do you think, Avery?” Will mumbled.
“I think you’re right,” she answered. “There are different kinds of excitement. There’s the good, fun excitement, and the bad, dangerous excitement, otherwise known as fear-induced adrenaline. Doing too much good, fun excitement can lead to the bad, dangerous excitement. Especially now.”
“Yeah,” he sighed.
“All right! For the love of all things beautiful—enough sighing!” Avery hissed.
“I’m sorry,” Will apologized.
Four hours later, Avery and Will were becoming even more irritated. “Where are they?” Will yelled.
“I don’t know, but we should probably be patient,” Avery responded with a worried expression.
“I know you’re worried, too,” Will stated. “Besides, we’ve been patient for four hours!”
“Guys!” Damian called, coming back.
“Finally! Dude, it’s been a while. Long time no see,” Will laughed.
“It’s only been four hours, Will,” Damian sighed.
“Did you get anything? Where is it? What is it? WHERE IS RACHEL?” Avery wondered.
“Whoa! Okay, we got something. Rachel has it. It’s a rabbit. She’s coming now,” Damian answered quickly.
Rachel appeared from the trees carrying a rabbit. “I am highly against holding this! I am an animal just like this, you know!” Rachel yelled, shoving it towards Damian.
“Well, I’m not touching that! It’s dead!” Damian huffed crossing his arms.
“Grrrr. Just TAKE IT!” She barked forcefully.
Rachel shoved the limp, dead rabbit into Damian’s crossed arms and stepped back. Damian began to freak out and quickly uncrossed his arms, causing the rabbit to fall to the floor.
“Oh, for the love of all things stupid! I’ll take your dumb rabbit!” Avery yelled.
Damian built a little fire pit and lit it with a black flame that never burned out. For some unknown, twisted reason, Will actually knew how to cook rabbit, so he took care of that. By the time they were finished eating, the sun was starting to set.
26.5
Nick had been sitting in his cage for the entire day. His muscles had begun to cramp up, and he was so hungry that his stomach felt like it was turning on itself. He could already see that he was slightly thinner.
“Stomach, are you serious? It’s only been two or three days! Man up!” he mumbled to himself. Nick looked out his little window and saw that it was now sundown. It appeared to be the end of his second day in this place. He was concerned that he hadn’t seen Spencer all day. Suddenly, The Boss stomped in.
“Where is he?” he screamed.
“What’s got your boxers in a bunch?” Nick asked.
“Where is Spencer?” The Boss repeated.
“You haven’t seen him either?” Nick questioned.
“Don’t play dumb with me, boy!” The Boss screamed, releasing more lightning.
Nick fell to the floor of the cage suddenly feeling weaker and tired. On hands and knees with his eyes closed, Nick took a breath and turned his head up. He opened his eyes.
“What are you doing to me?” Nick questioned coldly.
The Boss stared over at the tank and saw it was now three-quarters of the way full.
“Just teasing you. Now, where is Spencer?” The Boss demanded furiously.
“First of all, I don’t know where he is, and what’s it to you? Second of all, I know, somehow, you’re taking something from me. Something I need. I want it back. Give me my energy, old man!” Nick screamed.
The Boss was suddenly tempted to drain the last of Nick’s energy, but he knew he had to wait two more days. He ground his teeth.
“So, you really don’t know where Spencer is?” The Boss sighed sadly.
Nick caught a glimpse of worry cross The Boss’s face.
“What! No way! I can’t believe this. You actually care about him?” Nick laughed. “You? You’re pure evil!”
“There’s so much more to this than you understand,” The Boss muttered.
“I don’t get it. Why do you care about him?” Nick asked incredulously.
“For the same reason The Shadow cares about you, Nick,” he replied, walking out of the room.
“What the . . . Oh, no way! That kid has some serious explaining to do!” Nick seethed.
26.6
In the mind of darkness, there is a light . . .
The Boss left Nick’s prison room with a sad frown plastered on his face.
“How dare that boy make fun of me!” he thought. “Spencer is my son, but Nick would never understand. He doesn’t know Spencer like I do. He doesn’t even know him at all.”
The Boss went to the portal room, about to pay a surprise visit to the pests of the Superhero world, when he saw that the note he had put on the portal was now on the floor. The Boss’s panic rose. He picked up the note and his suspicions were confirmed. Spencer had gone through the portal. The Boss crushed the note in his hand. Why is this child so stupid? The Boss was about to go in after Spencer when he suddenly gained a brain cell.
“Wait, I can’t go in on my own. I’ll get demolished,” he murmured to himself, although he hated to admit it. “Nick. Why does that stupid kid remind me so much of Spencer? It’s like they caught their personalities from each other. Why did Nick seem to care about Spencer, too? I must get my shackles! I’ll enlist his help.”
26.7
Spencer woke up in a haze. He found himself tied to a tree in the middle of the jungle. It was night. He forced himself to remember what had happened. The Impersonator! Spencer looked around wearily and found no sign of a monster, so he began trying to escape using his Magic, but as soon as he gathered the Power, it diminished and left him exhausted.
“Right, the haze makes it nearly impossible to get free,” Spencer muttered. His vision clouded over, and he felt himself drifting into another sleep.
TWENTY-SEVEN
In Which Oliver Reflects
Oliver had been Flying and stopping periodically for nearly three days. He glanced upon the horizon, and finally felt glad that he had Powers. He felt special.
“I just needed a small vacation, I guess,” he thought. “Actually, I needed some time to cool off.”
The more he thought about it, Oliver realized he was under a lot of stress—stress from worrying about his friends and Jessica, and the stress of being the leader, too. He began to think of what had happened before he left. “Oh no! I really need to get back! How could I have been so stupidly impulsive to just leave like that?”
He suddenly realized he had no clue where he was.
“Ah, great,” he grumbled. He felt his stomach growl and realized he hadn’t eaten since the fight with Luke. “Gosh! I am full of mistakes! How could I have not eaten for nearly three days?”
Oliver stopped to eat an apple he kept in his pocket. It was all bruised, but it was still food. Once he’d finished it, he began trying to get his bearings. He Flew up and looked in every direction, but he didn’t recognize anything.
“No! Why am I so impulsive?” he yelled.
Suddenly, Oliver Sensed something was wrong. Instead of fighting the feeling, he loosened up and welcomed the Sense, so he could feel it deeply and confirm the information. He realized something was wrong and, for once, it had nothing to do with Jessica. Someone else was in trouble.
“I’ve got to help them! Wait, but what about my own friends? Nah, I’m sure they’ll be okay without me,” Oliver talked it out with himself. He began to follow the feeling which took up a lot of his Power, but he had to h
elp.
After a few hours, almost noon, Oliver began to get a visual of a giant jungle, but only in a concentrated area. Surrounding that jungle area was a giant dome. Outside the dome, the landscape was the same as the one he’d been traveling.
“That certainly isn’t the strangest thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s somewhere in the top five,” he mumbled. Oliver Flew down toward the dome and all around it to see whether or not it was safe. Once he had made a full round, he finally spotted the doorway in. He Flew down to it and tried to open the doors.
“What the . . . ” he muttered as the door resisted his pull. He tried again, pulling harder. Nothing.
“Maybe I shouldn’t go in. Maybe this place doesn’t want me here,” he thought. “Well, I’m not going to leave another place that doesn’t want me! I’m going to make it want me.”
Oliver backed up and blasted Wind at the doors, causing them to blow off their frame.
“Whoa!” he yelled, walking in and feeling the humid air. He could hear animal sounds—a few roars and growls, along with other sounds he couldn’t have recognized even if he’d tried. Oliver began to feel like he’d made a mistake. But he also began to feel a strong pull here.
He thought back to the doors, wondering if maybe they were so hard to open for a reason. He traveled further inside, realizing there was so much jungle—trees, vines, bushes. Oliver continued walking for a long time and eventually stopped. He looked up and saw the sun just above the horizon. He thought he might have been walking for about two hours, but he wasn’t sure.
The entire way through, he had seen creatures hiding in the darkness of the trees. But he had stopped to look at one creature that, for some reason, had disturbed him. It was as if his Super Senses had been telling him to stay away, which only made him more curious. Out of character and out of mind, Oliver let his Super Sense take him to the creature. The more his mind screamed at him to turn back, the closer he knew he was getting.
Finally, when he felt like he was going to collapse from his internal battle, he saw a thing. He didn’t know what it was, but it certainly looked like a thing. This thing had undiscernable features. Oliver couldn’t tell what it was.