“Hey nice work, who did that, Dyl?” Jay said, but Dylan wasn’t listening.
“Hi guys, I’m Dylan,” he said to the seven newcomers. “What are your powers?”
“I’m Stan and I turn things to stone,” the black-haired boy replied.
“Casey. Make earthquakes happen,” the blonde girl said.
“I negatively affect people’s moods. Make them despondent and all that. My name’s Mallory,” explained a girl with long black hair.
“I’m Elijah and I turn into a leopard and back again,” a boy with fair hair whispered. He seemed very introvert.
“Mason,” a brown-haired boy said. “I see the future. Not all of it, just certain random events.”
“And I’m Heather and I’m a healer,” a smiley girl with long brown hair announced.
“A healer?” Dylan answered thoughtfully. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s fantastic to meet you all. Heather, tell me more.”
“There’s not much to tell really. I haven’t had my power long, but I know I can heal things like cuts, broken bones and that kind of thing. Goulden made me practise on the rejects.” She looked at the floor sadly.
“Do you think you could reverse the effects of a drug?” Dylan asked. “Kinda heal the mind and body of it.”
“I don’t know.”
Dylan pointed at the rejects. “They have been drugged so that they’re under Goulden’s spell. If we could cure them of that, the fight will be over and we can all get out of here.”
“I can give it go...”
“Scarlett will help you.”
“I will?”
“Yes, just do what you did with Isabella – help Heather to control her healing power and cure the rejects.”
Scarlett took Heather’s hand. “Ready?” she said. Heather nodded. “OK, now relax, be confident and believe you have the power to heal all these people. You will reverse the effects of the drug and make them think for themselves again. You can do it.”
“I can do it,” Heather repeated with a look of intense concentration on her face.
“I wonder if it worked,” Lucy mused.
“I guess we’ll have to unfreeze them to find out,” Scarlett said. “Isabella?”
The redhead waved her arms and the rejects all reanimated. They stumbled slightly, then looked around in a dazed fashion.
“What happened?” the green, bug-eyed boy said.
“Where are we?” asked the fox girl.
“You’re in Prime Minister Goulden’s labs,” Dylan said. “Do you remember coming here?”
They all jumped back a little.
“Don’t worry, we’re friends, we’re here to help you get out of here.”
“That’s what you think,” Goulden sneered from behind them.
Scarlett spun around to see him stood behind Dylan with a gun to his head. “Get back, you monster,” she yelled, using her mind to fly the gun out of his hand, then hurl him across the room. “You’ve caused enough misery for one day.”
“Let’s help her,” Casey said. She knelt to the ground and sent a sharp earthquake shock straight in Goulden’s direction.
As the PM started to get up off the floor, Toshiko sprinted over to him and took a swinging kick to his chest. “Murderer!” she shouted. “I’m going to finish you.”
Goulden’s men rushed to his aid, shooting furiously at Toshiko as they did so, but she deftly dodged their shots with her agile ninja moves. Lucy took two of them out with her lightning bolts, while Aaron hit another with one of his laser balls. As Goulden struggled to his feet for a second time, all of the super-powered teenagers in the room moved angrily towards him.
“Get me out of here,” Goulden said to his men. They followed his orders and ushered him towards the far exit, but Ethan blocked him. He produced one of his bombs in one hand and bounced it in the air.
“I’m going to destroy you for what you did to Sasha,” he said.
Goulden smiled, grabbed Ethan and jabbed him with a syringe. “No, you’re going to help me escape. Aren’t you?”
Ethan’s eyes glazed over. “Of course, sir.”
“Now kill them,” Goulden ordered.
Toshiko screamed and ran forward as Ethan started throwing bombs in the teenagers’ direction.
“Get back,” Andrew urged. “I don’t want to lose another teammate today.”
“It looks like we already have,” Alex mused as Ethan dutifully followed Goulden out of the room, scattering more bombs to make sure no one followed them.
“We’ll get him back,” Andrew said. “I swear.” He span around to survey the chaos and destruction of the scene before him, then turned to Dylan. “Thanks for your help today, mate.”
“You too. I’m just sorry we couldn’t help you save Sasha.”
“You saved the rest of us and even though Ethan’s gone, he’s alive. We’ll get him back.”
“I know you will.”
Andrew turned to Alex and Toshiko. “Ready to go?”
They nodded solemnly. “We’ll have to go outside first though,” Alex said. “I can’t teleport from in here.”
“OK,” Andrew replied. He looked over to Sasha’s body. “I’ll carry her. We have to take her with us.”
“What about us?” Stan said. “Can we come with you?”
“You want to join our group?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too,” Casey said.
“Hang on,” Dylan said. “Do you know you have two choices here?”
“What do you mean?” Isabella asked.
“Well, we’re two very separate groups. Scarlett, Neelam, Jay, Lucy and I strive to help people and battle Goulden...”
“As do we,” Andrew said, “only we’re willing to do what’s necessary and hurt bad people when we have to. We also want to kill Goulden. This lot prefer to do things the nice, non-violent way, which I think is very noble but incredibly naïve.”
Dylan rolled his eyes.
“Then I still want to come with you, Andrew,” Stan said. “People like Goulden deserve to get hurt.”
“Me too,” Casey said. She turned to look at the rest of her group. “Coming?”
“No, I’m with Dylan,” Isabella said.
“Trust you,” Mallory laughed. “I’m going it alone from here. I don’t do teams.”
“OK,” Isabella said. “Heather, Mason, Elijah – are you joining me?”
They all shook their heads. “We don’t want to start a war,” Heather said. “We just want to go back to our families.”
“But these guys don’t want a war either,” Isabella argued. “They do things the peaceful way.”
“I know, but I’m not up for all this super-power stuff. I just want to see my mum and dad.”
“That might be difficult unless you want to put them at risk,” Dylan said. “All our families had to go into hiding a few years ago when Goulden threatened to hurt them if we didn’t work as his soldiers.”
“Are they OK?” Heather asked. She looked shocked.
Dylan lowered his head. “Yes, most of them,” he whispered. “Mine died though.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged his shoulders as if to say it was OK, even though it clearly wasn’t.
“I want to join you, really I do, but hearing that makes me want to see my family even more. I have to protect them.”
“We understand,” Scarlett said, stepping in to speak for Dylan because he looked upset.
“Really?”
“More than you can imagine,” Lucy added, turning to her brother, Aaron.
“If you ever change your mind, get in touch with us via Isabella,” Neelam said.
Dylan turned to the rejects, who had been chatting among themselves. “What about you guys?” he asked.
“We’re different now,” the bug-eyed boy said. “We don’t really fit in with any of your groups, so we think we’ll go our own way once we get out of here.”
Dylan nodded to show he understood.
“We’d better leave before Goulden comes back,” he said.
“My powers returned near the end of the battle,” Neelam explained. “So I’ll mask us all from anyone who sees us.”
The large group of teenagers made their way out of the room and down the stairs. As they crept through the thousands of slaves on the ground floor, Scarlett felt like crying. She’d been through so much today that she’d forgotten about the horrors they’d seen when they first arrived. “Can’t we do something to help them?” she whispered to Dylan.
“Not now,” he insisted. We’ve got enough to deal with getting all these people out of here. There must be nearly 30 of us.”
“Then it’ll be easier for us to sneak out of the grounds amidst a huge crowd, won’t it?”
“Maybe.”
“Then I’m doing it.”
“Scarlett...” he protested. “No. I want to free these people as much as you do, but this is not the way to do it. All you’ll do is create a complete panic that will probably result in many of them getting shot now or punished by the guards later. Plus, they may be drugged to obey their oppressors anyway. We have to be tactical and smart about this. We’ll do something, I promise – we just can’t do it now.”
“OK,” she said begrudgingly. Why was he always so right about everything? She reluctantly followed the others to the fire exit and back outside.
“Well, this is where we leave you,” Andrew announced. “See you around.”
“Look after yourselves,” Dylan said as Alex teleported Andrew, Toshiko, Casey and Stan away.
“We’d better keep going,” Scarlett said. “We’re not safe till we’re through that wall.”
They snuck back to the gap she had created earlier and made their way out into the woods.
“Thanks for your help,” the bug-eyed boy said. “I can lead my people from here.”
“Take care,” Neelam said.”
“Wait!” Scarlett called as he turned to walk away. “What’s your name?”
“Tom,” he said with a smile. “My name’s Tom.”
“Good luck Tom. If you and your people ever need help, look us up.”
“We will.”
“We’re making our own way from here too,” Heather said. She was stood with Mason and Elijah.
“Will you be OK?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah, we can look after ourselves.”
“Are you sure?” Neelam said.
“Of course,” Elijah insisted. And with that, the three of them snuck off into the woods.
Mallory wandered off in the same general direction. “See ya,” she called over her shoulder before anyone could stop her.
“Charming. Looks like it’s just us then,” Scarlett said as they walked towards their car.
“Guys, is it OK if Aaron joins us too?”
“Yes, of course,” Dylan said. He slapped his forehead. “Sorry, Aaron, in all the craziness, none of us welcomed you. We all just assumed who you were I guess. It’s good to see you safe and sound.”
“Cheers,” Aaron said shyly. “Thanks for having me.”
“Anytime,” Neelam said. “The more the merrier. The only problem is... how are we all going to fit into the car? There are seven of us now.”
“I could run back,” Jay suggested.
“And I’ll fly,” Dylan added.
“Be careful,” Scarlett said. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before jumping into the car to begin the long drive home. “Ready?” she asked the group once they were belted up. They all nodded. “Then let’s see if we can beat Dylan and Jay home,” she said, trying to force a joke to lighten the mood. They all smiled quietly. Realising everyone was too tired for chitchat, she chose to stay silent and focus on the road for the rest of the way home.
Chapter 28
An hour later, the group were all back inside the house.
“I’m starving,” Jay complained.
“Come and help me make some brunch then,” Neelam said. “We could all do with a good meal and it will give us a chance to sit down and get to know Isabella and Aaron.”
“Ohhh…” he moaned, but it was too late. Neelam was already dragging him towards the kitchen.
“It’s colder in here than it is outside,” Lucy complained. “I’m going to put the heating on and show Aaron to his room, if that’s OK?”
“Sure,” Dylan said.
Just then there was a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it,” Scarlett announced.
“Wait, I’ll come with you,” Dylan insisted, taking her hand.
“I wonder who it is,” Scarlett mused as she opened the large, oak door. While many possibilities were running through her mind, she was shocked when she saw who was actually standing there.
“Hi,” Alex said as he shuffled his feet awkwardly.
“What do you want?” Dylan asked. He didn’t look impressed.
“Uh, I was wondering if I could come in.”
“Why?”
“I left that group. I don’t belong there. And, well, I wondered if I could stay here.”
Dylan’s eyes almost popped out of his head.
“Are you serious? You hate us.”
“No, I don’t. You don’t understand. I’m not the Alex you think I am. I’m from another place, and I think Scarlett is too.”
“What?” Dylan said incredulously. Scarlett was speechless.
“I was friends with you, Scarlett, on a more peaceful earth. We were in an accident on your birthday and I woke up here in a hospital. Sasha, Toshiko and the others found me there and made me leave with them.”
“Okayyy,” Dylan said a little sceptically.
“They told me you guys were evil. That you had plans to take over the world. All kinds of crazy rubbish… I know they were wrong now that I’ve seen you all in action today though. They also said that the Scarlett here wasn’t the Scarlett I knew, but a horrible girl who would lure me to join you. That’s why I brushed you off that day we met the other week.”
Scarlett looked from Alex, to Dylan, then back to Alex again. Then she scratched her head.
“You’re Alex?”
“Yes.”
“My friend, Alex?”
“Yes.”
“When’s my birthday?”
“October 19th.”
“Where was I born?”
“Didsbury, Manchester. You were born at home because you were early.”
“What did I do for my 13th birthday?”
“We went to Alton Towers with our families.”
“Do I have a pet?”
“Yes. A dog, Fluffy. You used to have a goldfish called Fishy too.”
“Oh my goodness. It is you.”
“Well, yeah,” he laughed. “So can I stay?” he asked hopefully, looking from Dylan to Scarlett and back again.
“Of course you can,” Dylan said. He wasn’t looking too happy though.
“Thanks,” Alex said. He followed them both through to the kitchen, where Neelam and Jay jumped with alarm.
“He reckons he’s on our side now,” Dylan explained.
“Brilliant,” Neelam said, handing him a spoon. “You can help me in the kitchen then because Jay is useless.”
“It’d be my pleasure,” Alex smiled.
“But we haven’t had time to chat…” Scarlett started to say.
“There’s plenty of time to talk, Scarlett, and I get the feeling this young man is desperate to spend some much needed time alone with you.” He nodded his head over to Dylan. “He really cares for you. I can tell from watching you together.”
Dylan’s tense features softened as he heard Alex’s words. “Well, that’s not like the Alex I knew,” he said to Scarlett as they walked away. “He hated us spending time together.”
“Yeah that guy sounded like a real loser,” she laughed.
“I’m going to fetch some firewood from the shed,” he said. “I thought it would be nice to have a roaring fire for us all to warm the house up. Do you want to come?�
��
“Of course,” she said. She dashed into the hallway to grab her coat, then met Dylan in the back porch.
“So how do you feel about Alex’s news?” he asked as they walked to the door.
“I can’t really get my head round it,” she admitted as they stepped outside. “You know that there’s nothing between us, right?”
“Sure,” Dylan shrugged. He didn’t look totally convinced.
“Honestly! We’ve been friends for years, but that is all. No spark. Nothing. I was so surprised when you guys told me that this place’s Scarlett was attracted to Alex. If anything, he seems really pleased to see me happy with you.”
“That’s true,” Dylan said. “He seems genuine, but one false move…”
“Come on, he’s not lying. He’s the real Alex. He must have somehow come here with me.”
“Yeah,” Dylan agreed. “I’m starting to think that’s the case too – and I think I might have figured out how.”
“Really?”
“Your powers have developed. Haven’t you noticed?”
“No.” She was confused.
“You enhanced my powers twice. It’s like you controlled them in the same way you can control matter and telekinetically move it around I guess.”
“Did I?”
“Yes”
“But how?”
“Well, firstly, you made me create that hailstorm, then you helped me make the ice wall. I wrote the first incident off, but the second time got me thinking. I remembered how the workhouse plans just teleported into your hands at Alex’s place. I realised you must have controlled his power too.”
“Is that what happened with Isabella and Heather?”
“Yes. You took charge of their powers and amplified them to make them respectively freeze and heal a whole group of people. Both those things were something they weren’t capable of without your help.”
“That’s pretty cool. Do you think I can do it with any power?”
“I’d assume so. Anyway, so I just realised that this might be how you came here. When the lorry nearly hit you and Alex, both your powers must have manifested. I think you enhanced Alex’s ability and teleported you both to a completely different reality.”
Scarlett raised an eyebrow.
“Think about it – you can telekinetically move people to anywhere you want and he can teleport. If you managed to combine those powers and make them stronger, you might just have jumped into this timeline.”
Out Of Time Page 21