by Lee Bacon
Meanwhile, Milton couldn’t stop smiling. The whole time we’d been in the Alliance of the Impossible, the Nameless Hero had overshadowed Supersonic. Now it was the other way around. And he clearly liked it.
Sophie, on the other hand, looked offended on my behalf. “You do realize that the Nameless Hero is next to you, right?” She pointed at me.
“Oh!” Cassie’s eyes widened. “Sorry!”
“No big deal,” I said. “Really.”
“It was just—the Nameless Hero always seemed so … overhyped.”
I shrugged. “Can’t disagree with you.”
“You were, like, really famous for a little while. Then you disappeared.” Her forehead wrinkled. “What happened?”
I told Cassie and Dr. Fleming about how nFinity betrayed us and Vex returned from the grave strapped into a ten-foot-tall bionic suit that made him virtually invincible.
“After that, we had to hang up our uniforms,” I said. “We went back to our normal lives. And then—just a few days ago—nFinity and a couple of his goons came after us. We had to go into hiding.”
“And so we adopted fake identities and came here,” Sophie finished. “My dad thought this would be a safe place to hide. Obviously, he was wrong.”
“But what are they doing here?” Cassie asked.
“They’re here for me.” With a heavy sigh, Dr. Fleming told Cassie about the Dominion Key.
“You said you hid the Dominion Key,” Sophie pointed out. “So where is it?”
Dr. Fleming considered this question. “You kids told me your secret. The least I can do is return the courtesy.”
He reached into his pocket and removed the photo he’d taken with him. The beam of Cassie’s flashlight lit up the picture of a log cabin in the woods.
“When I realized the global threat posed by my invention, I resolved to keep it in a safe house. So I built one. All registered under a false name, of course. Completely untraceable.” Dr. Fleming ran his thumb across the photo. “I know it may look a little backwoodsy, but on the inside, it’s actually quite modern.”
“You may think it’s safe, but it’s not,” I said. “Phineas Vex won’t stop until he’s tracked it down.”
“You have to destroy the Dominion Key,” Miranda pleaded.
“I know.” The flashlight cast deep shadows under Dr. Fleming’s eyes, making him look tired and old. “And that’s precisely what I intend to do. I just need to find a way to get to it.”
“How’re you gonna do that?” I asked. “The school is swarming with bad guys.”
“And without the ferry, there’s no way off this island,” Milton pointed out.
All of a sudden, Dr. Fleming’s eyes lit up.
“There is one other way off …,” he said.
When I heard this, it sparked a brief flicker of hope. Maybe we weren’t doomed after all. But once Dr. Fleming told us what he had in mind, I felt even worse than before.
There was just one little problem with his plan. It was absolutely nuts.
We needed to get up to the roof.
Cassie led us along winding turns and through narrow gaps until she reached her destination: a steel hatch built into the wall. She silenced us with a finger to her lips and listened for Cyclaurs outside. Their engines were barely more than a distant buzz. It sounded like the coast was clear.
“Time to go,” Cassie said.
“Thanks for all your help,” I said. “We couldn’t have made it this far without you. Hopefully, we’ll see you again sometime.”
I held out my hand for her to shake. Cassie looked down at it like I had string cheese for fingers.
“Save your goodbyes,” she snapped. “I’m coming with you.”
Now it was my turn to give her a weird look. “The bad guys are after us. Not you. If you come along, you’ll just put yourself in danger.”
Cassie’s determined expression only sharpened. “I’ve lived my entire life at Alabaster. Do you have any idea what it’s like growing up in a school? Stuck on this little island where it never stops raining? Constantly getting teased by the other kids for having generations of principals in the family? Believe me, it gets old.”
Cassie’s gray eyes moved across the floor of the tunnel.
“With a dad who can transport his family anywhere he wants, you’d think I’d be a world traveler by now, but Dad says Alabaster Academy is a part of who I am. He thinks that if I just spend enough time here, I’ll eventually want to follow in his footsteps. But all I’ve ever wanted was a chance to see the world outside Alabaster. No way I’m passing that up.”
I still didn’t think it was a good idea. But the sound of Cyclaurs was getting louder and we didn’t have time for a debate.
“Fine,” I said. “If you really want to skip school that badly.”
A smile passed across Cassie’s lips. She opened the hatch and cast a glance into the hallway. All clear. She pushed the hatch the rest of the way open and everyone climbed through. Then she closed the door—a framed painting of a silver-haired lady named Alberta Alabaster—and we hurried across the hall.
“The stairs are on the other side of the library.” Cassie pointed to a tall wooden door. “This way.”
The library had definitely seen better days. Books were strewn everywhere. Skid marks crisscrossed the floors. A wall had been reduced to a smoldering crater.
We’d nearly reached the other end of the library when the door flew open and one of our classmates stepped out.
Winston.
“Goin’ somewhere?” He raised his furry eyebrows.
“Out of the way, Winston,” Cassie said.
Winston smiled. His fangs glistened.
“I overheard those motorcycle guys sayin’ we’ve got some imposters at Alabaster. Some newbies who showed up a few days ago, lyin’ about who they really are.” Winston’s eyes narrowed as he scanned me and my friends. “And I got a feelin’ they’re talkin’ about you.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I bluffed. “Or maybe your conspiracy theory is just as lousy as your dodgeball skills.”
“We’ll see.”
“Why don’t you mind your own business?” Miranda said.
But Winston wasn’t budging. He leaned against the doorframe, examining his nails as they slowly grew into claws.
“Teachers are always tellin’ me I gotta think about my future.” His words came out in something between a normal kid’s voice and a growl. “I’m not really the college type. Not even sure I’m cut out for high school. But there’s one thing I’ve always wanted to be when I grow up—”
“Dog food salesman?” Milton guessed.
“Supervillain.” Hair was sprouting beneath Winston’s collar. He was becoming a wolf before our eyes. “And if I help out these motorcycle guys, their boss might see my … uh—whaddaya call it?—my …”
“Potential?” Dr. Fleming said.
“Exactly. My potential as a future supervillain.”
“Now, listen here, Winston.” Dr. Fleming marched forward. “I insist that you step aside right this—”
“RAAARGH!”
With the kind of quickness you usually only see on the Discovery Channel, Winston swung at Dr. Fleming. His claws ripped at the teacher’s shoulder and straight down his chest. Dr. Fleming crumpled to the floor, blood spilling from his wounds.
Winston’s mouth foamed—if you could even call it a mouth at this point. Hair sprang up across his face. His nose was elongating into a whiskered snout and his eyes had turned an eerie yellow. Leaping on top of Dr. Fleming, Winston raised his claws to strike again.
It had all happened so quickly. I was still stunned, watching the attack go down like it was a TV show. Milton reacted much more quickly. He surged forward and tackled Winston.
“Get away from him!” Milton screamed.
The two tumbled to the ground. By the time they’d separated, the transformation was complete. There was nothing human about Winston any longer. He’d gone into full wolf mode.
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His clothes were lying in a torn heap on the floor. Gray hair stood up along his back. His long, slobbery tongue ran across a row of sharp fangs. With a horrible snarl, the wolf leaped into the air, claws and teeth poised to rip into Milton.
There was no time to think—only to react. Throwing out my hands, I felt a wave of energy ripple across my body. My heart shook. Electrical storms raged through my bloodstream. I flexed my fingers, and all my power channeled down my arms, through my hands …
And just like that, everything came to a stop.
Winston froze in midair, inches from Milton. A horror movie on pause.
And he wasn’t the only thing stuck in place. Everyone around me was frozen. Dr. Fleming, clinging to his wounded chest. A glowing Sophie in mid-stride, joining the fight. Cassie and Miranda, screaming. All perfectly still.
Even I was unable to move. And yet I could feel the power working inside me, buzzing from my core to the tips of my fingers, where a light had begun to radiate. A shining orb of energy that stretched forward like an illuminated string.
The light snaked toward Winston. Memories flashed through my brain. This wasn’t the first time my Gyft had gone haywire. Something like this had happened twice before. Once in Phineas Vex’s lair, and again when I was forced to fight a GLOM, a gelatinous green replica of myself (don’t ask). Both times had been the same. Time stopped. A string of light. The feeling that I no longer controlled my power, but that my power controlled me.
In other words, all the things I was going through right now.
The last time this happened, I ended up obliterating the GLOM. What if I did the same to Winston? I have to admit, after what he’d done to Dr. Fleming—and what he was about to do to Milton—I wasn’t too worried about Winston one way or another. But Milton was right beneath him. Anything that harmed Winston would probably do the same to my best friend.
The light slithered outward, moments away from reaching Winston. Something had shifted in his yellow eyes. All the rage was gone. Now they were filled with fear. He must’ve been witnessing this too. And so was Milton. I could see recognition in his eyes. As if he could tell that he was moments away from being swallowed up by a glowing blast of pure destruction.
I did everything in my power to focus my mind, clamping down my concentration like a steel trap. Willing myself to stop the light. Every cell in my body straining. Wrestling to regain control.
But none of it worked.
And the light continued to drift.
Closer and closer.
I made one final desperate attempt to rein in my Gyft. And this time something happened. The slightest flicker. I doubled my focus. The effort was like doing a thousand mental push-ups. But it was actually working. The glowing string of energy faded. My fingertips trembled—barely noticeable, yet still a movement. I focused the last ounce of my willpower on pulling back the light, as if playing tug-of-war with my power.
At last, the glow winked away. My head was filled with a sudden rush of noise and motion. The world coming back to life. I didn’t have much time to appreciate the moment. The effort of bringing my power back under my control had taken everything out of me. As soon as the world unfroze, I crumpled like a rag doll.
After that, it was lights-out.
I woke to see Milton looking down at me.
“Oh, good! You’re alive!” He exhaled a relieved breath. “You had me worried there.”
I tried to sit up, but the effort sent daggers through my brain. Dropping back to the floor, I blinked up at the ceiling.
“Where’s Winston?” I asked in a cracked voice.
“He ran off like a scared puppy. Guess he was freaked out by your special-effects display.”
Groaning, I rose to my elbows. The others were huddled close by. Sophie, Miranda, Cassie. And Dr. Fleming. He was staring at me with the strangest expression. Like he was seeing me in a totally different way.
Then he collapsed.
Winston’s attack had taken its toll. A bloody gash ran down Dr. Fleming’s chest. His clothes were stained with blood. His face was pale.
Miranda jumped into action mode. “Quick,” she said to Milton. “Take your shirt off. We’ll use it as a bandage.”
Once Milton was down to his T-shirt and khakis, Sophie ripped his button-down shirt into strips that Miranda wrapped around Dr. Fleming’s chest. As she worked, the teacher’s eyelids flickered and his voice came out in a pained croak.
“I’ll never make it to the safe house in this condition,” he said. “You’ll have to go without me.”
“But—”
Dr. Fleming spoke over her protest. “Someone needs to destroy the Dominion Key. It’s our only hope. If we don’t—”
He broke into a weak cough. But I didn’t have any trouble finishing his sentence in my head. If we don’t destroy the Dominion Key, Vex will rule the world.
We couldn’t let that happen.
And so we came up with plan B. Cassie took hold of a brass lamp on the wall and pulled it down like a lever. A nearby bookcase swiveled sideways to reveal another entrance to the secret tunnel.
Helping Dr. Fleming into the tunnel, Sophie said, “You’ll be safe in here.”
The teacher settled against the stone wall. Cassie handed him the flashlight.
Dr. Fleming reached into his pocket and removed the photograph. His bloody thumbprint was smudged over the picture of the log cabin. With a pen that he pulled from his other pocket, he wrote on the back of the photo.
1 Noname Rd.
Bear Creek, MA
“Bear Creek is in western Massachusetts,” Dr. Fleming explained. “A tiny little town. Sneeze while you’re driving through and you’ll miss it. At the edge of town, you’ll find a dirt road that seems to go on forever without any sign of civilization. Tall trees and not much else. Just when you’re sure the end of the earth is around the next turn, you see it—”
“The safe house,” Miranda said.
“Precisely. The location is so remote, the state never bothered to give the road a name.” Dr. Fleming pointed at the address. Noname Rd. “You could detonate five hundred pounds of heavy artillery in my backyard and nobody would notice. Believe me, I tried it out.”
Dr. Fleming pressed the photo into my hand.
“You must find the safe house,” he said. “Once Vex’s henchmen have vacated the school grounds, I’ll figure out another way off this island and meet you there.”
“You sure about this?” I asked.
“I’m sure we need to prevent Vex from getting his hands on the Dominion Key. There is nothing more important right now.”
Dr. Fleming fixed his gaze on me. And for the second time, I saw that strange look in his eyes. Like he knew something about me that I didn’t.
It lasted for only a second. At the sound of motorcycle engines approaching, he cast a nervous glance toward the library door.
“Now go,” he said weakly. “There isn’t much time.”
“See you soon.”
Cassie raised the brass lamp and the bookcase swiveled back into place. We rushed across the ransacked library and back into the hallway. Frightened students peered out at us from their hiding places as we ran toward the door marked NOT AN EXIT. Cassie pushed her way inside and the rest of us followed.
I raced up the stairs, two at a time. Higher and higher. Grasping for the handrails. Up more and more spiraling steps, until we reached our destination.
The lighthouse.
Outside, the storm raged in the darkness. Sheets of rain pounded the glass walls. Inside, the massive lightbulb swiveled slowly. I glanced away as its beam swung in my direction.
At the other end of the glass room, the others were already climbing the ladder to the roof. Cassie pushed the trapdoor open. Rain and wind swept through the opening. As she heaved herself through the hatch and onto the roof, I turned back toward the lighthouse door. I could’ve sworn I’d heard footsteps pattering up the stairwell.
“Joshua! You coming?
” Milton was halfway through the opening. His wet hair stuck to his forehead as rain fell all around him.
“Be right there!” I called back. “You guys just make sure everything’s ready to go!”
Milton nodded and climbed the rest of the way through the hatch. I glanced toward the stairwell again. This time the sound was clear: feet pounding the stairs. I wasn’t too excited about saying hi to whoever was approaching. But if we hoped to have any chance of escape, we couldn’t risk being followed by the enemy.
I circled back the way I’d come. The banging from the stairwell was louder now. Like a jackhammer getting closer and closer. I reached for the door just as someone thrust it open from the other side.
And all of a sudden, I found myself face to face with Grifter.
“You?” Her features twisted with surprise.
I threw out my arms, spontaneous combustion surging through my veins. Grifter responded with a glance to her side. That was all it took for the telekinetic terror to rip the door off its hinges. The floating steel door swung my way. It would’ve knocked my head off if I hadn’t ducked in the nick of time.
I staggered backward to avoid another swipe—and another—until my back was against the glass wall. I waited, every muscle on edge for the next attack. Instead, I heard Grifter’s voice.
“Well, well.” She walked through the doorway. “Definitely didn’t expect to see you here. Our objective was to nab some guy named Fleming. But I doubt Vex is gonna mind if we take you back as well.”
Lunk crashed into the room behind her. He was gripping a flamethrower. In his massive cement hands, the weapon looked like a toy. But that didn’t make it any less deadly.
When he noticed me, Lunk’s huge gray forehead crinkled with confusion. “What’s he doin’ here?”
“Must’ve thought he could hide from us on an island of Gyfted preppies,” said Grifter. “Am I right?”
Keeping a careful eye on the door floating eerily beside me, I edged an inch closer to the ladder. If I could somehow make it through the trapdoor, maybe I could call my friends for reinforcements. But Grifter guessed what I had in mind. With a flick of her attention toward the trapdoor, she swung it shut and sealed it closed.