Gamma Accidents #1: Journey

by Erin Sheena Byrne

for, she never did. You think you had injustice? Gamma accidents are born with the label 'untrustworthy,' stamped on our heads. I'm only half gamma accident, but I've been pushed aside just like all the rest. We have to hide, we have to stay low, we have to keep our names unknown or else we'll be chased by lynch mobs. But my parents always told me that that shouldn't stop me and my friends from being the heroes we knew we could be."

  Wepaynar still didn't look his grandson in the eye. He sighed, years of rationalizing and making excuses and conjuring imaginary reasons drawing lines on his face, highlighting his age.

  "You say you're still a hero. Well, then we're fighting for the same thing. We want to stop evil. Isn't that what every hero wants?"

  As the silence wore on, Jack gazed at his grandfather, trying to settle the mixed feelings and hoping he was reaching the hero trapped deep inside the man.

  "People say life's journey, right? Well, I can't turn back now," said Wepaynar, determinedly. He whirled around, pointing the same gun from earlier in Jack's direction.

  Jack's grandfather wasted no time in taking aim and firing his homemade firearm.

  Before Jack had the chance to leap out the helicopter door into the open night sky, a dazzling beam of pink light shot straight through the helicopter, knocking the bullet far off course and saving Jack.

  Both grandfather and grandson turned around to see the source of the sudden interruption.

  "Sorry I'm a little late," the girl next door said. "But I brought some serious back-up."

  Bella was sitting on Sara Cover's shoulders, Janie hovering beside her. With a faint blue mist, Audrey teleported inside the cockpit, beside Jack.

  When cornered, an animal will often strike out. Wepaynar was a cornered animal.

  He made a run for it, grabbing a parachute and hurriedly putting it on as he jumped out into the deep, open night sky.

  Wepaynar knocked Bella off Sara's shoulder as he made his break for it, sending the girl into an uncontrolled spiral that could only end with her falling to her death.

  She screamed, a natural reaction.

  Jack was the first to spring into action. He dashed out the helicopter and dived through the air, fighting to reach Bella.

  Jack grabbed her, bride-style, and killed his speed.

  "Let me go," Bella ordered.

  "What?" Jack replied. "I just saved you, I'm not letting you go."

  "Seriously, let me go, you have to go after Wepaynar," Bella insisted. She smiled. "Trust me, I'm going to get down just fine."

  They were a good couple of hundred, if not thousand, feet high. Jack had to trust his friend knew what she was doing. He released her, and bolted through the sky after his parachuting grandfather.

  Bella fell, uncontrolled at first, but eventually figured out how to position herself.

  When she saw she was nearing the ground, she decided to give her latest party trick a go.

  She discharged a beam of hard, magenta light. At first, it was just a solid rod. Thankfully, she had a few seconds to figure out how to mould it into a slide.

  She slid down her hard light fun slide, thrilled with how her trick had worked.

  Of course, the victory was overshadowed by the unceremonious landing, which consisted of an ungraceful stumbling, hopefully windmilling arms and a not so pretty face plant on the scorched grass of Hero High's playing field.

  "Fantastic," she mumbled into the short, green blades.

  37

  Authorities were on their way. It was time to wrap up the chaotic frenzy that had engulfed the entire Hero High.

  The bombs had all exploded far away from people, the officials from the superhero community were here to arrest the perpetrators and now all that was left was to end the fight.

  The crazy battle involving plungers, an army of lizards (courtesy of Dean Lightbody), lunch-ladies with attitude as big as their hair-curlers and various flowers growing on the walls and ceiling, had spilled from the cafeteria to the rest of the school building.

  The heroes created a plan unbeknownst to the rebels. It took much whispering (and thought-projecting) but eventually every hero understood the plan of action.

  The noise and frenzy paused for a heart-pounding moment when a rather loud kid declared, "Unleash the Stinker!"

  A ring of heroes stepped back to reveal their secret weapon: the tidy, proper and polite British exchange student, Charles Fitzgerald.

  The rebels laughed... at first. They were beginning to realize, through their previous experiences that night, that the package was not to be mocked. Charles Fitzgerald seemed to be just the puny new kid, eager to make friends and gain approval. What kind of a secret weapon could he be?

  The rebels were confused, their puzzlement deepening as heroes stopped fighting and stepped back.

  Anxiety began when the heroes pulled on gas masks.

  A mixture of worry and bewilderment on their faces, the rebels waited for what would happen next, suspecting it would be far from pleasant.

  The idiots didn't even think to run for their precious lives...

  Charles Fitzgerald smiled, pleasantly, at all present on this fine night.

  "LET IT RIP!" the loud kid called, his voice vaguely muffled through the gas mask.

  Suddenly, Charles Fitzgerald lost his pleasant, polite and proper composition.

  The last thing the rebels remembered was a very mean look on that British kid's face and the stench...

  The battle had lasted so long into the night, it was no longer late but early.

  The sun was beginning to rise, mixing the dark violets and blacks of the starry night sky with peaches and oranges as the early sun rose.

  The officials carted the rebels away, most of which were either unconscious or gagging after Charles Fitzgerald's unforgiving attack.

  A battle that had lasted so long, had ended in only one minute with only one-

  "Shows you one thing, you should really get to know your classmates," Caleb said, still holding his nose, thus distorting his voice. He stood with his brothers, Dean, Lacey and Bella, watching as the rebels were taken away and the lunch-ladies celebrated by making everyone coffee and tea.

  Jack had caught Wepaynar. A parachute was no match for speed and flight. Right now, back on the ground, he was handing his grandfather over to the superhero community officials.

  As soon as Wepaynar was handcuffed and had become someone else's responsibility, Jack sought through the crowd for his mother. He soon found her, gratefully sipping a mug of strong coffee.

  "This sure has been an eventful evening," Alison Painter said to her son. She had no idea of who was behind a majority of it.

  "We've got a lot to talk about," Jack said, tiredly.

  He didn't get a chance to continue. Students and teachers kept coming up and interrupting, thanking Jack for his help.

  When there was a pause between expressions of gratitude, Alison smiled and said to her son, "See? Things got better, just like you hoped."

  Jack smiled, exhausted, and hugged his mother. "I guess they did," he said.

  Rust joined the touching reunion. "That was pretty amazing, Jack," he said. "At your age, I would never have been so brave."

  "Thanks for all your help, too," Jack said. He nudged his mentor. "There's still some hero left in you."

  Ethan, Ty, Caleb, Bella, Dean and Lacey joined the group.

  "You kids proved what you were worth, far beyond any shadow of a doubt. Everyone fought tonight, but you kids are the real heroes," Rust said. "It warms the heart of every fallen hero to see outcasts like you rise above and beat the odds."

  The newly forged team linked arms, leaning on each other for support after the long, exhausting night.

  "Um, Rust, you know that I'm not a real gamma accident, right?" Jack asked. He suddenly realized he never cleared that fact up with the hero. "I was born an entire week before that gamma ray burst from the sun."

  Rust shrugged. "I know. I knew your dad. John was a good friend of mine. Brave, clever, alwa
ys sticking up for the little guy. Do you know how much you remind everybody of him?"

  The statement made Jack beam. It was nice to hear something complimentary about his dad for once that night.

  "Well, this story is wrapping up quite nicely," said Alison.

  "Yeah," Lacey agreed, "the school didn't blow up and the rebels are all sorted out. The school might need a good clean up, but, hey, it shouldn't take that long. And Jack didn't get killed by his grandfather (which would have been so awkward)..."

  Alison choked and spat out her coffee. "What?" she interjected, wiping her mouth and raising an eyebrow.

  Jack held up a hand. "I'll explain later."

  "So... now that we've done what we were enrolled to do..." Bella said, apprehensively. She sighed and closed her eyes, barely able to believe the dreams she and her friends had held for years were about to end. "We have to go back to lame old Crashton normal High, don't we?"

  Rust shrugged. "That's not really my department," he admitted. He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "Urban makes that decision."

  The teenagers had completely forgotten about the global director. They looked around now and saw Urban Danger, trying to reign in the tired crowd of heroes as if he were about to give a speech.

  "Get ready," Rust whispered to the kids as they joined the smallish crowd to listen to the director. "This is probably going to involve you."

  "I just want to thank all who participated this night in restraining the rebels," Urban Danger began. "Everyone's efforts (especially those of Charles Fitzgerald's) are appreciated."

  Charles Fitzgerald gave a polite, modest wave.

  "You stink, well and truly."

  Charles Fitzgerald's face