by David Estes
Chapter Twenty-Six: How to save a villain
When she was halfway home, it all became too much for her. The adrenaline from the battle had worn off, and her mind replayed the entire brutal experience in a series of snapshots. The look of terror in Mrs. Miller’s eyes; the crumbling and tearing house; the malicious look on Jimmy’s face as he performed his evil acts; and finally, the harsh realization that she might have used her powers to kill another human being, and a kid at that. The image of Jimmy’s pale face tore through her mind.
Her face was wet; tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her breathing became irregular while she choked out sobs. She tasted the salty liquid on her lips.
She landed in Spencer’s backyard in plain view, without regard for caution. Bursting through the back door, she stood in the kitchen, trying to catch her breath. Hearing the door open, Spencer ran from the living room. When he saw her holding Jimmy’s crumpled body, he asked, “What happened, Nikki?”
“I think I might have killed him!” she cried. Spencer grabbed him from her and gently set him on the tile floor. Nikki collapsed in a heap next to him.
“How did it happen?”
“I hit him with a bolt of lightning. I swear, I had no other choice, Spence.”
“Don’t worry about that now. Go and find me some towels and wet them with warm water.”
Obediently, Nikki ran upstairs to the linen closet and found two hand towels. Using the bathtub, she soaked them in warm water and rung them out. She raced back downstairs and handed them to Spencer. She watched as her friend checked Jimmy’s vital signs. First, he placed two fingers on Jimmy’s neck, feeling for a pulse.
“He’s got a pulse, but it’s weak,” Spencer said. Jimmy’s stomach was rising and falling regularly—his breathing appeared to be normal.
Spencer placed one of the warm towels on Jimmy’s forehead and another on his stomach. “What are you doing?” Nikki asked.
“I don’t know,” Spencer admitted. “But it just feels like the right thing to do.”
Nikki nodded.
Spencer noticed that Jimmy’s feet were bare. “Where are his shoes?” he asked.
Nikki’s face was stained with tears, but she was feeling better and answered firmly, “He was wearing boots. I took them from him. They are the source of his power.”
“Jimmy Powerboots?” Spencer asked.
“That’s right,” Nikki replied.
“He spent a lot more time on his costume than you did,” Spencer joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Nikki didn’t even crack a smile. “Is he going to be alright?” she asked.
“I think so. He’s breathing and he has a pulse, so I think he’ll be fine. He probably just needs to sleep it off.”
At that moment, Jimmy let out a heavy sigh and then groaned. His eyes flashed open, and he tried to sit up. When Spencer held him down, he said, “Hey, let go of me.”
“It’s not a good idea, Jimmy. You need to rest.”
He raised his head to look down at his feet. “Gimme my powerboots back, Nikki,” he demanded.
“Forget about it, Jimmy. You are never getting them back.”
“You don’t understand anything, Nikki. We are two of a kind and should be helping each other, not fighting each other.”
“I think that sounds like a great idea. Why don’t you help me try to do some good in this world?”
“Not a chance. I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work. Every time I tried to help someone, it backfired on me. I remember this one time that I helped catch a couple of shoplifters. They were running down the street with a bunch of stolen stuff, and I hit them with a perfectly timed powerstomp—”
“What’s a powerstomp?” Spencer interrupted.
“Don’t worry about it, smarty-pants, it’s just one of my powers. Anyway, the powerstomp tripped them up and they dropped all of the stolen stuff. I held them down until the police could arrive and then, guess what? The little punks accused me of assaulting them, and the police believed them, can you believe that? They said they would have to notify my parents and that I would probably end up goin’ to juvie. I was not about to do that, so I used my powers to escape and I’ve been on the run ever since. When I found out about you, Nikki, I knew we were the same. I thought we could be partners, like Bonnie and Clyde—famous outlaws. Whaddya say?”
“I say that you’re out of your mind! I will never be partners with you, and you are never getting your powerboots back. In fact, if I ever see your face around here again, I will not be nearly as nice as I was this time.”
“What? This isn’t the way it was supposed to happen,” Jimmy said, confusion crossing his face.
Nikki had had enough of Jimmy Powerboots for one day. She grabbed him, and amidst his protests, ran out the door into the backyard, and shot upwards into the sky.
