by C. Louis S.
Shadowball was the cool thing to do for teens in the town of Bethel. The high school had a large stadium — the biggest in the area — where kids would play pickup games every night during the summer. But Saturday nights were the most crowded nights to play. Every kid in town came. The bottom level on the east side of the outdoor stadium was almost full.
Though almost a thousand had gathered, few watched. Their heads were bent over staring at the games and videos on their phones. The stands shone bright with the many colors of light that flickered from everyone’s phone. Clusters of blue and indigo and red were scattered around the stadium, and occasionally a cluster of mixed color could be seen. Leon noticed yet again that green light was nowhere to be seen.
Some of the younger kids were playing tag at the ends of the field. They flew and teleported to get away from their friends. Their game never lasted long before they would need to stop and play some more games on their phones to recharge.
The players on the field were in the middle of a game, so Leon and Randall sat with Micaela and Carter while they waited to get on a team.
Carter was indigo like Randall’s mother. He was thin and confident with black hair cut very short. He wore jeans and a button up, striped shirt signifying that he wasn’t going to play shadowball. It was normal for the 6th graders not to play. The kids in high school usually didn’t let anyone in middle school play, but Leon and Randall were determined to change that tonight.
Micaela was wearing jeans as well. Leon couldn’t remember seeing her in anything but a dress before this. He also had never gotten her to come see a shadowball game. He didn’t understand why she didn’t like it. Even if she didn’t have powers, it was still awesome to watch kids who did have cool powers play such a fun sport.
Micaela didn’t ask about the sleepover and Leon didn’t want to bring it up. She didn’t seem mad at him anymore, but he was a little on edge that she might bite his head off again. Who understands girls?
Leon looked up for a moment from his nervous tapping on the screen of his phone. Micaela didn’t have her phone out. She was watching the game. He looked around and noticed that she was about the only person watching the game.
The shadowball field was 150 yards of AstroTurf and in the middle of the field there was a raised platform half as long as the field on top of which there was a second field, supported by large pillars, called the upper deck.
When Kaz Warwick designed shadowball he knew that having players with superpowers would require a new dynamic to the game. Adding the upper deck to the game gave players real usefulness to being able to teleport and fly. It made the game harder to follow and more dynamic.
Shadowball was played with a soccer ball. The ball could be carried, thrown, or kicked. The goals were three small soccer goals in a triangle formation. Two were on the ground several feet apart and a third was a few feet above the goalie’s head in the center. Dumbledores and speeders were often goalies, but aeronauts were known to be successful as well.
Carter looked up from his phone.
“Randall, what you doing basking with blue light? You’re orange, dude. I keep telling you. A tiger don’t change his stripes, brother.”
“You’re wrong. I am blue now.”
Carter stared at him, incredulously. Leon looked up and smiled.
“You’re in on this too, Leon? Oh no. Nuh uh. Is that why you’re dressed to play? Are you going to go act a fool and ask them to let you play again? Don’t you remember that time you ate grass? Man, just accept it. They don’t want a green playing ‘cause you can’t do jack. That don’t mean nothing, though. You’re still a great guy, but you ain’t a shadowball player. Deal with it.”
“I’ve discovered something about being a lantern, and Randall and I have spent the last two days training for this moment. Tonight we are going to play shadowball with the seniors.”
“At least you’re still green. You two just gotta play it cool, man. Accept what you are.”
“What I am? No, Carter. I know I’m more than just a lantern. I have to be.”
Without looking up, Carter answered with a shrug.
The game on the field ended and Leon stood. “Let’s do this, Randall.”
“Uh, maybe we should wait until the next game?” asked Randall with sudden trembling.
Leon felt butterflies in his stomach. Am I ready for this? It’s too late now. “We have to do this now, Randall. We have to.”
They made their way towards the middle of the field where all the players were gathering to decide who would play next. The kids who had just played were bent over, breathing heavily.
As they approached, Leon noticed again how much bigger the other kids were. He looked like a hobbit among men. He swallowed hard and kept going. Randall wasn’t short like Leon, but the older kids still towered over him.
Leon steeled himself for the jeering and laughter that would surely face them. He had tried to play several times, so most of them already recognized him and might kick him out before he could say a word. Greens, browns, and oranges didn’t try to play with them and his unnatural persistence was sure to get made fun of.
Randall is blue now and whatever you call it that I can do with green energy is sure to get me on a team. I’ve got to try again. I’m more than just a normal, lame lantern. I am.
Tommy wasn’t assigning people to teams today. It was another senior that Leon had seen before. He was short for an older kid, but he was still a head taller than Randall and he had plenty of weight to throw around so no one seemed to make fun of him.
Leon knew what superpower this boy had immediately. The boy was stretching his torso up above the crowd so that he towered over everyone and could see all the potential players. He used pink light energy and people called them ‘fantastic plastics’ or just ‘plastics.’ He wasn’t able to turn into any shape he wanted to like heroes from the comic books, but he could stretch his limbs pretty far. His arms stretched and weaved through the crowd, tapping kids to assign them to a team.
“You’re on the triangle team. You’re on the circle team,” he commanded.
Leon felt an icy chill the moment the pink kid noticed them. “You again? You’re that lantern boy who tried to play before. Hey, Tommy, look. It’s the green kid. He wants another knuckle sandwich.”
The whole group of players parted like the Red Sea and Tommy and the pink boy stood in the middle staring at Leon.
“You don’t learn, flashlight. I said beat it.”
Tommy’s white A-shirt was almost transparent from sweat. He was the scariest kid there. He was huge and his muscles were bigger. And Leon knew that he was yellow, what people called a hulk. One punch from him would break bones. Leon always shuddered when he looked at Tommy’s eyes, so he tried to avoid them.
“My friend wants to play,” said Leon.
Suspicious, Tommy slowly folded his arms across his large chest, glaring at Randall. “What color is he?”
“I’m blue,” said Randall puffing out his chest. He looked frail compared to Tommy, but he had confidence.
“Well, you’re not scrawny like your friend,” said the plastic boy, turning to look for approval from Tommy.
“No, make him prove it. I don’t trust either of them.”
“No problem,” said Randall. He stepped forward and asked the crowd to give him some room. Someone put the ball on the ground in front of him and then everyone cleared a path to the goals. The lights from the upper deck shone brightly on Randall’s face. He was concentrating on the ball, but his fists curled tight showed Leon that he was nervous.
Randall slowly raised the ball into the air in front of him with his mind. It hovered there for a second before Randall stepped back, pulling the red and white ball toward him at incredible speed. Just before it hit his head, he made a forcefield surround his body that deflected the ball straight towards the left goal. Leon almost didn’t believe it, but the ball swiftly flew into the net at the back of the goal. Randall had done it, and everyone cheered.
Tommy slapped Randall on the back. “Impressive. How in the world did you use a force field too? I thought you were blue?”
Randall smiled broadly. He looked at Leon and then at Tommy. “I’m … I’m different.”
“This kid plays,” said the pink boy.
Everyone on the field cheered.
I can’t believe that worked. Randall is going to play. He’s playing shadowball with the seniors. Wait a second, I’m not playing. If they think Randall can do something cool, wait until they see what I can do.
“I can do that too,” Leon blurted out. That wasn’t what he meant to say.
Everyone turned to Leon. Tommy laughed.
“Yeah right,” the stretchy kid said. “Prove it. Give him a ball.”
Leon found himself in the same spot as Randall. He stared at the triangle formation of goals several yards in front of him. He felt his heartbeat climbing. The crowd of kids looked at him. Someone laughed at Leon’s hesitation.
Leon could feel a reserve of blue energy within him. It was very small, left over from training earlier the day before. He had spent most of his time training with green energy for the last two days and had ignored blue energy. But he had noticed that even without sucking in dark energy, his reserve of blue was still usable. Or maybe he always had some dark energy in him now. He wasn’t sure which. But he did know that his blue energy wasn’t enough to even throw the ball.
“Come on, flashlight. We don’t have all night,” shouted Tommy.
Leon closed his eyes, tapped his blue energy, and tried to lift the ball off the ground. He felt the usual resistance from picking up an object and then it slowly, shakily lifted into the air.
Leon could see Tommy’s eyes widen in surprise. A lantern couldn’t mindbend, he was probably thinking. Leon smiled, but continued to concentrate on levitating the ball.
Using everything left from his blue reserve he flung it into the air towards the goal. His gaze followed its trajectory through the air. He immediately could tell it wouldn’t make a goal, but it would be close enough to impress the crowd.
To his horror, Leon realized that the ball hadn’t flown through the air. It flopped onto the ground rolling only a few feet before stopping. Leon closed his eyes in defeat. He heard the roar of laughter from the crowd and probably even from the stands. He had failed.
“You lose again, flashlight,” Tommy bellowed. “Come back and play when you’re not a loser anymore. Actually, just don’t come back.”
Leon looked at Randall. He made eye contact with him for just a split second before Randall looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. Leon’s heart sank. Even Randall wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t stand up for him. He wanted to go cry. He wanted to curl up under a rock and be crushed and forgotten forever. This was the end of his life. He would never live this down.
Tommy has no idea what I’m capable of. He doesn’t know what I can do. I’m better than he is. No lantern in history can do what I can do.
Leon made a ball appear in hand. It looked just like the shadowball ball, except that Leon could see through it and it was glowing green. It was still incredible to him that he could do this. It felt like a real ball in his hands. He squeezed it hard as if popping it would diffuse his frustration. A tear rolled down his cheek and landed on the ball.
Leon chucked the ball at the goal as hard as he could. If he couldn’t throw a ball with his mind, a glowing ball that he made appear out of nowhere would surely get their attention. Maybe they would even let him play.
His aim was way off and the ball flew into the group of players. Leon’s fear multiplied when he saw it was headed right for Tommy. He was in the middle of a loud laugh and it was about to hit him square between the eyes.
For a very brief moment Leon felt awesome with himself. I just accidentally stood up to a bully.
After that brief moment, he felt sick to his stomach. I just accidentally stood up to bully who can crush me like a cockroach!Tommy was going to be as mad as a raging bull.
The ball struck Tommy and almost made him fall over from the surprise. As soon as it hit him, the ball dissipated into tiny little specks of green light which faded away. By the time Tommy recovered, the players were silent and so were the people in the stands. Leon didn’t hear anyone breathe, not even himself.
Just as Leon had predicted, the hulk was mad and he charged like a bull. Running would have only gotten Leon impaled or thrown like a rag doll. He didn’t have time to get away. If only he had spent time learning to teleport. That would have been useful.
He felt his reserve of green energy and there was plenty. Maybe he could come up with something to save his bacon. He didn’t have much time to come with an elaborate idea. He just did the first thing that came to mind.
Just as the angry bull was about to hit its mark, Leon stepped to the side and made a glowing, green tripwire at Tommy’s feet. Just as Leon had hoped, Tommy fell flat on his face, grunting and snorting.
“You’re going to pay for this, flashlight.”
For the first time, Leon felt in control. I am powerful. I’m practically invincible. Whatever I can imagine, I can create with these green powers. Not even a hulk like Tommy can stop me. Why, I could be more powerful than Kaz Warwick himself!
Before Tommy could stand up again, Leon made a net around him that was staked to the ground. Tommy yelled in confusion and the crowd shouted in awe. Tommy looked like a hunted animal, striving and writhing in his net. Leon turned to the crowd and raised his arms in triumph and there were cheers. People cheered for him. Phones all over were pointed at him. Flashes went off and surely others were recording him, posting his triumph where everyone online could see him.
But his glorious triumph nearly crumbled when he turned around just in time to see Tommy angrily breaking through the net. Fairly unconcerned, Leon created a large brick wall between himself and Tommy.
Tommy rammed the wall with his shoulder and it sent green splinters flying. Leon slid backward in the grass. His eyes widened and the beginnings of fear crept into his heart. He strengthened the green wall with his mind, but noticed another horrifying fact. His reserve of green energy was almost gone.
Tommy punched his way through the wall and the whole thing dissipated into thin air. The crowd was wowed, but Leon was panicking. He made an arm shield appear on his left arm, but it was flickering. His green energy was running out quickly.
He turned to run, but Tommy had already caught him by the wrist. He wriggled, but Tommy’s grip only tightened. Leon met eyes with Randall. He begged and pleaded for help with his eyes, but just as he was about to ask vocally, he was shoved to the ground.
He stared up at Tommy and the fist that was about to add even more red spots to his face, but to his surprise, an orange force shield sprang up around him and Tommy’s knuckles bounced off. He hammered on it again and again, but he couldn’t break through.
Leon looked over to Randall, but he didn’t look like he was straining to keep the force shield up. No, it couldn’t be his force shield. Who was protecting Leon?
When Tommy paused to rub his knuckles, the force shield dropped and there was a whoosh of air as a dumbledore apparated just beside Leon. He or she grabbed Leon and they both teleported away, apparating just beside the bleachers where Leon could see Tommy’s look of surprise and hear his beastly grunt.
Leon looked at the one who had saved him. It was Aidan! And Father stood next to him. Before Leon had time to think, Father ordered Aidan to take them home and they teleported with a triumphant whoosh. The last thing Leon saw was the hatred in Randall’s eyes.
chapter 7
Hero's Welcome
