“Hey, how come you help only newcomers get to places? What about people like Amethyst?” Sabrina asked.
“They already know how to teleport. That’s what your next session will be.”
“Oh,” said Sabrina.
“Anyway,” the map continued, “let’s get on with why I mainly came here. I know I’m a blank map, which is kind of weird when you think about it, but I can still help you get to your session.”
He closed his eyes and muttered a few words. A pure ball of light seeped out of him.
“Follow that light,” he said, “and only if you’re fast. If you’re not, it’ll zoom off before you could say, follow it!” He smiled and disappeared. Right away, the light zoomed off. They ran after it for a long time. They turned corners and zoomed upstairs and down. They once accidentally bumped into a mentor called Theodore Chan. Their legs started to hurt so much; they could have fallen off any second ago. Finally, the ball of light stopped and disintegrated.
Sabrina, Miles, and Simon were so exhausted that they collapsed next to their next session’ door.
“I’m so glad that we’re learning how to teleport here. I can’t stand that ball of pure light again.” Simon said, wiping sweat off his face.
“Same here,” said Sabrina, panting as a dog would do.
She got up and opened the door. Nothing was in the room except for a person wearing a large cloak and a black robe. His hair was gelled back, and a magic wand was in his hand.
“Greetings Protectors, it is a pleasure to meet you in person after all these years. My name is Lionel Tucker. Call me Tucker or Mr. Tucker. I’m fine with either one. Today you’ll be learning how to teleport. I will show you through the steps, step by step, so you’ll be able to teleport anywhere mentally in a second. Our first part of the lesson will be to concentrate. Concentrate on where you want to be. Clear everything out of your minds. Do not think of anything else.” He stared at us for a moment and then nodded.
Sabrina concentrated. She started to think about the lush meadows before Wolfighter’s entrance when her mind got clouded with darkness. She wobbled and held her friend’s hands for support. All she heard was Mr. Tucker yell her name before she got pulled in.
CHAPTER SIX
RUN FOR YOUR
LIVES!
Her body felt as if she had ended up in the North Pole, and a thousand icicles were stabbing her. She wanted to yell, but she couldn’t. Suddenly, it had ended. Her eyes quickly fluttered open. A domed ceiling was caved around her, and I took her a second to realize she was lying on rocky ground. The only thing that occurred to her was that she was above the ground. More than a thousand feet! She gulped. One wrong step and she would be toast. Suddenly, she heard a familiar groan. Simon and Miles were lying next to her, Simon just waking up. “Where are we?” Simon asked, taking in the surroundings. “The last thing I remembered was me concentrating and you holding my hand before I woke up here.”
Sabrina said, “I was concentrating really hard when darkness clouded my mind. I needed support, so I held on to you guys’ hands. I didn’t know it would do you harm. I’m so stupid.”
“Well, the good thing is that I don’t think you’re stupid,” Simon said, putting his hand across her shoulders.
“You don’t?” Sabrina asked, twisting her hair. A habit she did when she was shy or nervous.
“No,” he said, “and I want you to believe that. Actually . . . whatever. Anyway, I also think that you should try better to control your powers more. It’s funny how we’re doing better than you.”
“Very funny,” Sabrina made a noise that was kind of between a chuckle and a grumble.
Simon couldn’t help himself but laugh at this weird action.
Sabrina rolled her eyes and shoved him. Simon almost fell off the cliff, his feet one foot slipping against a jabbed piece or rock. Sabrina caught him. She had to pay up for her actions.
“Thanks,’’ he said.
“No problem,” Sabrina replied.
She blushed. She heard a groan again. This time it was Miles waking up. He started to ask the same question that Simon had asked before Sabrina stopped him. She explained everything. Miles looked around. “Well, we better get going,” he said, standing up and dusting his trousers off. They held hands and concentrated. Nothing happened, “Maybe we’re not concentrating hard enough,” said Miles. They focused for so hard and long that in a second, they thought their brains might bust.
“Maybe teleporting might not work here,” Simon said, “but I know magic will!”
He brought out his emerald wand with a swish. He thought for a moment. “That’s strange; I can’t think of anything. It’s like my mind suddenly went blank.”
Sabrina wanted to get back, so she started to think. She couldn’t think of anything, but Simon came to the rescue. “Hey, Sabrina,” he said, nodding in her direction. “Can you still do that shape-shifting thing?”
“I think so,” Sabrina replied.
“Great,” Simon said, flashing a cocky smile. Sabrina blushed again. Sabrina had a big crush on Simon. His devilish good looks and the way he smiled made Sabrina blush so much that she might have turned pink by now. Did Simon even like her? She pushed the thought away. Right now, they had more important things to do. She thought for a moment. What should she turn into? Then she had an idea. “Guys, hold my hands.” She hoped this worked. They held her hand, and she imagined them as birds. Each a different color. Herself-pink, Simon-blue with black wings, and Miles-all black. Poof! In a flurry, they were birds. Without a word, they flew off. More like fledged off. Their flying skills were horrible, and Sabrina barely managed to steer her wings. Finally, after flying in full circles, did she get the hang of it.
Miles and Simon also got the hang of it. “Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” Miles said. Now that Sabrina was a bird, she understood him now. He said: “Full speed ahead!” Sabrina had trouble swooping down, but she eventually got the hang of it. She swooped down at an astonishing speed, surpassing Miles and Simon. She suddenly got sick as the ground got closer and closer. She didn’t know how to stop, so she grabbed against a nearby wall, hoping it would keep her steady she grasped on to it, looking up. Simon and Miles were behind her, flapping desperately to catch up to her. She waited until they caught up to her.
“You have lots of explaining to do.” Miles chirped, practically shouting. Sabrina understood every word he said. “You didn’t have to make me all black. You could have at least made me a nice shade of blue with yellow stripes! That would have made me look more raffish.” He smoothed his feathers and mumbled, “And you had to make Simon look good in all his blue glory.”
Sabrina turned beat-red, glad that her feathers were covering her blush. She opened her mouth to stand up for Simon, but a loud voice boomed from underneath them before she could say anything. “Oh there you are, Rafiki, I’ve been looking all over for you!” A meaty hand reached out and grabbed Miles with a hard yank. Sabrina flew over to the hand and pecked on it, hoping that the person would release grip. He didn’t. The man shooed them away with his hand, whacking Simon several times. Sabrina dodged each of the whacks, poking even harder at the hand. He whacked us again and ran off. He turned a corner and disappeared. Simon was too weak to help, and he tried desperately to flap his wings. Sabrina touched his side and imagined them as their usual selves again. They fell to the floor in a heap. Simon’s arm was tender, and he winced when he moved it. “You okay?” Sabrina asked.
“Yeah,” he said, “it just hurts when I move it too much. But I’ll live.” He forced a small smile.
“You think you’ll be able to help find Miles?”
“Totally! I’ll never let my best buddy down.” He jumped up.
“Did you see which way he went?”
“I’m pretty sure he turned that corner,”
They ran off. Sabrina stopped when she turned the corner. A person wearing
a black stretch suit appeared out of the shadows. He laughed when he saw the fear on her face and grabbed her and Simon. She tried to squirm out of his grip, but he was too strong. “If you wriggle around too much, then I will knock you out,” he said in a gruff voice. Sabrina didn’t care. All she wanted to do was get Miles and get out of here. She wriggled and kicked, trying to escape the firm grip. “You asked for it,” he said. The last thing Sabrina felt was a big blow across her head before she got knocked out cold.
CHAPTER SEVEN
ESCAPE
Sabrina woke up to a light shining above her. A domed ceiling with tungsten bars lined the outside—no way to escape. A metal door with a combination lock stood right in front of her. She quickly got up, and all the blood rushed to her head. She wobbled and caught herself before she fell. She looked around for Simon and finally found him on the floor, unconscious. She quickly ran over to him and shook him to see if he would wake up. On the third try, his eyes fluttered open. Before he could say anything, she hugged him. After about twenty seconds, she let go. They blushed. Sabrina got up and examined the room more carefully. She suddenly noticed that there were tiny holes about the size of a fly. Sabrina got an idea. “Simon, hold my hand.” He held hers. She concentrated and imagined that they were phorids. If you don’t know what a phorid is, then I suggest that you check it up! And I don’t mean check it up online, but stand up! And walk to the dictionary and look it up! If you don’t, you can’t read any farther in this book.
Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, She told Simon her plan. Which was quite simple. All they had to do was fly through the tiny holes. Then they would find out what to do after that. Sabrina went first through the hole. As she passed through the hole, an electric shock shot out, singing part of her wings. She quickly pulled through the hole before it could shock her again. Simon came after her and zoomed past so that only one-fourth of his wings got singed. Sabrina touched his side, and they were back to their usual selves again. Suddenly, they heard loud footsteps rounding the corner. They quickly hid behind a nearby wall as the footstéps got louder. Then they heard two people quarreling. “They’re gone!” a female voice said,”
Now how do you suppose how we’re going to extract their powers!?”
Sabrina froze. She recognized that voice. It was the voice of Mrs. Crane. Simon must have recognized the voice too because he had a fearful look on his face, and it looked like all the color had drained out of his face. Sabrina almost fainted. She listened to the conversation.
“S-sorry?”
“Sorry? Sorry? We could have been much more powerful if it wasn’t for you, you hopeless fool! You are fired! Get out of here and don’t show your revolting face again!” The footsteps soon faded away, and Sabrina let out a huge breath she’d been holding tungsten you?” Simon said, looking at her.
Sabrina gulped and nodded. Simon waited for a moment before he gestured for her to follow. He quickly ran out of his hiding spot behind the wall. Sabrina followed as he ran down the hall the guy had gone. He told her his plan on the way. It was such a genius of an idea that it sounded much too dumb. This was his plan: they were to go and follow the guy Mrs. Crane had been talking to before. When they got to the place where the guy was going, they would look for the control room. Simon would try and see if he could set off an alert that would make the moonbeams run to its location. That would give them time to go and search for Miles. Once they rescued him, they would find a way to get out of there.
They ran down the hallway for a while until they heard the man’s footsteps turning a corner. They tiptoed towards the sound until they listened to the man open a door and walk in. They slipped in just in time before the door closed. They gasped. A remote machine carried weird-looking gadgets in a neat line. Fluorescent lights lined the ceiling, casting light in the dark room. Simon ran over to the line of devices and picked up a couple of tiny silver balls and stuffed them in his pocket—“We might need this—in case something goes wrong. Then he handed her a triangular gadget with a big red button in the middle. It felt cold and a little heavy in her hands. She put it in her pocket, hoping it wouldn’t weigh her down if she ran. He gave himself more balls—green this time. Then he gave Sabrina a ball that was a dark shade of blue. Something red caught Sabrina’s eye.
A metal door with black letters spelled out
Control Room
“Simon—I think I found the control room.”.
The control room was a bunch of video screens watching every corner of the room. A variety of different colored buttons were laid out below the filters. Two seats were in front of the screens. But there was one thing wrong—actually, two things wrong. It was what was sitting in those two seats: two, big, bulky men in tight jeans and tight suits.
Then Sabrina got an idea. She hoped this would work. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the dark blue ball. Right now, anything would work. She spotted a piece of writing on the ball. It said: Sleeping Gas. Sabrina almost squealed with joy. “Simon, this ball is sleeping gas. I’ll throw it on the ground, and it’ll probably combust. Once that happens, hold your breath.”
She waited until Simon nodded. Then, using all her strength, she threw the blue ball onto the ground. An enormous puff of blue gas was let out, and soon, the men were fast asleep. Simon quickly ran to the control panel and started trying typing different buttons. After a while, they still hadn’t gotten anywhere. Then Sabrina started looking around to help Simon. She saw a button with the word Help on it and immediately pressed it. A robotic voice boomed,
“You have summoned the Mooonbeam’s assistant robot. How may I help you?”
“We need to set an alert,” Simon said.
“Where do you want to set the alert?”
Simon thought for a moment before he responded. “At the entrance of the Moonbeams lair.”
“How many people will be there?”
“Everybody,” Simon said.
“At what time?”
“Now.”
“That’s not a time.”
Simon growled and looked at his watch. “Four-thirty.”
“Right now?”
“Yes!!!!”
The screen went black, and the alert came on.
“Alert, alert, at the entrance of Moonbeam’s layer. Everybody go! Alert, alert!”
It went like that for about three times until it stopped. They quickly ran out of the room and went to look for Miles.
CHAPTER EIGHT
REUNION
They ran down random hallways—some with twists and turns—some with doors that had gray padlocks with combinations on them. They twisted and turned, jumped, and ducked until they came to a deserted area. At the other end, a metal door stood with the words: PRISONER NUMBER TWO
“This is going to be too easy,” Simon said.
He was right; it did seem too easy—much too easy. Before Sabrina could warn him, he lifted his foot and….
….yelled, hopping on one foot around the room. Suddenly, lasers appeared in front of them. They were kind of like the ones you saw in movies, but these lasers were green—a faint buzzing noise coming from it.
“Are you okay?” Sabrina asked, running over to Simon.
“Yeah, but these Moonbeams take their security too seriously.” He rubbed his toe, trying to ease the searing pain. Sabrina spotted a lever at the other side of the room. It was probably to shut off the laser beams. She was pretty good at gymnastics, so if she could make it across the room, she might be able to shut down the lasers for Simon.
Without hesitation, she leaped into the jumble of lasers.
Which she soon figured out was not a good idea. She hit several lasers, singeing several places on her body. She winced and tried her best not to scream as she passed through each laser, setting off an alarm. She quickly got to the other side of the room and shut off the lasers. Simon ran through.
Sabrina had a plan.
She brought the triangular gadget and pushed the red button. The device started to heat up in Sabrina’s hands—making Sabrina nearly drop it. Then a red beam shot out and hit the metal door. It exploded into a million tiny pieces.
Miles was in a cage with domed bars. His hands were tied behind his back with Dyneema fiber rope. A white cloth was tied around his mouth, muffling his words. When he saw us, his eyes welled up with tears. Sabrina blasted the door open and hugged him. He might be a little annoying sometimes, but he was a great friend. He was almost like a brother to Sabrina. Simon joined the group hug too, and they all cried for a while. Sabrina cut the ropes with the lasers and carefully untied the cloth. Miles asked, “How did you get here? I thought I was a goner for good!”
“Long story,” said Sabrina helping Miles up. “We’ll tell you later. Right now, we have to-”
Before she could finish her sentence, ten Moonbeams surrounded them.
CHAPTER NINE
SURVIVAL
(A VERY SHORT
CHAPTER)
Sabrina wasn’t worried. She knew what to do. So she didn’t tremble when she saw Mrs. Crane said, “Remember me?”
“Yes, I do, but I’ll try my best to forget,” Sabrina said, gritting her teeth and glaring at her.
“Better control your anger, or it will control you,” Mrs. Cane.
Sabrina was shocked. She didn’t know that her teacher had such good comebacks. She reached into Simon’s pocket and brought out ten of the silver balls. One for each of them. Before Simon could stop her, she thrust the silver balls on the ground. A cloud of thick black smoke was released out of them. She quickly grabbed Simon’s and Miles’ hands as the Moonbeams started coughing—then imagined them as birds. They promptly started flapping their way up to a window at the top of the domed ceiling.
Protectors of Emperia Page 4
