by Gracie Dix
“Hello, Mrs. Thomas,” Oliver blurted. “You know what I’m here for.”
“Yes, I certainly do,” she whispered. “Have you picked yet?”
“Yep. I’m choosing Ondrea, Teddy, Darla, and Jess,” he explained.
“Sorry, you need to take one more person.”
“What!” Oliver gasped in annoyance. “WHY?”
“So . . . who’ll it be?”
“Francis, then,” seethed Oliver. He would have been happier to take Francis, but Oliver remembered what Francis had said to Jessica.
5.4
“You guys took way too long! Whaddya do, get lost?” Mrs. Macintosh joked.
“Yes,” they both said seriously.
“Oh . . . well then, I just got an email from Roseanne Thomas saying that you two, Jessica, Darla, and Francis have been chosen by Oliver to go on this mission.”
“A mission?” Teddy asked.
“Now, let me explain what it is.” Mrs. Macintosh took a deep breath and continued. “There is a villains’ society called Vork. Your job, along with the help of others, is to shut it down and capture everyone with as few casualties as possible. Their headquarters is located in a little place also called Vork. Vork has eight powerful members, so be careful!”
Mrs. Macintosh was out of breath by the time she was finished with that explanation. All of a sudden, a loud, horrifying scream was heard from around the corner.
5.5
“Hey Francis, sup?” Oliver said.
“Not much, bro. Just about to go and take a dump,” he responded.
“Okay! TMI,” Oliver stated, pretending to gag. “I was just coming back from class.”
“Save it,” Francis said, peeved. “Super Hearing, remember?”
“Whatever.” Oliver whined with a little laugh. “I was actually going to get water though. For real.”
“Okay dude, I’ll walk with you since the bathrooms are right over here,” Francis said.
Oliver heard voices as he was rounding the corner. He figured the voices were Teddy and Ondrea because they were talking to Mrs. Macintosh. He saw Francis enter the bathroom and he walked over to the water fountains. He bent down to take a sip and then . . . everything happened so fast.
Oliver choked on the water because it tasted odd and made him feel queasy. Francis screamed—the loudest any superhuman could ever scream—and Oliver saw someone running out of the bathroom with a body bag. Without thinking, Oliver soared down the hallway after him. He could hear Teddy and Ondrea not far behind him, and Mrs. Macintosh screaming for everyone to stop. Oliver flew after the strange man through a doorway that closed automatically as soon as Oliver got inside.
Oliver looked at the strange man with curiosity and anger. He noticed that this man was, in fact, a 3D black shadow with black tinted glasses on. Although the glasses were dark, Oliver easily noticed his red glowing eyes. Oliver’s confidence was shaken.
“Well, that was easy,” said the man as he lunged at Oliver.
5.6
Ondrea and Teddy Super-Sped down the hall and rounded the corner, with Mrs. Macintosh following closely behind them.
“No! Stop!” Mrs. Macintosh yelled as she saw Oliver Flying down the hall after a strange man with a body bag. Ondrea and Teddy kept running down the hallway even though their teacher had stopped. They weren’t going to give up that easily, plus it felt good to stretch their legs. They saw Oliver Fly into a janitor closet at the end of the hall. They both Super-Sped down the hall to get through the door——but it closed suddenly before they could get inside.
“Ahhhh!” they both yelled as they ran into it. Doors don’t just close on their own that fast! But then again, this was a Superhero School.
Teddy helped Ondrea stand up, and he rubbed his head. He grimaced in pain. Ondrea stood up and got dizzy.
“I hope I don’t have a concussion,” she mumbled.
“Are you okay, children?” Mrs. Macintosh asked, running to them.
“We think so. But Oliver is definitely in trouble. I think that whole thing was a setup in order to capture him!” Teddy sighed, defeated. “All the doors and walls in the school were reinforced after the building rebuilt itself. How are we going to get him out of there?”
5.7
“We didn’t even need Francis to capture you!” the man sneered.
“Yes, you did. I wouldn’t have chased after you if you hadn’t captured him!” Oliver stated, as if it were obvious. After all, the stranger came out with the body bag right after Francis went in. It had to be Francis in the bag. “Also, since you claim you ‘captured’ me, it would be decent of you to tell me your name.”
“Why aren’t you scared, you little pest?” the strange man asked.
“It’s not like you can kill me. Plus, you’ll never get away with this,” Oliver said calmly.
“Oh, I can easily hurt you. You only have two Super Powers and they are both useless right now. You have transportation and the ability to sense the obvious. USELESS!” he cackled. “And, if you really want to know my name, for now, you must call me The Shadow.”
“Well, Powers come when you least expect them, Shadow, kind of like friends. I assume you don’t have any,” Oliver snapped, saying the man’s name in a mocking tone.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The Shadow inquired.
“Oh, you’ll see! By the way, how do you know that I only have two Super Powers?” Oliver questioned cautiously.
“I have been spying on you and your good-for-nothing sister for years! I know nearly everything about you!” he yelled.
“Let’s get down to business! What do you want from me and Francis?” Oliver grilled.
“We want just you! We were only using Francis,” he said.
“Well, you’re not going to catch me that easily!” Oliver yelled.
“Ah, we’ll see about that!” he laughed, pulling out a gun.
5.8
“We have got to get him out somehow!” Ondrea yelled.
“Suddenly Jessica came Super-Speeding down the hall.
“I Sensed danger! What happened?” she asked, worried.
“Your brother was captured by a man with a body bag. Don’t worry! He wasn’t in the body bag,” Mrs. Macintosh assured her.
“I don’t care if he wasn’t in the body bag! Oliver getting captured is what I’m worried about!” Jessica hissed. “I’ll be right back!” She Super-Sped back down the hall and came back with Darla riding on her back.
“What’s the emergency?” Darla asked.
5.9
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, don’t shoot!” Oliver shuddered.
“Ha! Where did all of your smart talk go?” The Shadow taunted.
“Y-y-you know that you’re not supposed to fire a gun in such a small space,” Oliver said, nervously staring at the gun.
“Relax! The Boss wants you alive. But try anything, and I will shoot your friend. The Boss doesn’t need him!” he sneered. “Now! NO TALKING!”
There were a few minutes of silence while The Shadow called The Boss. Oliver took out a homework sheet from his pocket and wrote on it: He’s got a gun. Then, he quietly slipped it under the door. A few minutes later The Shadow got off his phone.
“Okay. There’s a helicopter waiting above the school! Let’s . . .” Suddenly fire began cutting through the door. The glow filled the room, and Oliver saw the gun pointed straight toward the body bag on the floor. A finger went to the trigger, Oliver leapt at the man, and the gun went off. There was a smoking hole in the wall right next to the body bag.
“Help!” Oliver yelled. Ondrea appeared through the hole in the door and used her Powers of Molecular Kinesis to swipe the gun out of The Shadow’s hands. It flew across the room as he tried to grab it. Oliver leapt at The Shadow again to keep him from getting the gun back.
“GRAB FRANCIS!” Oliver shouted. Ondrea reached out and grabbed the body bag. Jessica created a Force-Field bubble, and everyone ran inside it except Oliver. The Shadow punched Oliver in th
e head as hard as he could and grabbed the gun. Oliver stumbled around from the force of the blow. Teddy Teleported to his friend’s side. A gun fired, and Teddy grabbed Oliver’s arm, Teleporting them back into the Force Field just as a bullet hit exactly where Teddy had been standing. Now, all the friends were in the Force Field.
Mrs. Macintosh stepped forward and undid her bun, her hair immediately forming into a light blue glowing whip. She waved her head around like a sassy mall girl, and the Hair Whip wrapped around The Shadow, forming a rope tight enough to hold him. She cut the Hair Whip when The Shadow was secure, and her hair immediately grew back to normal length. Mrs. Macintosh put her hair up in a tight bun and bowed dramatically. Just for effect, everyone clapped.
Ondrea and Jessica were suddenly all over Oliver.
“Did you get hurt?” Jessica asked.
“Did he shoot you?” Ondrea worried.
“Are you okay?” Jessica questioned.
“Are you bleeding?” Ondrea asked.
“Guys, I’m fine!” Oliver said quickly. “Thank you so much! How did you burn a hole through the door? I thought it was reinforced. Also, who has the heat vision? I know Francis has it, but I didn’t know anyone else had it!”
“Well, man, I’m happy we got you out of there!” Teddy exclaimed, placing a friendly hand on Oliver’s shoulder.
“Speaking of ‘getting out of there,’ I’m going to get Francis out of the bag now.” Oliver rushed to do just that. Afterwards, Mrs. Macintosh carried Francis to the Nurse’s office, leaving the rest of the group alone.
“If it’s any consolation, I’m glad you’re okay.” Darla announced to Oliver. Everyone turned and stared at her in shock. “That’s right! I just said something nice. DEAL WITH IT!” she gloated proudly.
SIX
In Which Oliver And Jessica Share An Alternate Reality
Back in their bedrooms, Oliver was doing homework, and Jessica was staring at the picture of Peggy. Jessica missed Peggy. Jessica had never liked her much because Peggy had been a snobby over-achiever. But now she admired the fact that Peggy had been brave enough to help out Mrs. Mel, even when the teacher was on fire.
Jessica’s thoughts wandered over to Oliver. She realized he’d been awfully quiet since the incident Thursday. Maybe he was in shock, but it was already Friday afternoon. She thought the shock would have worn off already.
Jessica’s mind wandered again to when Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Macintosh had gathered everyone up and told them about the mission. Mrs. Thomas said they were postponing the launch of the mission because of the recent event with Francis and The Shadow. Oliver got upset when she said that and claimed the mission should start sooner because of what happened, not later. Oliver had even looked to Francis for backup when everyone else shut him down.
Jessica wondered if all her friends thought Oliver was hysterical from the aftermath of the fight. She felt bad for him and wanted to defend him, but she worried they might be right. He hadn’t discussed anything the attacker had said, and that worried Jessica. She decided to try to talk to him.
Jessica got up from her bed and walked over to his room. Using her Super Sense, she realized he was sad. Jessica knocked. “Hey, you in there, buddy?”
“I’m doing homework,” he responded quietly.
“I know. I want to talk to you. I’m coming in before you can say ‘no,’” she said, turning the doorknob.
“What do you want?” he asked, trudging to his bed. His hair greasy, and he was still in the same school clothes. His eyes looked red, and his hands were curled into tight fists. He looked exhausted, despite a good night’s sleep. He was a mess.
“I need to talk to you about what happened on Thursday. Please? You need to talk about it, too. It’ll help all of that,” she said pointing to his reflection in the mirror. “No offense.”
“What do you want to know?” Oliver asked, his shoulders dropping.
“How did you get in the closet in the first place?” she asked.
“I was at the water fountain, and Francis went to the bathroom. The water tasted really weird. I choked. Francis screamed. I looked up and saw The Shadow dragging a heavy body bag down the hall. I chased after him and cornered him in the closet. Then he somehow shut the door and locked it on me from the outside,” he answered.
“Okay. What was he saying?” Jessica questioned.
“He was saying how he kidnapped Francis because he knew I would come after him. He also said he’d been spying on us for years. He knew which Powers I had.”
“Did he say what he wanted with you?” she asked.
“No,” Oliver replied simply.
“Oh, okay. Now I’ll change the topic just slightly. What happened at the meeting about Vork? Why did you seem so eager to catch them immediately?” she wondered.
“Because I wanted to catch them before we had to bribe anyone to say the damages never happened!” he joked.
“Ha, ha. But, seriously,” Jessica said.
“The Shadow was practically saying he would kill anyone to get me! He might even be a part of Vork. He has to be! I don’t want to be responsible for that! Plus, The Shadow somehow escaped!” Oliver exclaimed. Oliver turned away and began crying.
“Oh, come on, Oliver! Pull yourself together! You’re not a killer. You’re a hero. You saved me during the fire and you lunged at the stranger because he was about to shoot Francis! YOU’RE A HERO! Don’t beat yourself up for something that you didn’t do. No one has died. No one will! Look at me,” she said, waiting until he turned his head up to meet her eyes. “I love you. It doesn’t matter what others think about you. But if it’s any consolation, you’re a hero to me. Cheer up!”
“You’re right! I’ve got to get my butt off the bed and brighten up! Thanks so much, sis! I never thought we would switch roles,” Oliver cheered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jessica asked playfully.
“Well I never thought you would be the one cheering me up. I thought it would be the reverse,” Oliver explained.
“I’ll tell you whenever I need help,” she assured him. “Bye, Oliver, I’ll let you finish your homework.” Jessica began walking to the door. She took one last look back and saw that he looked a lot better. She was happy.
6.2
That night, Oliver had a dream. He was at school during the middle of the night. The school was on fire, and there was blood all over the walls.
“What the heck!” Oliver shouted. His voice echoed off the walls of the eerily empty hall. He looked down and there was fire covering the floor around him. He realized he was standing on his leg without pain.
“But I broke it,” he thought.
In the dream, he took a step forward and felt a burning sensation. Oliver took a step back and inspected the burn.
“I shouldn’t be burned. This is a dream,” he told himself. He leapt off the ground and hovered in the air. Oliver Flew over the fire and looked at the ground below him. He saw bodies!
“Who are they?” he wondered in the dream. Oliver Flew closer and began trying to identify the people on the ground. He didn’t see anyone familiar, but still, he felt upset that all these people had died. He flew around the corner and saw big words written on the walls: “You did this!”
Oliver was horrified at his discovery. Suddenly, his sister came out of the closet at the end of the hall followed by another person he didn’t recognize. He then noticed that Jessica was limping!
“Jess, what happened?” Oliver wondered.
Oliver sensed that the person behind Jessica was there to help, so he let her be. The person began to speak. “My name is Lady Caldria. I specialize in the art of Healing. Let me help you.”
There was a bright flash as blinding as the sun, and when it was cleared, the school was back to normal. Jessica wasn’t limping anymore, and Oliver’s burn was completely gone.
“What was that?” he asked Jessica in the dream. “Jess?” Oliver looked over and she began to fade. Lady Caldria was gone already,
too. He began to feel nauseous, and his vision blurred.
Oliver woke up and found he was in his bedroom, sweating. He went to check on Jessica. When Oliver opened her door, she was wide awake looking at her leg. She looked pale.
“Jess, are you all right?” he questioned.
Jessica turned and stared at him in pure amazement. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. How could he be healed already? “Oliver, you’re walking!” she exclaimed happily.
“Wait, what?” he wondered, shocked. “I am! I’m walking!”
“Take off your brace!” Jessica demanded.
“All right, all right,” Oliver said, walking over to her bed to sit down.
He sat on her bed and opened all the fasteners and buckles on his leg. It took a while, since the doctor had to reinforce the cast so it wouldn’t slip off while he was flying. Finally, after seven minutes, he got it off and, to his astonishment, there was no evidence that anything had happened to his leg.
Oliver carefully stepped on the ground and pressed his foot into the floor. He jumped up and Flew!
“Yes!” Oliver shouted joyously. He forgot his parents were sleeping downstairs. He remembered why he’d come to Jess’s room in the first place.
“Why were you staring at your leg when I came in?” he asked.
“Why did you come in?” she countered.
“You answer first,” Oliver demanded.
“I had a weird dream that I got shot by the same guy that tried to capture you on Thursday. But this person named Lady Caldria healed me. It felt so real, that I just couldn’t believe it!” Jessica responded in one breath.
“I came here because I think I had the same dream, and it was really freaky, so I just wanted to check on you,” he said.
“Maybe that Caldria person healed you in real life or something, and that’s how you can walk!” Jessica exclaimed.
Oliver was silent for a minute to think it over. “Maybe you’re right! That’s amazing!” he told her, pacing.
“Well, leave,” she said, looking exhausted.
“What?” Oliver asked.
