by Gracie Dix
“But it does! As you said, I’ve never run low on energy before! Something’s wrong with me!” Nick yelled, suddenly feeling light-headed. He stumbled again, but caught himself, hoping Damian hadn’t noticed. Damian had noticed but chose to see how this played out.
“I’ve got to pull it together,” Nick muttered to himself. “I’m going to get Spencer.”
Damian had to try one last time. “Please Nick. It’s not a good idea,” he pleaded.
Nick didn’t respond. Instead, he leapt to the first branch of the tall tree. He kept on leaping until he got to Spencer. When Nick had reached Spencer, he used more of his strength to hoist him off the branch and set him propped up against the trunk of the tree.
“You coming?” Damian questioned impatiently.
“Yeah. Just need a minute,” Nick responded, panting.
“Thought so,” Damian mumbled, shaking his head. “Man, all these kids are stubborn.”
When Nick had lifted Spencer up off the branch, he realized Spencer was a little heavier than before. Nick wondered if his Super Strength was working.
From below, Damian noticed Nick struggling with Spencer and bit his lip. He walked over to stand halfway in between the branch Nick was on and the branch he would be on next—just in case.
Nick was preparing to jump when he thought, “Why prepare? I can just go.” He jumped, but his Super Strength didn’t work like it should have, and Nick felt more lightheaded than ever. He realized he was falling through the air and that Spencer was slipping from his grip. His brain began to work a little faster.
“I could drop Spencer to lighten the weight and assure a safe-ish landing,” Nick thought, “but that would put Spencer in a huge amount of danger.”
Nick made up his mind and held onto Spencer with all his regular strength. Damian had been ready for this and activated his Power. A cloud of Dark Magic appeared from Damian’s fingertips and drifted toward the falling Nick like a squadron of attack bees. The cloud caught both of them, but the impact of the landing was so jarring, it managed to wake up Spencer and knock out Nick. Spencer’s eyes adjusted quickly, and he became very confused. He gathered that he was on a Dark Magic cloud and that it was floating slowly downward, like an elevator. He glanced down and saw Nick unconscious—again.
“Nick!” Spencer called, shaking him. As Spencer bent down, he ignored the pain in his ribs and focused on his friend.
“Dude?” Spencer said again, shaking him even harder.
Nick woke up rubbing his head. He realized it was throbbing harder than ever, and his eyes felt heavy. Through eyes blurred with exhaustion, he spotted Spencer looking over the cloud shouting something inaudible down below. And down below, a different voice became slightly panicked and the cloud began lowering faster. Spencer looked back and saw Nick’s eyes slightly open. Spencer got down on his hands and knees next to him. Nick felt his upper body being lifted at an angle and then felt the edge of the Dark Magic cloud against his upper back.
“Talk to me Nick, what’s wrong?” Spencer whispered beside him.
Nick became baffled at how he could hear Spencer’s voice so clearly at a whisper, when everything else around him sounded like nothing more than static.
“I . . . I don’t know,” Nick croaked. His voice sounded irritated from exhaustion. “Why do you sound so clear?”
“Your Powers are really messed up, man. Damian thought you were just exhausted and overusing, but it’s a little more than that. It appears that when the cage imploded and all the Power was absorbed into you, it was too much for your body to handle. You’ve slowly been running in a declining physical state.
“When you jumped and your Powers didn’t work, it’s because you Power Surged. It’s a term my dad uses when he overloads with Powers. He’s kind of a nut job. You used so much Power that it was like overloading a regular power outlet. What I’m trying to say is you’re in a Power coma—and you might not come out.
“I’ve got to go, Nick, but listen! You will want to give up, but you can’t!” Spencer preached. “Stay strong!”
Spencer’s body seemed to slowly dissolve into the atmosphere around Nick. Nick felt himself fade out and lose consciousness, if he had even been conscious in the first place.
Meanwhile, from below, Damian was freaking out. The cloud had touched the ground and dispersed. Spencer stood up and walked swiftly towards Damian.
“Hey! Do you know what’s going on with your kid?” Spencer asked, almost mockingly.
“Yeah! He overused his Powers!” Damian yelled, having sensed the mockery.
“Then why are you freaking out so much?” Spencer questioned, raising his eyebrows.
“He’s never run out of Power before! This shouldn’t happen. He got more Power a while ago, so why is he running out now?” Damian yelled once more, infuriated by how calm Spencer was acting.
“I know what’s really wrong with him—and I can assure you, it’s not that,” Spencer said, a firm look forming on his face.
“Fine,” Damian huffed.
“Stay calm, but Nick’s in a Power Surge. He was overloaded with Power, and his body has been slowly shutting down since the extra Power was absorbed,” Spencer explained. “To get more scientific, the extra Power has been manipulating his super DNA, causing most of his Power cells to explode or wither. It’s like taking an already-watered plant and watering it too much more—drowning it.”
Damian thought about this. After a minute, he smiled briefly and said, “Can’t Ondrea just…”
“No, Ondrea can’t Heal him. No one can heal him but himself. If this had happened to anyone else, they would be dead already. See, Nick is a Master Healer, so his body is quickly regenerating new Power cells at an accelerated rate, as opposed to normal humans with their white blood cells. Instead of white blood cells, Supers have Power cells. The red blood cells are the only human traits we possess, except for our human form. Even our bones, lungs, hearts, and veins are arranged differently, according to what Powers we have,” Spencer exclaimed, always happy to be explaining biology and spurting out random facts.
“Look, enough with the history lesson!” Damian mumbled aggressively.
Spencer was taken back by Damian’s remark.
“History? That wasn’t his— ”
“Look!” Damian interrupted, “let’s just get back to the rest of the group.”
The moon was at its highest point in the sky.
THIRTY-TWO
In Which Mason Makes A Transformation
What do you mean, Mason’s fading?” Rachel asked, cautiously.
“I’m not sure. He’s just not doing too well,” Francis repeated, concerned.
As soon as Francis said that, the rock lurched to a sudden stop, shook, and then kept going at a slightly slower pace. The gang went quiet and made eye contact with each other before they raced off to where Mason was sitting. Will took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. He pointed it at Mason, and that’s when Mason’s head snapped up, just now noticing them.
“Hey guys,” he muttered weakly. “Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t wake you guys up.”
There was sweat on Mason’s face, arms, and legs. His hands, which were shaking, kept pointing down as he used his Power to move the rock through the sky. His brown, dark hair looked very wind-blown and messy, as if he’d never fixed it.
“Aw man! Dude!” Will gasped. “You look like you tried to run the Boston Marathon but fell into a lake, got out, and an airplane almost took your head off!”
Avery rolled her eyes.
“Geez, Will. Yep, that’s exactly what he looks like,” Avery sighed sarcastically.
“I believe he looks like he has completed the Boston Marathon and is about to pass out,” Ondrea countered, staring at Mason inquisitively.
“He looks more like a tired, worn out Super who’s been holding up a gigantic flying rock for the past seven hours at a continuous speed!” Rachel growled at all of them.
“He LOOKS like someone
who needs help!” Jessica hissed.
“Really guys, I’m fine. I just need to keep thinking about that monster that could rip us to shreds if he catches this thing,” Mason whispered flashing a crooked smile.
“You need to stop, now!” Jessica said sternly.
Mason closed his eyes. He knew he was beginning to lose his energy, but he had to keep going.
“I just need to keep thinking about Jason,” he told himself. “Jason. Jason. Jason . . . could be in danger right now!”
Mason’s eyes snapped open, and his head snapped up once more. He felt himself stall as the entire foundation of the rock dropped about five feet. That fall caused a few people to wake up, but they dismissed it as a trick from their tired minds.
Meanwhile, Will noticed someone watching them. This person had dark brown hair, a slim face, and his nose angled slightly to the left. His eyes were brown. He looked skinny and wore a black fleece zippered jacket. His pants were a light tan color, and a few clumped stands of hair hung just above his eyes. He stood in the shadows with his hands stuck to his sides, looking awkward.
The boy saw Will staring at him and grimaced visibly. Then he slunk off and left quickly, trying to avoid eye contact. Will shrugged and turned back to Mason.
“Guys, I’ll be fine. Please just leave this to me,” Mason stated, his voice wavering.
“Are you sure?” Will questioned, throwing Mason a concerned look.
“Absolutely. Please. Go,” he mumbled.
Everyone went back to their spots and fell asleep almost instantly, as if nothing had happened. But Will had a restless sleep. He kept thinking about the boy he saw.
The next day, Will was the first to wake up. He instantly noticed that the rock was only twenty-five feet from the ground, and they were moving at a considerably slower pace. His eyes went wide.
“Guys! Wake up! Hurry, hurry, please!” Will shouted into his friends’ ears.
Everyone popped up at the speed of light.
“What’s the matter?” Ondrea asked.
“Yeah, what’s going on?” Jessica wondered, panicking.
“Look over the edge!” Will responded. Everyone slowly leaned over the edge, unsure of what they would see. Everyone gasped and took quick steps back.
“Mason!” Will yelled, suddenly getting a clue. He took off with Jessica following. Avery ran after them. When Will reached Mason, he wasn’t that surprised to see Mason in bad shape, but he was upset about it. Mason was sitting with his head in his knees and one very shaky hand hovering above the surface of the rock, keeping it going.
“No, Mason,” he whispered, sympathetically.
Will went over and put a hand on Mason’s shoulder. Mason’s head jerked up, and he felt the world swimming in his vision. The rock dropped about ten feet. Mason heard small shouts of surprise coming from the students. He looked around himself to see Jessica and Avery, and he was able to register that Will had a hand on his shoulder. He thought of his brother for the first time that hour.
“Jason,” he said, barely audible.
Will saw that and knew something bad was about to happen. Instead, something weird happened. The color on Mason’s face left, and Mason’s hair suddenly faded to jet black.
“What the . . .” Will started to say.
By now the rest of the gang had made it over and were horrified by the sight of poor Mason.
“Jason,” Mason said again, but a little more boldly. “I love you, Jason.”
The gang felt the rock drop a few more feet, then Mason let go. Will was shaken out of his shock when the rock dropped the rest of the way—which, luckily, was only a few more feet. Mason closed his eyes and fainted.
Ondrea sighed sadly. “I knew it was going to happen eventually,” she said.
Ondrea and Avery, despite their sadness, walked around the rock asking if everyone were okay and if they needed anything. Most people just said they were hungry. Jessica bent down next to Mason and ruffled his hair gently to see if anything else was different. His hair felt normal. She felt his face to see if he had a fever and if that’s why the color had drained from his face, but it didn’t feel warm. In fact, it felt cold.
“I don’t get it. His face is pale and not the brownish-tan it used to be, and his brown hair is now black. He doesn’t feel sick, and his hair feels normal. What’s going on?” Jessica exclaimed.
“He’s not dead, is he?” Will asked grimly.
“Well, I don’t know! He feels cold!” she cried. Rachel put her arm around Jess’s shoulders and Jessica leaned in, thankful for the emotional support.
“I wish Oliver was here,” she thought. “He’d know what to do.”
Suddenly, Will’s phone rang loudly. Everyone jumped. Will answered.
“Hello. Oliver? We can come home now—sweet. Wait, hold on! What happened to Nick? No way! A Power overload? Mason’s down. Yeah, we can’t come home. He overworked himself. No, he’s not okay. Something really weird happened to him. Dude, my phone is about to die. Just tell me, how did you capture The Universe? A cage made of rock? Cool, but back to our problem. We can’t get home. Wait, I have an idea. Have Teddy Teleport here now. Gotta go. Bye, dude.” Will hung up.
“That was a long conversation,” Ondrea said from right behind his shoulder.
“Hey! You scared me!” Will called.
“Did I?” Avery questioned, popping up from behind his other shoulder.
“YES! You did, too, Avery!” Will muttered.
“What was that all about?” Jessica questioned.
“Apparently, we can come home,” Will exclaimed with a joking smile.
“Apparently, we can’t,” Rachel growled, with a mocking smile.
“Good thing for us that I have a plan!” Will yelled, awkwardly pumping his fist into the air. Avery rolled her eyes. “So, I told Oliver to tell Teddy to Teleport here. I figured we gather up all the people who can Teleport and arrange them into groups. From there, we can Teleport people back.” Will explained. “Oh, also, Nick, Spencer, and Damian came back! The only issue is that Nick is in a Power Coma, whatever that is.”
“Oh, no!” Ondrea yelped.
“What? Is it that bad?” Will asked.
“Will, Supers have been known to instantly die from those! They are very rare, though. Nick’s body will Heal itself, so he won’t die, as long as he can remain strong,” Ondrea answered confidently.
“Oh. There’s so much happening!” Jessica cried.
Suddenly there was a cough. Mason sat up quickly.
“What happened, guys?” he asked as he opened his eyes.
Will looked at Mason’s eyes. He noticed they looked like he was wearing red contact lenses, but he knew Mason wasn’t.
“Mason, why are your eyes red?”
32.2
Oliver peered at The Universe, expecting to see it gaining strength. But luckily, it was slowly weakening.
“Looks like the cage is holding up!” Jason exclaimed.
“Yeah, nice work.” Teddy added.
“I guess you did it. Only because we had Damian and Spencer to help us out, though,” Darla commented.
“You’ve been awfully quiet, Oliver,” Spencer said suspiciously.
“It’s just, I called Will and, well, things couldn’t be going worse,” Oliver croaked, his eyes watering.
“Dude, what’s up?” Teddy asked.
“Apparently there’s something wrong with Mason. Oh, and Will wants you to Teleport to them, Teddy,” he responded.
“No! Mason!” Jason cried.
“Relax, it’s probably not that bad,” Damian sighed, still leaning over Nick.
“Not that bad! Not. That. Bad. Are you kidding me? Aw, man, I knew something was going to happen!” Jason yelled. “Do you have any details, Oliver?”
“No. But Teddy, you really should Teleport to Will now to see what’s up,” he answered.
“Wait! Take me with you!” Jason called out quickly. Teddy rolled his eyes and stuck out his arm, and Jason
rushed to grab it. As soon as Teddy felt Jason’s grasp on his arm, Teddy Teleported to view the scene. When he had landed safely with Jason, Will jumped in surprise and whipped his head around to face them.
“First Ondrea, then Avery, now you?” he muttered under his breath.
“Huh?” Teddy asked.
“Never mind. Go over there to where Jess is,” Will instructed.
Jason hopped off and watched Teddy walk toward Jessica. Will was about to walk away when Jason desperately grabbed his shoulder. Will stopped and quickly turned around.
“Dude! What the heck?” he snapped. “Oh, hey, Jason.”
“Will,” he panted, “where’s Mason?”
Will saw something move behind Jason, and he pointed. “Right there,” he said.
Jason turned around and saw Mason being held up by Ondrea. Jason almost fainted when he saw his brother. Mason’s hair was jet black and streaked with maroon strands here and there. His face was pale, almost white. His lips were slightly purple and dry. Mason was limping with an arm around Ondrea. As they neared, Jason noticed blood-red irises as if he had been born with them.
Mason smiled thinly as Jason took shaky steps toward his brother. Mason began trying to walk faster toward Jason and stumbled out of Ondrea’s grasp. He stumbled forward and landed on his knees at Jason’s feet. Jason slowly bent down and covered his mouth. Mason glanced up and saw Jason’s reaction. He gave a small humorless laugh.
“I don’t know what happened, bro,” he whispered.
Jason wrapped his arms around Mason and began to cry. Mason was surprised to find Jason shaking. He carefully put his arms around his twin, as he felt Jason squeeze harder.
“Oh, man. This is rough,” Mason thought.
While all of this was happening, Jessica and Teddy were pairing up students with Teleporting Supers. Will and Ondrea were awkwardly watching Mason and Jason’s exchange, and Rachel and Avery were scanning the area in animal forms, looking for any straggling students.
Jason released his brother and pulled back. He smiled at Mason sadly and asked him what happened. Will and Ondrea left discreetly and went to check on Teddy and Jessica. As Rachel and Avery came in toward the others, they caught sight of Mason and Jason’s exchange, and sighed wearily.
