Guilt. That was what kept eating away at Luke for the last day. The guilt of cheating.
But…was it cheating? He still wasn't sure. It was hard to define rules for superpowers. He knew it was probably cheating but there was no rule against it since no one ever thought it would actually happen.
Whatever the case, he did his best to push those thoughts away and just focus on what came next. He knew he killed it during training, his new powers giving him that extra boost he needed. So it would be next to impossible for him not to be chosen for the team. He just wondered what position he would get. And his friends. Did they get in? He hoped so. It wouldn't be right for him to play and not have his real team with him.
He'd done the play-by-play with his dad already and they'd had their usual training session that evening, sharpening up on the skills Luke felt he was lacking. He was actually grateful for the training then. Even if it wasn't technically cheating, he was resolved not to use his powers again, especially during a real game. Then it would really be unfair. So Luke focused on improving everything he could so he never felt like he had to rely on his power again. He would be better than that.
This morning though, all the confidence he'd had that he'd make the team had somehow managed to leak out of him during the night, leaving him a dry husk of anxiety and stress.
"Don't worry," his little sister Amy had said with a big smile on her face. "There's no way you didn't get in. You're the best!" She did an arm-pump as she said that which Luke couldn't help but chuckle at. It did make him feel a tiny bit better.
Still, that anxiety stayed with him throughout the day no matter how many times his friends tried to comfort him, although that may have been because they were also trying to console themselves. And 'don't worry, at least you'll get in' didn't really make him feel better. Neither did 'you've got to get in, for our sakes!'
Coach Beatriz had said she would post the new team list at the end of the day so Luke remained unfocused and stressful all day. He even passed up a moment to flirt with Emily, something he would berate himself for later.
Finally, the moment came. The final bell rang and he ran out of the class full speed, rocketing over to the school's bulletin board in the entrance hall, practically shoving everyone aside on his way. He heard several yells and cries of profanity but ignored them all. Right now, nothing was more important to him than this. Everything he'd been training so far for led to this moment. He had to have made it on the team. Otherwise…well, he didn't know what came next but he didn't like it.
He reached the board and found the list almost immediately, doing a scan to find his name.
The second he did, he felt like all his emotions got washed away.
He should have felt great. Fantastic even. But he didn't.
When that list had gone up, showing the names and positions of the new football team, he should have been over the moon. He was right at the top, just under Andrew Stroneman as an alternating quarterback.
He'd made it. He had actually done it. He may not be full quarterback, but he still had the position. And with it, he could show everyone what he was capable of and his future prospects were looking better.
Even so, he knew it had been wrong. Ever since he'd left the tryouts, he just couldn't shake that feeling. He knew no one else had what he had after all. No one else could move things with their mind and make winning the game look so easy. Just him.
But…this was his shot. That was what he kept telling himself all afternoon and through the night. He had to use every tool in his arsenal to succeed and this just happened to be a new one. And like he kept telling himself, it wasn't like there was a rule that said no superpowers.
None of that really made him feel better though.
"Wow, look at that!" Omar cheered. "We made it dude! We all made it! And look, you're quarterback. That's great!"
Luke finally cracked a smile. That was right, it wasn't about him. It was about his team. Omar, Roderick, Bruce, and Sally. All of them had a position on the team. They had all made it in. That was what really mattered. And if using his powers to push through obstacles did that, so be it.
"Wahoo!" Roderick cheered.
"Yes!" Bruce celebrated.
"That's how it's done!" Sally grinned, hugging Kim tightly.
"I'm proud of you man." Luke turned at Ralph's voice. "Guess all that training wasn't for nothing. Well, not just your 8-pack anyway."
They both chuckled. "Yeah well, this makes it all worth it," Luke said, nodding at his teammates. He would train all day for a hundred days straight if it helped them achieve their dreams.
"So I'm guessing Andrew wasn't happy?" Ralph asked.
Luke hissed through his teeth. "That's…one way to put it."
Andrew had stared at the paper for a full minute. Or at least, what felt like a full minute. Then he looked over at Luke with rage. "You're going to regret this," he promised before stalking off.
"Well that was ominous," Ralph commented dryly. "I bet he's going back to his evil lair to cook up some evil plans."
Luke blinked. "Where did that come from?"
"My brother made me watch Kim Possible last night. All those episodes basically have the same premise."
Luke made a note to never say Kim Possible in front of his sister before looking back at the list. But no, it wasn't a joke. His name was really there. Alternating quarterback. Not too bad. This actually worked out well for him. When he was quarterback, he could show his leadership and guidance on the field and when he wasn't, he could show off all his other skills. It covered all the bases for him. Yes, his father would be pleased. And so was he, even if he did feel guilty.
He noticed Franklin's name as linebacker. Yeah, that tracked for him. He was also a good runner as he could just bulldoze his way through the offense. He was sure the Coach had plans for him there as well.
He did some quick thinking and realized their first game was only a few weeks away. Not too long to practice then. But based on what he could see, they had a good team ready to go.
That meant he also had a few weeks to get this power of his under control. Plenty of time. He hoped anyway.
"Well, well, well, guess you made it into the big leagues after all, superstar."
"Oh god," Luke muttered, rolling his eyes before turning to face the worst person in the world. He was the last guy he wanted to deal with right now as he was both filled with pride and guilt, one of the best and worst feelings someone could feel.
Wissam Demir, one of the top athletic stars in the school and current champion of the school's soccer team or, as he preferred, the 'actual football' team. He likened 'American football' to 'that sport where they try their best to bash each other's skulls in like Neanderthals.' Ever since they met, Luke and him had felt a fierce, burning dislike for one another that had only grown over the years. Luke was just glad that he didn't join the football team as he was, and he would never admit this out loud, pretty good.
At that was the least annoying thing about him. He also had impeccable hair, unwrinkled clothes, a British accent that made everyone around him swoon, and a strange odor that reminded Luke of a flower garden, which was weird since he'd never been to one.
"What do you want, Demir?" he asked.
"Oh nothing much. World peace would be nice. A new cellphone would be cool. The next season of The Last of Us would be great. And seeing you leave my sight forever would be just amazing. Yes, I would say that's what I want."
"I meant right now!"
"Oh, I just want to get to my locker. You're actually standing right in front of it, so if you don't mind just scooching to the side," Wissam gestured with a demeaning voice.
Luke grimaced, but moved aside. He was tempted to just stay there, but that would force him to tolerate the guy's presence even more. Whenever Luke heard Wissam's voice, he couldn't help but grit his teeth. That stupid accent. He'd even seen Emily blush at times from Wissam's voice which was enough to make them enemies for life.
"So, I see the Deck-squad also made it in to your little game of pound-yourselves-to-death. Well done, pats on the back all around," Wissam said. "You should all feel very proud of yourselves for proving to be the top Neanderthals."
"Oh shut up man," Bruce said.
"Yeah. What is your deal anyway?" Sally asked, her eye twitching.
"My deal? Nothing. Just having a, uh, less than pleasant conversation among my peers. Besides, I like to get inside the head of my competition, see what makes them tick."
"Competition?" Luke snorted. "Yeah, I'll let you know when I'm actually worried about your kick-squad of ballerinas outshining us."
"I know you were trying to insult us, but we actually have a few ballerinas on the team and because of that extra footwork, their kicks are that much stronger," Wissam said smugly.
"Yeah, well, football will always beat soccer," Bruce told him, crossing his arms.
"On that, we can agree. The name 'football' will always beat your ridiculous replacement of 'soccer.'" He said the last one with clear disgust, even gagging a little. "No matter how many times you may tell me, our football is the true football. I mean, seriously. You hardly kick the ball when we're constantly using our feet. So how on earth did you decide to name your sport football and give mine some made-up name?"
Luke just rolled his eyes. He'd heard this tirade enough to know it could go on for hours. Literally. "Look, just get your stuff and leave please."
"If you're in such a hurry to be rid of me, you know where the exit is." He suddenly looked up with fake concern. "You do know where the exit is, right? Just follow the…"
"Oh please shut up!" Luke sighed. He was so tempted to use his powers on this arrogant bastard right now but that would just reveal himself to everyone for the sake of, well, nothing. Still, the image of Wissam's shocked face was enough. For now, anyway.
"So touchy," Wissam murmured. "Well, no worries, I just finished up." He closed up his locker before turning, his eyes traveling beyond Luke to something behind him. "Ah, the newest, and biggest it seems, Neanderthal has arrived."
Luke turned as well, seeing Franklin walking up. The guy was currently on his phone and only looked up after Wissam's statement in confusion. "Huh?"
"Hey man. Here to check out your placement on the team?" Luke asked.
"Yeah," Franklin replied. "I did get in, right?"
"Oh, absolutely. You killed it yesterday. There's no way you wouldn't get it. You scored linebacker though you'll probably get alternating positions as well."
"Huh." Franklin looked at the list himself and Luke was surprised to see his expression stayed the same. He didn't seem excited or really that interested at all. Now that Luke thought about it, he'd been acting that way the whole time Luke had known him. So why was he trying out if he didn't care for it that much?
Whatever, it wasn't his business. All that mattered to Luke was that he put everything he had into it and judging from what he'd seen at tryouts, that was certainly the case. Still, he did want to get to know Franklin better. Best teammates worked that way and he already knew he wouldn't be able to achieve that with Andrew or any of his cronies. Maybe he should invite him over to train sometime. The way Franklin had moved, Luke could use some of his methods in his own workouts.
"Well, Decker, I expect you to be a little dumber the next time I see you. You know, from the degrading brain cells," Wissam said, reminding Luke that he was here.
"And I expect your eyebrows to be even bushier," Luke replied. It wasn't much, but if there was one flaw in Wissam's look, it was definitely those eyebrows and he knew it as his nostrils flared a little at Luke's comment.
"Ah, always fun talking with you Decker," Wissam snorted. "Later."
"So who's that?" Franklin asked as Wissam walked away.
"Wissam Demir, school jerk," Roderick said. "God, as much as I hate him, he still looks so good. And smells so good, too. How does he do it?"
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure that's his natural odor," Ralph said.
"Well whatever it is, I want some of it," Bruce added. "And maybe his exercise routine too. Cause he looks good. Not Franklin good, but good."
He stopped there, eyes wide, as he remembered that Franklin was still standing there.
"Well, it seems we've officially crossed over from getting awkward to just plain awkward."
"Just ignore that," Luke told him, stifling a laugh. "So hey, you haven't really been introduced. Here are the other members of the team. This is Bruce, Omar, Roderick, and Sally."
"Hey!"
"Wassup?"
"Yo!"
"Hi!"
Franklin nodded at them each in turn. "Nice to meet you all. I saw what you could do yesterday. Good work."
"Thanks man, but you really killed it out there. I mean, you were like a freaking tank. How did you do that?" Roderick asked.
Franklin shrugged. "Exercise. My dad had me training since I was a kid."
"Ha!" Ralph laughed. "Dude, you guys are like twins in that sense," he said to Luke. "Dads training you all the time. Wow. Got a couple of exercise junkies here."
Luke rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with doing some exercise each day. When you get your own 8-pack, you'll understand." He smiled as they all laughed.
"What?" Franklin asked, confused. "You can't get an 8-pack. Well unless you count the-"
"Don't worry about it. It's just an inside joke," Luke interrupted.
"Oh, ok. Well anyway, nice to meet you all," Franklin waved awkwardly. "Guess I'll see you at practice. Bye."
Luke was about to say bye back when there was a sudden gust of wind that made him blink. The next thing he knew, Travis was standing there.
"Yo, Franklin, we need to talk. Like right now. This is seriously urgent," he said.
"How about now?"
"Weirdly, still fine," Emily replied, flexing her fingers to see if she could still feel them. It was odd but she still could, even though she couldn't see them given they were over a hundred feet away from her, her arm stretched out across the entire gymnasium.
After school had ended, she and Britta had come here to practice with her powers, to see exactly what she could do and what her limits were. So far, they hadn't really found a limit to how much she could stretch her arm. She still felt like it could go longer. There was no pain, no discomfort. The only thing was that it had gotten heavier. Not as heavy as she thought it would be but she felt the drag of gravity a bit more. It did help that Britta was holding up her hand though.
"Maybe we should try your fingers instead," Britta suggested. "Here let's try this."
Emily blinked, feeling her hand bending back. "What are you doing?"
"I'm folding your wrist over, like Lockhart did in Chamber of Secrets. Wow, that is so gross and so cool at the same time. I can like bend it all the way back. It's just like you have no bones. Huh, maybe we should do an x-ray, see what's going on in there."
"Unless you have an x-ray handy on you, this isn't something I want to go to the doctors with." She could already imagine the horror on their faces, and then having to explain it to her mother. Yeah, that sounded like a nightmare come to life. As much as she did want to see what was going on with her, this was more important.
"What are you doing now?" Emily asked as she felt her arm get bent another way.
"I'm twisting it around. Wow, it's like I can move it anyway I want. Ooh, let's see if it's the same with your fingers." A second later, she felt her fingers get twisted around.
"Hey, stop that! What are you doing?" Emily asked, annoyed. She tried wiggling her fingers but found she couldn't. Her fingers felt…tied up. She could see Britta struggling and felt her fingers being yanked around and she suddenly realized what had happened. "Did you tie my fingers in knots?"
"No! Shut up! I'll fix it!"
"Let go!" Emily barked. "I'll deal with it." With one tug, she pulled her arm free and it shot back over to her. She still didn't understand it, not that she understood anything about her power, but her entire arm retracted into her body somehow, folding back in on itself. She would have expected it to have more of an impact, like the way a rubber band snapped back, but instead it just came to a rest gently, returning to normal.
"What the hell!?" she shrieked, looking at her hand. Or, what used to be her hand after Britta had mangled it. All her fingers were tied up with one another, forming knots. Her index and middle finger were tightly wrapped up together with her pinky encircling them and her ring finger coming through the middle. "Why would you do this?"
"I'm sorry," Britta said, running over. "I just wanted to see if it could be done."
"Well next time ask," Emily muttered, yanking on her fingers. "It's my body. If you want to tie up fingers, use your own."
"That's not strictly possible with my fingers.
Emily gave her a dark look. "I'm sure I'll work something out."
"Ok," Britta gulped.
Emily struggled for a few more minutes before finally untangling her fingers, wiggling them around to make sure she still had feeling in all of them. That was another weird thing. No matter how hard she bend or twisted her limbs, the circulation and blood flow remained the same. Or, at least, it seemed to. Earlier, she'd bent her leg around and practically flattened it and had felt no loss of feeling at all. She could move it just fine.
"What do you think caused this?" Britta asked. "I mean, cause this isn't normal. Right?"
"Why are you asking me that? I don't know. How would I know?"
"Well…you're the one with the freaky new powers so if anyone would know, it's you."
"Well I don't know. I wish I did." Emily yanked on her thumb, watching it bend back unnaturally before snapping it back into place. "Then I'd know what to do next."
"…you think it might be genetic?"
Emily gave her a look. "I think I'd know if my mom had stretching powers, Britta."
Her friend gave her a sheepish, cautious look that raised Emily's hackles. "Yeah…I wasn't talking about your mom. Maybe…"
"No," Emily said firmly. "We're not going there."
"Ok, cool. That's fine. I'm just saying, think about it. Cause it kind of makes sense."
"How?" Emily snapped. "How does it make sense?"
"What if the reason he's not around is because of stuff like this," Britta suggested.
"The reason he's not around is because he's a selfish, arrogant, asshole who only cares about himself!" Emily cried. "I'm not giving him some stupid, lame, made-up excuse to let him off the hook. Uh-uh, no way, not happening. He doesn't get off that easily."
Britta looked at her worriedly before slowly nodding. "Alright. Then…let's just focus on training, yeah?"
Emily blinked, feeling her eyes get wet. "Yeah," she nodded back shakily. "Yeah, let's do that."
"So, we tested your arms. How about your legs?"
"My legs?" For a second, an image of Britta pulling her leg across the gym entered her mind, swiftly followed by one of Britta tying up her toes into knots. "Nope. I'm not letting you mess with my little piggies."
Britta stared at her. "Um…I don't know what that means, so…"
"Here," Emily said, visualizing it. They had stretched her arm out by Britta pulling it with Emily offering no resistance. But…what if she forced it out. Like actively wanted to stretch it out. She focused on the feeling she had as she pulled her arm back, only in reverse, and pictured her legs shooting out like that.
The stirring sensation in her thighs was the only warning she got before she suddenly shot up, her legs ascending like an express elevator, sending her rocketing up to the ceiling.
"AAAAHHHHH!" she shrieked. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!"
She poured all her energy into slowing down, into stopping her sudden ascent. Unfortunately, she was a little too late as her head smashed right into the ceiling before she finally came to a stop. If she'd still had a normal body, she would have snapped her neck easily. Though, if she still had a normal body, she wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.
"What happened?" Britta called up to her.
"Just lost control for a sec," Emily called back, moving her face back. She'd never really wanted to know what the ceiling felt like, especially on her face, and she definitely didn't want the intimacy to continue. She focused carefully and pulled her legs back a little, just enough for her to drop down a few feet so that the top of her head was now below the ceiling. She breathed out in relief before looking down. From up here, Britta honestly did look like an ant.
She tried to take a step forward and nearly fell over, which would have been bad considering she was almost thirty feet high right now. "Whoa," she said to herself, struggling to regain her balance. Her legs were too big for her to move at normal speed right now. After catching herself, she slowly raised her right foot and moved it forward. She still wobbled a bit but she was able to take a step. If she'd ever walked on stilts, she would have figured it would feel something like this.
"You doing alright up there?" Britta called.
"Just peachy," Emily replied, trying to concentrate. It took her a while but eventually she was able to gain the right momentum and stability to walk normally across the gym. She'd nearly fallen over a few times and at one point she'd even had to stretch her arm out to balance herself against the far wall. But she was getting it.
After pacing a bit more, Emily shrank her legs, going more carefully this time. She didn't really want to shoot back down and hit the ground. She returned to her normal form smoothly and she breathed out in relief.
"Well, you're certainly getting the hang of this."
"Of course I am," Emily replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Britta laughed. "I honestly don't know. Anyway, what else do you want to try?" Her eyes suddenly lit up in a way that made Emily nervous. "Hey, how about this?" She suddenly reached forward and grabbed a chunk of Emily's hair, pulling violently on it.
"Ow!" Emily cried, slapping her hand away. "What was that for, you lunatic?"
"Sorry. I just wanted to see if your hair could stretch as well. Guess not. Here," she held out her hand and Emily saw several strands of her hair in it.
"What am I supposed to do with that?"
"I don't know. Put it back I guess."
"How will that help at all? It's already out!"
"Well, you sure are grouchy today."
"Oh, I'm sorry if my suddenly developing weird and freaky superpowers makes me a little on edge," Emily snapped. It had been…a less than ideal couple of days so far. She had barely held it together at cheer practice yesterday. At one point, in one of her kick poses, her leg had shot out much farther than humanly possible and it was only thanks to Britta that she was able to hide it.
She had spent the rest of the afternoon doing her best to get control of her power but it was slow going. She could stretch out with no problem but figuring how to retract everything had taken a lot of concentration. The first time she'd done it, she'd accidentally smacked herself in the face.
Now she had some control over it, even if she was still learning. But what she honestly dreaded was when she saw her mom later. Thankfully, her mom had been out yesterday afternoon so Emily had managed to train in peace, and sneak in a few cookies. But today, well, there was another reason she was training so much in the gym right now. The more she put off going home the better in her opinion. Her mom was the last person she wanted to deal with right now. Besides, her mom would be able to pick up something was wrong instantly. It was like a sixth sense for her. She always knew when something was bothering Emily or if she was lying or hiding something like when she and Britta had gone to a crepe place and splurged on the desserts or when she had abandoned a modeling gig to go see Crazy Rich Asians in the theater. Her mom could just sniff the lies right out of her, like some weird bloodhound. It was so annoying. And, right now, downright terrifying.
Plus, Emily just knew her mom would sign her up for some modeling gig or spa day or something else that would make her stress out and cause her powers to go wild. Yeah, that sounded like an actual nightmare.
She sighed, slumping over a little. "Sorry," she said. 'It's just…it's a lot, you know."
"Yeah. I mean, I don't know cause I don't have powers but I get it. Well, not really but…"
"Just stop."
"Right, yeah, I'll do that."
Emily honestly wasn't sure what she was going to do now, which wasn't surprising considering what had happened to her. How was she supposed to lead her cheer squad now? Participate in the cheerleading competitions? Go about her life normally when at any moment, her arm could get caught around a door handle or even a chair and suddenly stretch out for everyone to see. She didn't even want to think about what might happen to her next.
"So what do you want to do now?" Britta asked.
"I…have no idea," Emily replied.
There was a few seconds of silence, and then, "can I pull on your head?"
"…What?"
"You know, I want to see if I pull on your head, it will stretch just like your arms and legs."
"…No."
"Oh come on, why not?"
"Because I don't want you to, that's why. Stop using me as your personal toy. If you want, I can get you some Play-Doh on the way home."
"Oh come on, you're way more fun to play with than Play-Doh."
"Well too bad, I…stop that. Ow! No yanking!"
Are you ready?
He didn't know the answer to that. Taking down the facility had been…exhilarating. And wrong. He knew that. But the way they had treated him before…looked down on him, cast him aside. That had been it for him. And he was glad it was gone.
But this? This was too much.
Wasn't it?
No, the voice argued. Your power is only growing. You need more. And this will mold you into the perfect vessel for it. You will cast aside all those who wronged you, tear them asunder, and emerge from the dust as something magnificent.
Magnificent? Yes, that's what he wanted. What he had always wanted. To be more than he already was, to live the life he wanted free from everything and everyone. They had always left him behind, tied him down. And this place…yes, this place was where they had shackled him, restrained him from his true potential. Where they belittled his work and forced him to do meaningless drivel that would lead him nowhere in life.
He would tear it down. Tear it all down.
But…the people?
What of them? The voice practically snarled, startling him. Why do you care for them? They have never cared for you. They only pushed you down, made you worse. I will make you far stronger than you could even imagine. Bury this place in the rubble and all within it.
No, he couldn't do that. That wasn't right. The place deserved to go, but the people…not all of them deserved it. No, none of them deserved it. This anyway. It was so hard to keep his thoughts straight now. He felt this new power growing inside him, becoming stronger with each passing hour. And he wanted more. He wanted what the voice promised him. But this…he wasn't sure.
This is the way, the voice warned him. If you want the power, if you want to be who you were meant to be, there is no other way. Tear them all down and build yourself back up.
He couldn't really hurt them could he? That wasn't…him, was it? That wasn't who he wanted to be. He wanted…to be…
He wanted to be powerful. Yes, that's what he wanted. To be more powerful than anyone else. And this was the way. Maybe some people would be hurt, but this place…it had held him down for so long. He had to destroy it. No matter the cost.
Yes, the voice whispered. Take your power. Let it fill you up and give you the strength you need to do what must be done.
He could feel it, surging inside of him. The power to create. The power he'd always wanted. Now his…forever. And nothing would stand in his way.
Good, the voice said softly. Very good. Now, let's get to work.
"LUKE!"
Luke winced at Amy's loud squeal of delight. His six-year-old sister was leaning out the car window, waving frantically at him like he had just returned from a long voyage and not from a normal school day.
"Hey Ames," he said, opening the car door and dropping his stuff in the front seat. "How was school today?"
"We did coloring!" she squealed.
"That's great. Hey dad," he said, turning to his father behind the wheel. "How are you?"
"That doesn't matter. Did you get in?"
Just like his dad, straight to the most important topic. "Yeah dad, I got it. I'm alternating quarterback with Andrew Stroneman."
"Alternating?" his dad questioned, bobbing his head a little. "Well it's not the top spot but definitely a good one. Well done, well done indeed."
Luke grinned. "Thanks dad." Even still, he felt the familiar queasiness in his stomach that he did his best to ignore. He was about to take his seat when he paused, looking at his stuff and remembering something. "Oh shoot," he said after doing a quick search.
"What is it?"
"I left my gym clothes in my locker. Hold on a sec, I'll go get them."
His dad let out a deep sign. "Luke, you have to be more responsible with your stuff. Now I have to leave the line and find a parking spot which right now is a chaotic nightmare." He gestured around them where tons of students were walking to their parent's vehicles or their own parked cars, creating a unruly crowd that was nearly impossible to get through.
"I'm sorry dad. I'll hurry back," Luke promised.
"That won't do much," his dad replied.
Luke grimaced, shutting the door and hurrying back to the school as his father left the line to find a quick place to park. Some of the time, he would never be enough. His father always found a way to teach him a lesson or remind him how far he had to go.
No, he only wants the best for you, he reminded himself. Besides, he didn't have time for thoughts like this. He had to hurry.
Surprisingly, even though school had officially ended ten minutes ago, there was a still quite a few students around. Most were idly chatting with their friends before they went their separate ways for the rest of the day and some were preparing for after school activities. Still it was a surprise.
Luke made his way to his locker, thankful that it was on the first floor. However, as he reached it, he passed an open doorway and heard voices inside. Normally, he wouldn't have cared except he recognized the voices. Franklin and Travis. And he still wouldn't have cared, except he saw them leave earlier in a weird way, sparking his interest. So, without really realizing it, he stepped closer to listen.
"…we shouldn't even be talking about this."
"Dude, how can we not?
"Easy. Just stop talking."
"I'm being serious."
Luke heard Franklin sigh. "Look, yes it turns out that Gabriela and Sumin are…like us, in that sense. And I'm glad you told them. But this doesn't mean that…"
"Doesn't mean what?"
"You think I don't know what you're planning? All of us, forming up like this. You're making a team out of us."
Luke frowned. A team? What team? What were they talking about? And why was he still listening? He didn't have anything to do with this and his dad was still waiting.
He took a step back, ready to walk away, when Travis's next words stopped him cold.
"A team of superpowered people, you mean."
Luke blinked. Did he just say what I think he said?
"Yes. That's what I mean. You're trying to turn us into the next…I don't even know. You just want us to fulfill some fantasy of yours. Yes, we have powers. But you saw what happened last night. We got our asses handed to us by actual villains. We can't do this."
Yep, they were saying it. Superpowers. They had superpowers. Luke didn't fully believe what he was hearing. They had superpowers too. Which meant he wasn't alone. It wasn't all some crazy, weird dream. But, supervillains? Seriously?
"I wasn't saying we should form a team, Frankin. I just think we should stay in touch. If it turns into that down the line, hooray, but I actually agree with you that it shouldn't. You're right, we're not ready to take down bad guys."
"Good. I'm glad you think so."
"So I'm going to take them down."
"Wha- Ugh! You are so aggravating, you know that?"
"Yep. Bye now! Gotta go."
The only warning Luke had was a sudden rush of air and a blur that vanished in less than a second. He stood there, staring, wondering what the hell had just happened. Then he heard footsteps and quickly dashed out of sight before Franklin came out of the classroom, looking annoyed and frazzled. Luke didn't really know what that word meant, but Franklin somehow looked it.
Fortunately, he didn't look Luke's way cause Luke had nothing to say. He just stood there, watching as Franklin left. What had just happened? So, he wasn't the only one with powers. And apparently, neither were Franklin or Travis. There were others as well. How many? And what were their powers? Judging from what had just happened, he assumed Travis had some sort of enhanced speed. But Franklin?
Luke shook his head. This was a lot to take in, too much for right now. His dad was still waiting on him. He couldn't dawdle here. He'd figure all of this out later. He continued on his way to his locker, doing his best to shake the thoughts out of his head. Unfortunately, just as he reached his locker, he was distracted again when a flash of light went off.
"Oh what now?" he mumbled under his breath. "Who's flashing me? I…oh, wait, hold on. That's not what I…oh who cares anymore?"
He looked up when the flash came again, coming from the back stairwell, a sort of orange light followed by some sort of…grumbling sound? It was hard to tell, but it sounded like someone cursing through several layers of sheets.
"What the hell?" he muttered, walking towards the stairwell, pushing the door open just as another flash of light came. "Ack!" he cried out, covering his eyes. "Seriously, what the hell?"
"LUMPH!"
"Huh?" Luke looked up at the terrible mispronunciation of his name and froze. Gabriela was seated at the bottom of the stairs and she was covered in…Luke didn't even know what it was. Some sort of strange, dark metallic liquid that writhed all over. Part of it was wrapped around her arms and another around her legs, holding her tighter. There was some more over her mouth, gagging her.
"Gabriela?" he said hoarsely, not fully believing what he was seeing. He ran down the stairs, kneeling next to her. "Wha-what is this? What's going on?"
Gabriela stared back at him with wide, terrified eyes. She was screaming at him through the gag but he had no idea what she was saying. Something about behind…oh.
He turned too late, feeling something hard and oh so very sharp press into his back between his shoulder blades, causing him to falter and tense up automatically.
"Oh Decker," a voice behind him tutted. "I so wish you hadn't come to this. I was hoping for one of those arguing buffoons. Now, I can't let you leave here alive."
Emily had finally managed to wrest her head from Britta's grip, groaning and rubbing her ears. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"I said I was sorry, ok?"
"I think you nearly tore them off," Emily said, glaring at her friend. "How would you feel if I just walked over and yanked on your ears?"
"Oh come on, you know I can't stretch like you."
"Really? Let's test that," Emily said, walking over heatedly.
"Ok, ok, I'm really sorry. I'll buy a packet of the chocolate covered double-stuffed Oreos you like," Britta pleaded.
Emily stopped, thinking it over. "Ok, you're forgiven," she said.
"Still, it is interesting. I thought your whole body was stretchy but I guess it's just your limbs."
"No," Emily replied. "I don't think that's the case. I just think…I don't know, when you pulled on my ears, I just thought that I didn't want you to pull on them cause I had no idea how I would get them back to normal. So maybe, subconsciously, I…"
"Stopped them from stretching." Britta nodded, fingers rubbing her chin. "That makes some sense but there's really only one way to test it out."
"I know. But no yanking this time! I mean it!" Emily warned. "Or else I'll yank yours off!"
"I got it, I got it." Carefully, Britta took hold of Emily's ears and she winced. She knew she needed to know this, whether or not she could stretch her ears out as well. But she also couldn't remove the image of walking around with her ears flopping behind her like the world's longest, most disgusting earrings ever. Was this just her future now? To have to deal with stuff like this?
Before she could even think about it, they heard the outer doors to the gym suddenly open and they leapt apart. "I thought you said no one was coming in here today," Emily hissed.
"There was nothing on the board. I can't help it if some teacher or random person walks through!" Britta angrily replied.
Before they could talk about it further, the inner doors opened and they straightened up, trying to look like they hadn't been practicing with Emily's powers. Emily thought about whistling calmly but decided that make them look more suspicious. Britta obviously didn't think the same as she was whistling away the Pokémon theme song for some reason.
"Hey!" Emily said as the person walked in and then stopped, seeing who it was. It was a dark figure with what looked like a cloak around them but the cloak was…shifting around, like it was alive. Or not fully formed. "What the-?"
BOOM!