Chapter 25

Ray

His look was priceless. Stoner always took things so seriously. That’s why he was so much fun to tease. But this time I wasn’t joking, and that made it even better.

Michael just stared at me, catatonic. I laughed, enjoying the moment. “That’s right, Stoner,” I said. “I know who you are. I know about the meteorite in your pocket. And I know that you’ve been having fun running around the city rescuing missing girls.”

His mouth hung open.

Last night, when I’d seen the news article of the superhero, Orion, I knew it had to be Stoner. Mark said that he wouldn’t teach me the Second Degree unless I brought Michael (unconscious and alive) and his stone to him. I didn’t understand why Mark wanted that, and he wouldn’t explain why, but I wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity to beat up good ol’ Michael Stone. Learning how to control my fire powers in the Second Degree was just a perk.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ray.” Stoner stood up to leave, but I grabbed his arm.

“You’re like me, Stoner. We’re Starlings.” His eyes glazed over. I smirked. “Now you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Stoner tried yanking his arm away, but my grip held firm. “Let go of my arm, Ray.”

“Not Ray anymore. Call me Draco.”

He looked at me for a while, registering what I’d said. Then, he pulled his arm free from my grip, and started to walk away. I shot up from the bench and stood in front of his path. “Going somewhere, Stoner?”

He tried walking by me, but I pushed him back. I could see a flare of hatred go off in his eyes. I laughed. I knew he wanted to fight, but he didn’t want to do it here. He was still scared of revealing his identity as a super human. Still a wimp.

I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. I didn’t have a secret identity, just a new one.

“I told you who I am,” I said. Dozens of students stopped walking and watched the two of us revolve around each other like two worlds about to collide. Several pulled out phones and started filming us. I noticed Doug Cooper among them, his neck still red. I smirked and gestured toward the on-looking students. “Now you need to tell them who you are.”

“There’s nothing to tell!” Stoner snapped, pushing by me.

I pushed him back. He stayed on his feet, his hands clenched tight into fists. I hadn’t stoked my powers yet, and I hadn’t seen any hint of powers from him. There was the small chance that I was wrong, and Stoner wasn’t Orion. A very small chance. I'm rarely wrong. But, I wanted to be sure before taking him to Mark.

“I don’t want to fight you, Ray,” Stoner said.

I laughed. “That’s exactly what you said a couple weeks ago, right here, the last time we fought.”

“And I meant it that time too!”

“Ray!” I turned to see Coach Jones running toward us, his hat keeping the rain out of his eyes. What timing. He stepped between the two of us, facing me. “Go home, Simmons!”

I scowled at my x-football coach. “Yeah… no.”

“What?” Coach Jones stepped closer, glaring me down. He pointed a finger at me. “I’m warning you, Ray! If you…”

His threat fizzled out when he saw my eyes glow. I swatted him in the ribs with one hand, launching him a few yards across the plaza. He rolled to a stop in the grass, face down, clenching his ribs. All the students gasped, a few girls screamed. They all took several steps away from me, except for Stoner. I stared at Coach Jones on the ground for a long moment. Any chance I had of a football career just went down the drain. I had to accept that now.

I turned back to Stoner. He was fuming. I laughed. “Come on, Stoner. Show me what you got. Oh wait… should I find you a motorcycle helmet first?”

“You’re being stupid, Ray!” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m done with this” He walked away once more, pushing his way through the group of students.

Stoner was being more stubborn than usual today. Probably because he didn’t want to use his powers in public. I needed to see him use them before knocking his teeth in and taking him to Mark. It was time to be more… persuasive.

I folded my arms. “Okay, Stoner. If you’re not Orion, then I’ll just have to draw him out some other way. Maybe I could have a chat with your hot sister. I have a feeling she would know where the would-be superhero is.”

Stoner stopped dead in his tracks, his back to me and his fists clenched. I smiled. I’d struck a chord. Last time, we’d gotten in a fight because I was teasing his sister.

I was expecting Stoner to turn around and threaten me to keep my distance from her, but what actually happened was a fuzzy blur. I stoked my powers just as something very fast and solid connected with my nose, knocked me clean off my feet, and sent me soaring into a brick wall on the other end of the plaza.

I saw stars for the next several seconds as I slumped against the wall; a few of its bricks had dislodged from the impact. Once my vision cleared, I could see Stoner about 20 feet away; his fist, still raised from sucker-punching me; his expression, filled with hate and anger; and his eyes, glowing.

Michael

Wow, I thought. That… felt… so good! I’d been wanting to deck Ray like that for years! He sat there, blood seeping out his nose. I hope I broke it.

“Whoa, did you see that?” a girl said behind me.

A few other gasps and whispers spread through the group. “He's Orion.” It was Chase Whipple.

A twinge of nervousness pulled at my chest. I turned around and stared at the crowd of about fifty students.

“Two freaks?” Doug Cooper said, looking perplexed.

The rain was starting to come down harder, but nobody seemed to care. They looked between me and Ray. Several of them were still filming with their phones.

They knew. They knew I was a super human. And whatever doubt they had about Ray was confirmed when he hit Coach Jones. I didn’t want to reveal my identity, but I really, really wanted to punch Ray. I couldn’t let him go anywhere near Sarah. Fortunately, I couldn’t see my sister or Zack anywhere nearby. I was entering a new world, one where everyone would know me as Michael Stone, the superhuman freak.

“Look!” Doug was pointing behind me.

Ray had made his way to his feet and was walking toward me. He wiped some of the blood off of his face and smirked at me, his eyes glowing. “Nice shot, Stoner.” I hated that nick-name. “Now it’s my turn.”

Everyone gasped, including me, when Ray’s feet left the ground and he hovered a foot above the grass. Tyler, one of Ray’s x-teammates, pointed and blurted out the obvious: “He can fly!”

“Great,” I said under my breath. Just when I thought I was as strong as Ray, he had to go and one up me. Yippee. I turned back to the crowd of students. “Get away from here!”

They didn’t need any explanation. They scattered toward the corners of the plaza, covering their heads as they went, blocking the cold rain. Lightning flashed through the sky and thunder rumbled around us. A static electrical energy pulsed through the air.

I ignored the falling rain as I surged my powers, embracing the tingling sensation underneath my skin. I felt powerful and invincible, but I’m sure Ray felt the same way as he loomed over me, his eyes glowing.

Ray bolted toward me. I surged my powers, the world slowed down, the rain drops stopped midair. I threw up my arms to cover my face, just in time to block Ray’s fist. The impact was intense, like getting hit by a jumbo jet at full speed. I soared through the air, flipping end over end until I hit the ground. I skid several yards through the grass and finally rolled to a stop.

It took several seconds for the world to stop spinning. I pushed myself up on my hands, assessing the damage. It hurt, for sure, but less than I’d expected. His punch felt just as powerful as it did when we fought a couple weeks ago—which was still plenty powerful, don’t get me wrong—but, just less than expected. I can fight him, I thought. I can beat him.

Ray

Stoner was trying to get on his feet. I wanted to make quick work of him, so I ran at him at full speed. The fire in my gut grew in intensity. He looked up at me just as my fist was about to connect with his skull. But then… he moved, dodging my punch. I stumbled forward, trying to stop my momentum and regain my footing.

I turned back at Stoner and met another fist to the nose. My head reeled backward as I cupped my nose in pain. Stoner jabbed at my chest, but I blocked it just in time. He started throwing punches high and low. I was stunned at how fast he was moving, but I was barely able to block his blows. That is, until one got through my defenses and painfully connected with my left eye. It was hard enough to knock me off my feet.

Just before slamming into another brick wall, I stretched out my arms and legs, redirecting my energy, and stopped myself midair.

I lowered myself to the ground and took a moment to reassess Michael Stone. He wasn’t the same wimpy kid I’d fought a couple weeks ago, that was for sure. I guess he never really was wimpy; he’d played sports his whole life (if you can call soccer a sport). But, with his powers, he was as strong as me now. Or was he a little stronger?

Stoner smirked at me with confidence, his eyes glowing bright. Were they brighter than before?

He pointed at my face. “Hope you enjoy the black eye.”

I scowled at him and clenched my fists. For years, Stoner had always been such a pain. It felt great to beat him up the first time, but this time I would knock him senseless, no teachers to stop me.

I burst into motion, sprinting at Stoner. He saw me coming and ran at me too. I drew back my fist and was about to throw a final blow, but instead of hitting his face, our fists connected with each other mid-swing, like two semi-trucks in a head-on collision. And then the craziest thing happened.

A burst of blinding blue light shot out between Stoner’s fist and mine. The light instantly filled the entire plaza and I was knocked back in an explosion of energy. I hit the ground hard, getting the wind knocked out of me.

I sat up just as the light dimmed slightly. Through the light I could see Stoner, with his arm still raised and his hand in a fist, as if he’d just barely noticed the light emanating from both his hands. I noticed his eyes were no longer glowing a normal white light like mine. They glowed a dark blue.

Michael

“What the…” I said out loud as I stared at my hands in shock. There was a dark blue light shooting out of my hands. Okay….

The light didn’t feel hot or cold, and it didn’t hurt at all. It… tingled. Just like the feeling in my gut. Except this tingling felt more focused, more concentrated into one area of my body—my hands.

Suddenly, the light from both hands condensed into about half a dozen tiny balls of light that floated a couple inches above my palms. I could feel the balls of light pulsing energy, as if they were additional fingers, connected to me somehow. They rotated in a ring between my hands, and then formed a shape that looked familiar. What’s going on? I thought.

The energy and tingling began to fade, and the balls of light slowly disappeared. All I could feel were the cold drops of rain landing on my hands. I was so confused with what’d just happened. I was in the middle of a fight with Ray, and then little balls of light came out of my hands. Yeah. I know. Weird.

Packs of students were bunched on the corners of the plaza. They kept their distance but inched closer to see what was going on. I could see students and teachers through the windows of the class halls, packed around the windows to get a glimpse. I felt self- conscious again about people seeing me use my powers.

Ray launched himself into the sky, flying high above the school buildings. I heard several students gasp as they watched. Ray flew directly above me. I arched my back and covered my eyes to keep the rain out of them, looking up at him. A new strategy?

He plunged from the sky, trying to stomp me into the ground. I barely dodged in time as he slammed into the grass, forming a muddy imprint. He moved a lot faster when he flew, an advantage he had on me.

He landed beside me and started throwing punches. I’m sure that to the on looking students and teachers our movements were too fast to pick up, but to me, Ray’s moves seemed just like normal. Actually, a little slower than they did before.

I blocked and dodged each of his punches and kicks. This was turning out so much better than the last time we fought. Ray was getting frustrated, angered that he couldn’t hit me. He started screaming with each punch and swinging harder, but I was still able to block them, though his blows were beginning to numb my arms.

Ray feigned a punch and caught me off balance. He lowered his shoulder and tackled me. Instead of drilling me into the ground, he lifted me high into the air. My stomach dropped to my ankles as he flew me toward the grey clouds. I tried kneeing and elbowing him, but he grappled me into a head lock. I squirmed, but couldn’t break his grasp, my vision already going blurry.

My feet dangled below me. I could see the school and most of the city far below. I yanked at Ray’s arm around my neck and tried kicking him, but he held me firm in the head lock.

Ray’s arm seemed to tighten around my throat. “They don’t teach you this in soccer practice, do they?”

I threw my head back, butting heads with Ray. He recoiled slightly, creating just enough room for me to reach his hand with my mouth and bite as hard as I could. He yelped in pain and let go of me.

And then I fell.

I guess I hadn’t thought that through very well. I dropped like a rock directly toward the school plaza. Terror gripped my heart with icy fingers. I screamed, surging my powers, feeling the tingling throughout my body, pretty sure I could survive a fall like this.

Suddenly, mid-fall, Ray grabbed my shoulders. He pushed me fast downward, with the intent to slam me into the ground. I looked up at him. He looked absolutely furious. His eyes seemed to glow brighter than before.

I tried flying. I didn’t even know if I could. My shoulders began to hurt from… from heat? His hands were burning my shoulders! I screamed in agony.

That pain was short-lived, though, until Ray crushed me into the ground. I suddenly learned what it’s like to be a waffle. Ray drilled me through the grass and a few feet into the muddy ground. If I didn’t have superpowers, I would’ve been dead meat. But, even with my superpowers, I almost felt like dying. My head swam with pain. I thought my back was broken, or at least some ribs were. I couldn’t breathe.

I saw a blurry vision of Ray above me, focusing on his hands more than on me. He crawled out of the shallow crater, screaming something about his hands.

Finally, breath entered my lungs, causing my chest to sting. I surged my powers, letting the tingling feeling course through me. It felt like it helped me to heal faster, but I didn’t know if that were true or not. It gave me enough energy, though, to sit up and crawl out of the crater.

Ray was several yards away looking at his hands. They looked like they were red hot. He turned and saw me kneeling on the ground, trying to get to my feet.

“What?” Ray shouted through gritted teeth. “Stay down!”

I stood up with a slouch, one arm around my ribs. “No!” I wish I could say that I shouted that, but honestly it was more of a whimper.

Rain drops converted to steam when they touched Ray’s red hands. Lightning flashed in the grey clouds above, blinding us all for a split second. Ray glared at me. “I said… STAY DOWN!!!!”

When he said it, the roaring thunder made his voice sound ten times louder. And his fists got so hot that they burst into huge orange flames. The fire trickled around his fists as if they were doused in gasoline. His eyes glowed a different color; a burning crimson. I’d never felt more intimidated in my life. Ray really was Draco. The Dragon.

He flung his fists at me, releasing a massive fireball. There was nothing I could do. I couldn't dodge it; my energy was spent. I could feel the searing heat from the fireball about to consume me. I didn’t know if I would survive this.

Just before the fireball hit me, a blur of color zipped in front of me. My jaw dropped as the figure faced me. Her eyes were glowing! It was... Angela?

She stretched out her arms. As she did so, her eyes turned a bright white color and giant, translucent wings burst out of nowhere, blocking the fireball from hitting us. The wings looked like glass but were obviously made out of something much more impermeable. The fire roared over us, leaving us both unharmed. As soon as the fire died out, Angela turned on Ray.

He looked as stunned as I felt. The fire on his hands snuffed out.

Angela twirled her arms around, her wings following suit. She pointed her arms at Ray and the wings swung around and walloped him much harder than I’d ever managed to punch him. He was knocked clear out of the school and possibly out of the city. Too far to see.

Angela turned back at me, letting her spooky-looking wings disappear… and scowled. I was speechless, my mouth still gaping wide open.

Before either of us could say anything, her eyes faded to their original chocolate brown color and then rolled up to the back of her head. Blood trickled out her nose, and she collapsed.