It should have been pleasant to be here again, treading the smooth, concrete grounds, the silvery-grey walls shining brilliantly around them, with the tantalizing smell of breakfast thickening the early morning air as students gathered across the campus, talking merrily about their own exploits over the course of the holidays. But it was as far from pleasant as it could be.

The moment Alec stepped out of his Dorm and into the schoolyard, many of the students quieted, looking around at him. He had thought he'd gotten used to the blank, penetrating stares by now, but this time seemed almost as bad as when he'd first arrived, if not worse. Back then he had been "the new kid," a stranger to the personal world of Heroics. He had been nothing more than an outsider looking in; but then, because of one man's ruthlessness, he had been roughly thrust into the world of powers and secret identities.

The students had looked at him with curiosity and awe — someone who, by all standards, had been completely normal until a mere three days before, obliterating an entire section of the city and taking out one of the most notorious Villains of modern history all at once.

But now the stares were much more serious, suspicious even. He had heard the reasons why from Javon that morning, who was far more friendly with the rest of their Dormmates than he was. Apparently, they had been the highest-touched subject of gossip during dinner, and in the small period before bed in which most students spent their time in the common room.

Students from all three Dorms, of all grades and popularity statuses, had come together to share every scrap of news they had obtained about the attack: who had been on board the ship, when and where it had taken place, who their pursuers had been, all trying to fill in the enormous gaps in the story with heavily embellished points of their own. And, of course, the million dollar questions: what made them so interesting that an entire band of supervillains would have tried to intercept them as they headed back to the island, and whether or not they could be sure they hadn't been followed.

It was a difficult question to answer. They had certainly arrived at Helix with no one else in sight, but there were far too many variables to say that nobody else had been around with complete surety. A multitude of Villains could have followed, invisible or underwater, for instance. But, as no reports had been made of attracting any unwanted attention, Alec could only assume this was not the case.

He strode through the winding crowd, trying to ignore the way his skin prickled uncomfortably under the glares he was receiving from all angles. And soon, as he was passing the Poseidon Dorm, someone fell into step beside him.

It was Reya. Her long blond hair was caught up in a tight ponytail, the purple flecks glinting. She was holding something to her chest with both arms. Judging by the shape, it was a book, rather large and thick, and wrapped in a black leather covering.

"Oh, hi, I —" Alec began, relieved to see a friendly face, but she cut him off with an urgent whisper.

"Meet us in the Science Lab on the other side of the school, after you pick up your breakfast."

She elaborated no further, darting off the moment she had finished speaking. Alec stared after her, stunned, until her mane of blond hair had faded into the depths of the crowd. At that point he remembered that everyone was staring at him. He sped up, avoiding eye contact, and hurried into the cafeteria. Within fifteen minutes the lines had dwindled enough for him to collect his food and he rushed out of the room, the eyes of everyone inside upon his back.

Most classes the first-years had were kept on the right side of the school, near the Dorms. The Science Lab that Reya had told him about was on the left side, a few blocks away from the Garden that they visited during Health Class to collect medicinal herbs, and where the older students were housed.

A few of the upper-school kids were straggling along the corridors, but he blitzed past them, giving them no opportunity to question him, for unlike their lower-school counterparts some of them were certainly bold enough to try. A few minutes later he skidded to a halt outside a polished wooden door, painted a pale purple, on the second floor beyond a flight of stairs. There were hushed and urgent voices issuing from inside. Alec pushed it open and found the room in near total darkness. The lights were off and the windows were closed, but he could make out some very familiar shapes in the upper lefthand corner of the room. All of them swiveled around at his entrance, looking apprehensive.

"It's me," Alec said. He closed the door and wound his way through the narrow gaps between the long, cream tables, stretching sideways through the room. A faint smell of chemicals stained the air.

He came to a halt on the other side of the table, beside Reya and Ethan, and set his tray down on the table. On the other side were Charlie, Javon, Maddison, and Katrina, whose eyes were rather red.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I couldn't stay in the lunch room," said Katrina, whose voice was quite steady despite her appearance. "Everyone keeps staring at me, or coming up to offer their 'condolences.' Who are they kidding? I know they just want to know what happened, but they don't want to ask outright so they don't sound insensitive."

"But everyone already does know," Alec said, biting into a chicken leg. "We heard that they were all talking about it last night. They know we were attacked on our way here."

"Yes, but they don't know why," Maddison told him. "But they're desperate to find out, believe me. The worst part has to be those horrible rumours though."

"What do you mean?"

She hesitated, looking suddenly apprehensive, as did everyone else. "What did you hear?" she said cautiously.

"Only what Javon told me," he said, looking at her suspiciously. He felt a stab of exasperation. Judging by the abrupt shifts in their expressions, there was no doubt these rumours were related to him in particular. "Why? What's wrong?"

She exchanged a quick glance with the others, then said, "They also know that you were attacked at your home."

"What? How could they —?"

"Oh, use your brain, will you?" she said impatiently. "We've told you, most of the kids here are Heroes' kids. They have family ties in the League. They hear stuff most people wouldn't."

Like Damon, Alec thought bitterly.

"Everyone knows that Shadow Shifter and Imrys showed up at your house. They have a pretty accurate guess as to why. But the major topic on everyone's mind is how. How did they know where you live?"

"Their guess is as good as mine." Alec shrugged. "What do they think the answer is?"

Another slight, awkward pause. The thought seemed too uncomfortable to even share. Before Alec could demand to hear, Ethan spoke up for the first time.

"Oh for the love of — they think someone close to you leaked the information," he said bluntly. "There, was that so hard?"

A ringing silence fell. Everyone was glaring at Ethan, the harshness of their eyes a silent reproach for his lack of tact. Alec, as they all predicted, was taken aback.

"You — you mean like my friends?" he spluttered. "My family?"

"None of us actually believe that," Reya said quickly, in a transparent attempt to alleviate the situation. "They're just —"

"How could they think that?" Alec demanded, his shock quickly turning to outrage. "My parents would never — they wanted this even less than I did —!"

"They don't mean your folks," Charlie said quietly.

"Then who . . ." Alec's eyes widened as it finally came to him. "Hartley," he said in a resigned voice. "It's him, isn't it?" None of them corrected him, which was all the answer he needed. "Hartley's a good guy, a friend —"

"Yeah, we know that, but they don't," said Javon. "You know, nobody's ever really seen Hartley around? He's supposed to be Headmistress Lewis's assistant, but he's rarely on campus. Pretty strange to have a personal attendant not even on the same island as the person they work for."

"And from their point of view, it fits," Katrina said. "Everyone knows that he went home with you for the break, they saw you leaving on the Hydraloop with him. Plus they know that he was the one flying us back to school when we were attacked two days ago."

"So . . . so what, they think he's secretly a Villain? Or that he's working with them?"

"They think he's shady," Ethan said. "Everything about him is shrouded in mystery. You know he used to go here? Back in the day. People were talking, said they asked around and none of their parents or older siblings can remember anything about him from when they were here."

"So he's a private person, doesn't mean he's evil."

"I don't think anyone actually suspects that he did it," Maddison said. "I think they're still trying to make sense of the whole thing and he just makes a very convenient target to paint as the culprit."

Alec didn't say anything. He sat there, seething in silence. He knew Hartley wouldn't have betrayed him like this, but how he knew, he couldn't possibly say. Explaining about their shared exploits would land too many people in trouble.

"It'll blow over," Katrina said gently. "You've seen how this place is, gossip dies down in about a couple days. A week or two if it's particularly spicy."

"I think it's the ocean air," Charlie said seriously. "Fogs up everyone's heads."

"Besides, Tony'll be out soon," Katrina said. "Once he's no longer in the Med Wing, they'll stop speculating about what could have happened to cause him to be in there for so long. When they see that he's completely fine, their interest will be piqued and they'll move on to new topics. For people with such complicated powers, they're awfully simple-minded. Just let them air themselves out."

Alec heaved a deep sigh. "Fine. What's with the book anyway?" he added to Reya.

She looked confused for a moment, but then remembered the large wrapped book she had set down on her side of the table. "Oh, this. It's called The Book of Kardis. It's one of my mom's. I told her I wanted to do some light reading, but really I'm going to try to do some more research on Atropos and see what else I can find out about these Cores."

"I'm going to hit the library at lunchtime too," Maddison said. "There must be something we missed. The school is heavily based on Greek culture. I'm sure there's more about it."

"Then I guess we'd better get to class for the time being," Charlie said, rising, as the bell rang in the distance.

"I didn't even remember to look at my schedule this morning," Alec said, with another huge sigh. "What do we have?"

"Gym," said Ethan, grinning. "Triple period. Plenty of time for you to wreck the field again."

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The new playfield was certainly an improvement over the last. At first glance it appeared more or less the same: a vast, rectangular patch of lush, evenly cut grass that extended over one and a half acres, with various markings across the surface like the ones that would normally be used in mundane sports. However, Alec knew that there was far more to it — or underneath it.

The Gym Teacher, Professor Elliott, was standing at the edge of the field waiting for them all. He was dressed in a white cotton shirt tucked into a very short pair of turquoise shorts, with the Helix crest on his breast pocket, a whistle hanging over his chest, and a tablet in his hands that Alec suspected was to manipulate the field. He blew his whistle to herd them along faster.

"Come on, come on, we don't have all day!" he roared. "Gotta break in this new field — er, break it in, that is, not break it," he added, with a shifty look at Alec, who exhaled through his nose.

"Now I know it's your first day back and you're probably expecting a nice, relaxing lesson," he said warmly, smiling around at them all, and there was a murmur of agreement. "Well then you'd be wrong!" he barked, with an abrupt return to his usual manner. "We are here to work, and work we shall! Today's task will be a simple one," he continued, ignoring the groans and moans from the crowd. "There are three parts to it. One" — he held up a finger — "an obstacle course. You will be required to make your way past a series of obstacles, and into the forest." He jerked his head at the sea of trees swaying behind them.

"Two." He held up another finger. "You will then search for one of these." He held up a large, mechanical ball with a glowing red center. It was similar to the ones that served as attack drones, also a personal favourite for Professor Elliott. "Inside each orb is the location of a possible victim, and the details of the danger they're in, as well as a little surprise for an upcoming lesson." He gave a roguish grin, which obviously did not bode well for them. "The third task is to then find and rescue your victim.

"You have forty five minutes to clear the obstacle course, thirty to find the ball, and twenty to find and safely secure your hostage."

There was an instant uproar of incredulous shouts and groans, which Alec joined in on.

"Twenty minutes —" "But that's the hardest part —!"

"And I was being generous!" bellowed Professor Elliott. "This is a controlled simulation, with zero actual stakes! There's none of this in real life! No do-overs, no washing it off as 'it was just a test'! No, you work with whatever time you get, and if you fail, people die! That's what it means to be a Hero. Now I know that not everyone here has their sights on a career at the League, but as long as you're in this class, you will complete whatever task is expected of you, no exceptions!"

He glared at them all, his eyes turning from student to student to student, as if waiting for more rebuttals, but none came. They had all fallen silent. Now he smiled again, looking satisfied.

"Good. Now, separate yourselves. You will advance in your respective squads. In addition to the obstacles inside the maze, you will also have a small group of my personal snipers going around as well. If you receive their mark, it's an instant disqualification. You will be ejected from the maze and your team will be marked down. Any team whose members are all disqualified will fail the assignment entirely, along with those teams who are without a hostage once the time is up. Oh, and did I mention that there are only seven hostages in total?" he added innocently.

"What?" everyone shouted in unison, panicking again.

Professor Elliott let out an evil laugh amid the upsurge of noise again.

"Whoops! My mistake!" And he jabbed a button on his tablet. There was a great clattering noise; the ground rumbled as if another earthquake were passing through, and then they were going down, sinking into the earth as silver walls shot up around them. Within seconds, the sunlight had disappeared, the sky replaced by a metallic ceiling, and every other student had been blocked from sight by towering metal walls.

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"He's insane!" Javon said furiously. "How is he still employed?!"

"There's no doubting he's insane," Maddison said calmly, looking around. "But he is just doing his job. He's right, we'll encounter far worse in the future, whether we're in the League or not. This is just practice. Either way, we have work to do." She pointed to the top of the dome, where the numbers 44:39 were shining mere centimeters from the top, like a kind of odd, string-less chandelier, steadily counting down.

"This is obviously a maze," said Maddison. "We'll have to find our way out before the timer strikes zero."

"So which way do we go then?" Javon asked, his voice still rather snippy.

Ethan shrugged. "I don't know. Just pick one. Left or right."

"Absolutely not," Maddison said sharply. "Are you forgetting this is a graded assignment? Would you have just picked a direction if this was a real life hostage situation?"

"Probably, yeah," Ethan said nonchalantly. "If there was no other clue to work with, then —"

"There are clues," she said. "You just don't know what to look for. Come on, let's try this way." She pointed dead ahead.

"How do you know it's that way?" Ethan asked, folding his arms.

She ignored him. "Let's go, there's no telling what that crazy old man put in here to stop us."

They sighed, then followed. Last time they had been under the playfield had been during the dead of night, in an earthen tunnel dimly lit by torches while they worked to escape, all the while desperately trying to avoid the attention of their older school peers and teachers. Now they strode through shining, futuristic-looking corridors, separated from one another by corrugated metal walls, illuminated by long overhead lamps.

Left, right, straight, then left again they walked. It was odd, but nothing happened. The paths remained entirely clear the whole time they moved.

"Is it just me," Alec said, no longer able to hold his silence, "or is this obstacle course not very obstacle-y?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud plunking sound filled the corridor, as if someone had just leapt off a dive board. Ethan stumbled as his foot sank deeper into the ground, into the space left by what appeared to be a trick tile, and before anyone could move to help him, there was a sharp whistling sound as if something were crossing the air.

"Get down!" Maddison yelled.

Alec dove forward, tackling Ethan around the midriff and pushing him to the floor, as Maddison and Javon slid down beside him. A swarm of darts, no doubt full of paralytics or, knowing Professor Elliott, something far more deadly, sailed overhead like a hive of angry bees. He heard them embed themselves into the wall with many sinister thwacks, then after a few moments, when the danger seemed to have passed, he slowly rose to his feet, looking around apprehensively.

"You just had to ask," Ethan said, glaring at him from the floor.

"Hey, you're the one who tripped the trap, you know."

"No, this is good," Maddison said. "It means we're heading in the right direction. There wouldn't be a need to put traps in a place where nothing valuable would be, right?"

"Wait, that's how you knew where to go?" Alec said, as realization struck him. "You didn't? You just wanted us to walk around aimlessly until we were attacked to find out which path had the actual traps?"

"I told you," she said composedly, dusting herself off, "there are always clues, if you know what to look for. Let's keep going." And ignoring their looks of indignation, she broke into a trot, hurrying off down the leftmost path. The boys followed, all throwing dirty looks at her back and muttering scandalously.

They were allowed to keep going straight for another two minutes before they encountered something else, but somehow, this didn't feel very threatening.

"What is that?" Javon asked, looking bemused, staring at a puddle of thick green goo that had obscured most of the path ahead.

"Acid, most likely," Ethan said in a resigned voice.

"No, it's too thick," Maddison said, observing the substance carefully. "Looks like regular slime."

"Trap gone bad?" Alec said hopefully.

"Or already tripped. . . ." Maddison looked thoughtful, almost suspicious. "Well, just to be safe." She fashioned a new knife from her wrist and threw it into the puddle. They watched it for a few seconds, but it did not fizz or show any signs of melting.

"The verdict, Your Honour?" Ethan said, sounding bored.

"I suppose it's safe, but still . . ." Maddison was still squinting suspiciously at it, as if determined to find something wrong with it.

"Good enough for me."

Ethan strutted forward, directly into the puddle, and for a moment nothing happened. Alec began to follow, but there came an instant cry from ahead. Ethan had frozen, ankle-first, in the puddle.

"I can't move!" he shouted. "What is this, super glue?"

Despite the severity of the situation, Alec had to suppress the urge to laugh. "Hold on, we'll get you out —" A small movement in the corner of his eyes alerted him. Alec looked up and saw someone hanging from the ceiling, just like the Villainess Imrys had done in his home the previous morning. For one heartstopping moment he thought it was actually her; that Helix had been infiltrated as they had feared. But then he saw the school crest imposed on a silver and blue shirt, and realized it was a girl from the Poseidon Dorm.

"What are you —?" he began. But puddles of goo began to fall from the ceiling like bombs, splattering over the ground.

"Fall back!" Maddison shrieked. No one needed telling twice. The remaining three sped around the nearest corner as slime exploded behind them, showering the walls.

"Great, super fly trap," Javon said. "At least this one isn't lethal."

"No, there was a girl up there, from Poseidon!" Alec said. "She was on the ceiling!"

"What?" Maddison looked shocked for only a second. The surprise instantly gave way to a look of mingled anger and comprehension. "Of course! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Mind filling us in too?"

"Later!" Her eyes had widened. She ducked out of the way, shoving Alec aside as she went. He and Javon toppled over as another slime bomb exploded on the wall, but this time they weren't as lucky. Ooze struck Alec's shoulder, and as he sat up, his shirt grazed against the wall. Within an instant, he was trapped, helpless like an insect stuck to flypaper.

Javon leaned forward, seized a bundle of his shirt, and wrenched with all his might, but it made no difference. Alec waved him away. "No, stop, you'll just end up stuck too!" he said, gesturing at the slime all over his body. "I'll get myself out, just get rid of her!"

Maddison leapt around the corner, sailing knives at the ceiling, while slime pelted at her from above. Soon she disappeared from Alec's line of sight, but judging by the screams and grunts of anger and effort, Alec could guess she was getting closer to her mark. Javon too sped around around the corner, presumably to help Ethan, who was still flailing around in the pool of slime, and Alec began to struggle against the wall again. It was no use. The small amount of slime pinned him to the wall as effectively as if he had been nailed there with metal stakes. He stuck his free hand out behind him, probing for a piece of wall or ground that was still free of slime, and absorbed the shining metal. He renewed his efforts to separate himself from the wall, but even his strength, augmented by the Earth Mimicry, wasn't enough to pull him free.

"Son of a —" he began furiously. Then he stopped himself. Think, he told himself, taking a deep breath. As quickly as he could, he reviewed his encounter with the Light Elemental, Proxima Venus, in his mind.

Something she had said must be able to help now. What had she taught him? Gravity? Magnetism? Moulding the earth — leylines! The energy that roiled in hidden channels beneath the earth's surface. He clamped his hand down on the ground again, feeling for the prickle of electricity that he had felt last time. . . . It was faint, very faint — possibly because of the numerous mechanical levels spread out through the building — but he found it at last.

"Come on, come on," he muttered desperately. It was spiraling slowly upwards, like water trying to force itself through a garden hose when the pressure was low.

And then it was there. It reached his fingertips first, sparking through his fingers so that he felt at first as if he had stuck them in a damaged socket. But then the pain turned at once into a feeling of elation, of sheer euphoria. It was like a drug, filling him, warming every cell of his body. He channeled it outwards through his metallic skin and it flared through the slime, which evaporated in a cloud of poison-green steam.

Alec leapt up, feeling triumphant, rejuvenated, and looked around. Maddison had disappeared, but the girl she had been fighting was still on top of one of the banisters, shooting slime. Distracted, she had not noticed him. He charged the energy still running through his body into his fingers and fired, aiming at her with his fingers curled into a makeshift gun and his tongue lolling out.

An energy beam blasted from his fingertips, arcing like lightning, but it was neither yellow nor white; instead it flared a vivid green, curling and undulating through the air as it soared towards its target, who turned too late.

Her body fell limply through the air and crashed onto the pavement below with a dull thud. With a howl of fury, a boy who could only be her partner came darting around the corner, charging right at him. Alec readied himself to fight back, feeling suddenly completely in the mood for a fight, but before he had even raised a fist, he felt again the sensation of being drawn into the air as if an invisible hand had taken hold of him round the middle and was heaving him away. He touched down halfway down the corridor, beside Ethan, Maddison, and Javon.

Ethan was still stuck in the puddle, but he had stopped struggling. Now he just looked annoyed.

"We have to get out of here!" Javon said. "That slime is everywhere, if we don't get out now --"

"Hang on, I can help," Alec said brightly. He leaned down to touch the ground, once again feeling for the immense store of energy settled underground. The others looked at him with utter bewilderment, but again, before anybody could speak, thunderous bangs started to echo off the walls. Maddison shrieked as a red projectile exploded inches from her ear.

"It's the snipers!" Javon shouted. They looked wildly around, but they could see no one around other than the Poseidon students from earlier, who were now scurrying towards cover. The bullets seemed to be materializing from thin air.

"We need to go!" Maddison said.

"We can't leave him!" Javon shouted back, gesturing at Ethan. But that no longer mattered. A mere second after he had spoken, Ethan's body jerked violently as something collided with his back. He swore furiously, looking around to see what had hit him, and let out a roar of exasperation as he saw the huge spot of red ink now bleeding down his back.

"I guess that's solved," Alec said lightly.

Shots were still raining down around them.

"Go! Just go!" Ethan shouted irritably. "And you better win!"

"This way," Maddison said. "I saw the exit when I was fighting the girl!"

They took off, shots of red still splattering the ground behind them. They rounded a corner and turned right, jumping across the remainder of the landscape as it crumbled underfoot. Then they turned left, where a haze of poisonous-looking smoke hung menacingly in the air. Covering their noses with their shirts, they took deep breaths and plowed through. Then after another corridor, in which they had to dodge electric wires, they reached it at last. A set of metallic bars leading up to a kind of hatch in the ceiling.

With only seconds left on the clock, they climbed as fast as they could, heaving against the hatch until it slid open and sunlight and fresh air poured into the hole.

They climbed out and flopped onto the ground, drawing deep painful breaths as they struggled to recover. The moment they had pulled out of the hatch a horn had gone off in the distance, which Alec took to mean they had successfully arrived at the site of the second task within the time limit — if only barely.

"No clocks this time," said Javon, who was first to recover. His stamina had always been most impressive.

"Why did they attack us?" Alec demanded. The sudden airiness that had overtaken him down below had faded, as if it were washed away by the sudden burst of fresh air. "When we were down there you said 'you should have known.'"

Maddison still looked as if she hadn't fully caught her breath, but after a few seconds she spoke. "There were twelve squads after we separated into groups. But Professor Elliott said there were only seven hostages."

"So only seven teams could complete the assignment," Javon said.

"Exactly. Clearly they thought that by eliminating the competition they would have a higher chance of success. I imagine those two were looking out for potential teams while the other two in their squad were searching for the exit. You know, 'divide and conquer.'"

"Hmmph. It's both devious and clever," Alec said, grudgingly impressed.

"And completely un-hero-like," said Maddison. "Elliott wouldn't be happy, even if they did end up winning." Maddison stood up and brushed off her clothes. "Come on. We've still got a ball to find."

They trudged deeper into the woods. It had been months since they had last been here. Coincidentally, they had emerged near the very place Wildfire had brought them for their first lesson. The ground still bore scorch marks from his flames, and they could see the remains of the tree Ethan had flung at him.

"Ah, good times, good times," said Javon, who seemed to be reminiscing as well. "I think that was the rock you fell and almost cracked your skull on —"

"What was that?" Maddison said suddenly, interrupting Alec's indignant retort.

A low rustling sound had emanated from the bushes beyond them. They froze, listening intently. And then — crack!

They turned in unison. Through the thicket of branches they could see a small doe ahead, her large brown eyes glinting in the early morning sunlight. It must have sensed their gazes, because it suddenly whipped around to stare at them, then moments later, it bounded off into the trees.

"I thought there were no animals in this forest?" Alec asked, an eyebrow raised.

"There aren't," Maddison said.

"So it's a clue then," Javon said excitedly.

"Most likely. Come on." Maddison took the lead once more, moving swiftly through the trees. Her hair snagged on a branch, but she merely cut off the tangled lock with another of her bone knives and forged ahead, her attention still focused completely on the path ahead, absently catching up her hair in a ponytail. They had been walking for several minutes, no doubt having lost the trail, when Javon suddenly whisper-shouted: "There it is!" and pointed to their right. The doe was resting under a large apple tree, which was bursting with apple blooms.

"Nice score, I'm starving," Alec said.

Maddison held out a hand to hold him back. "A lot of this island is artificial, remember? Besides, you just had breakfast!" she said scandalously.

"I have a high metabolism." He shrugged.

"Okay, can we save this for later?" Javon said. "The doe's right in front of us, how do we catch it?"

"Maybe Maddison can shoot it down with a crossbow — I'm kidding, kidding!" Alec said hastily, as they both looked around at him in disbelief. "What if I just trap it with a rock collar?"

"It could work," Maddison said. "But you'd need to be very careful. If you miss you'll scare it off and we may never find it again —"

Bang!

Red fluid exploded off the tree to their immediate right, tiny droplets spattering their faces.

"Not them again!" Alec said exasperatedly, as they dove to take cover.

Crimson bullets rained down on the trees and in the clear space ahead of them, keeping them pinned firmly in place. Strangely enough, though the doe had immediately taken flight at the sight of them, it seemed completely unperturbed by the multitude of explosive bangs echoing around them. It simply lay in place, chewing grass. Perhaps it was really artificial after all.

Or maybe the tree was distorting its perception in some way. . . . No, that wasn't likely. It was . . . but Alec suddenly paused. His eyes had been absently raking the tree, trying to determine whether or not it was mechanical, and they had grazed over something that certainly counted as odd.

One of the apples had a strange gleam about it, almost like the sheen of a freshly polished floor, or a new appliance. . . . The red too seemed deeper than any of the others around it. . . . Alec squinted. . . .

"No way," he breathed.

"What?" Maddison said, as bullets continued to hail around them like scarlet raindrops.

"I can see the ball!"

"Where?"

He pointed at the cluster of apples hanging on one of the lowermost branches. There it was, slightly larger than those around it and a shade darker, nestled comfortably between several real apples, a perfect hiding spot.

"I'll get it," Maddison said, but the moment she moved another pellet thwacked the trunk of her tree.

"No, they've got you pinned. The second you step out you're down. You two draw their fire, I'll get it down. . . . Now!"

They leapt into action. Maddison turned at once, fashioning a boomerang in her hands, and sailed it around her tree. There was a howl of pain from behind them, which told them plainly she had hit her mark. As she and Javon darted to the side, Alec jumped to his feet, hurrying towards the tree. He had no idea how he was going to bring it down, but he brainstormed as he ran.

He could fashion a hand of stone and use it to pluck the fake apple. No, that would require too much concentration, and he couldn't afford to stand still for even two seconds. He dove aside as yet more red bullets rained, rolling into the grass, and he pulled up a small wall of stone that he ducked behind.

He could uproot the tree, he thought, bring the apples down to the ground . . . No, that would cause unnecessary destruction, which Elliott would undoubtedly mark them down for, plus they risked destroying the ball.

"Why is it so hard to get one stupid apple from a tree?" he roared in frustration. And as the words came out of his mouth, he remembered, from science classes that felt as if he had taken them a lifetime ago, the story of one Isaac Newton.

"I really am an idiot, aren't I?"

Alec readjusted himself on the floor so that he had a good view of the tree, then rubbed his hands together, taking short, shallow breaths. He slapped his hands down on the floor and concentrated on the bunch he was targeting, focusing with all his might to get it down.

At first nothing happened. But then, as the gravity beneath the tree intensified, branches began to sway like they'd been caught in a high wind. Then they bent, as if an invisible hand had pulled them roughly downwards. The branch suddenly broke off with a rough snap and came sailing down to the earth, where apples went rolling all over. The doe looked around in mild curiosity, as if the situation were rather entertaining to it. Alec's eyes flitted from fruit to fruit, scouring the ground for the artificial gleam. He found it at last skittering away towards the clump of trees he had just escaped from. He curled his hand into a fist and pulled it backwards as if tugging on a rope; in response, the earth shifted underneath the ball, sending it zooming towards him on a mound of dirt.

"I got it!" he cried triumphantly, holding up the ball.

Suddenly everything stopped. Where seconds ago red bullets had been falling like some sort of contaminated raindrops, the ground was clear and the air was silent. Maddison and Javon came forward, Maddison holding a spear and small shield soaked in red like a gladiator, shooting anxious glances into the treetops.

"I got it!" Alec repeated. "But why did they stop firing?"

"I think they're supposed to draw back once you complete the task," Maddison said. Though they had completed the task, she didn't look happy at all. "Then they move on to the next crew."

"Well let's go then, while they torment someone else."

"I can't." Maddison spoke the words as if they caused her physical pain to say.

"Why not? We've got the —"

"Look!" Maddison turned, pointing roughly at her back. A large red splotch stained the black of her shoulder. She wheeled around, looking angry but as if she was trying to calm herself. "I can't go forward. You two have to find the hostage. Don't argue," she added as Alec opened his mouth to do just that. "We'll be marked down since that's two of us now, but we can still secure one of the hostages. Go!" she urged them. "And make sure I don't have to spend an extra hour in the Laundry room scrubbing this out for nothing."

Alec nodded. Javon turned towards the ball as Maddison disappeared into the trees, heading for the playfield. Alec, struck with a newfound determination, pressed the button in the center of the sphere and it split open.

Inside were four things: a plain silver packet the size of a chocolate bar, a stopwatch with a running timer, an oddly shaped emerald-green key, and a small round device with an arrow pointing directly into the trees behind them — an electronic compass.

"Let's go," Alec said to Javon. The two dashed off. With only three minutes and some seconds left on the clock, they tore through the woods, leaping over protruding roots, dodging around tree trunks, and ducking beneath low-hanging branches as they followed the blinking arrow. By the time they got to their destination, a small clearing, little over a minute remained.

But their troubles were not yet over. Directly ahead of them, the hostage, a plain, rather ugly-looking mannequin, was hanging over a small river of a deep blue, completely still liquid. It was like a pool of molten sapphire.

"What is that thing?" Alec asked.

"Cryogenic compound," Javon said promptly. "Which at least explains this." He picked up the silver packet and bit the end, shaking out some crystals of a pale yellow substance into his palm. He moved closer to the lake and tossed the powder inside; the moment it fell in, a patch of the fluid froze into a solid, icy white carapace.

"If we touch the surface we'll be frozen solid in an instant. But this is a compound that neutralizes the cryogen, forces it into a harmless block of ice. But it doesn't last long, and I doubt there's enough to get across and back."

Alec looked down at the stopwatch, then back at the river and the hostage hanging above it.

"I have an idea."

"Which is?"

Alec knelt down, putting his hand on a boulder that jutted out of the earth beside them. The stone was cool to the touch, and as his finger rested on it, the yellowish brown stone seeped over his skin like a suit, semi-solid and flexible, extending over him and soldifying in place until he was wrapped head to foot in a glistening coat identical to the boulder.

He dropped the stopwatch in Javon's hand, swiped the packet, and pushed his arms forward, fists poised at the ground. He felt as if his fingers were actually touching the rock, felt the resistance as he tried to pull it apart.

With a grunt of effort, he pulled up a huge chunk of earth, then leapt on top of it and willed it forward into the freezing sea. The platform touched down at once with a loud plunk, and the sapphire lake splashed over the base of the earthen raft. The moment it made contact, flakes of ice began to creep over it.

Alec pushed forward, paddling the block of rock along with his powers, sailing across the unnaturally smooth surface. By the time he had reached the mannequin, the frost had completely covered the block and was creeping up his feet. He leapt into the air, grabbing at the mannequin's bare feet, and hung on for dear life. In hindsight, he probably should have spent a few more seconds on his plan.

"Thirty five seconds!" came Javon's urgent voice.

Whatever the mannequin was hanging from, it was certainly not ordinary rope. Alec liquidized the stone on his palms; dollops of rock peeled off of his hands and gathered together in front of him, moulding as if invisible hands were gently shaping it, the image of a small rotating fan clear in his mind. Then he hardened it. The fan's blades began to whir at Alec's mental command, spinning like a heavy-duty saw, and Alec used it to slash at the cord, hacking away at the bindings.

Then finally, it snapped. Cord, mannequin, and Alec alike all tumbled towards the icy sea. The yellow powder in the packet sprinkled into the blue fluid, freezing over the surface, and Alec crashed onto the platform, while the mannequin's feet splashed into the water, turning at once into a block of ice.

"Hurry!" Javon yelled. Alec tore back down the path, haphazardly sprinkling the yellow powder into the pool so that a clear path of ice appeared in front of him as he ran. But in his haste, he used the contents quite inadequately, and found himself holding an empty wrapper much too soon. He waded the remaining distance through the pool, feeling the cold piercing through his armour like a knife, as the rock turned smoothly into ice. Then Javon's hands grabbed his own and heaved him towards solid earth.

Alec crashed onto dry land just in time to hear another horn blaring and a coarse, harsh voice bellowing through hidden speakers, "TIME!"