11:15 p.m.
Lost Nation.
My Act 2 started with a single step through Joel’s portal into the Kepler garage in Lost Nation.
The garage was dark.
‘Where is everyone?’ Penny asked.
‘We should go back,’ I said.
‘This whole thing was your idea,’ Penny snapped.
‘That doesn’t make it a good one!’
‘Aw, somebody’s scared,’ Jordan said.
Millie looked at me like a worried pup.
‘I’m not scared,’ I said. ‘I’m just – we don’t know what we’re gonna find, and, like, I don’t want Millie to get hurt.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Millie said. ‘As long as you’re here, we’re all safe.’
Penny melted. ‘Yes, Ben, we’ll all be okay as long as you’re the wind beneath our wings.’
Millie nodded, not getting that the joke was on her.
We snuck out to the alley, wet from the rain. A trail of grimy footprints led to the run-down warehouse next door, where we could hear kids talking and laughing.
We didn’t want to barge right through the front door, so we quickly climbed up a rusty fire escape and slipped in through an open window.
Once inside, I realised the warehouse wasn’t a warehouse at all, but an abandoned factory that looked like a multiplayer map from Call of Duty. Years of dust covered old, rusted machinery that surrounded the empty centre of the dark building.
In that empty centre was a circle of kids wearing brightly coloured costumes. Standing before them was Dexter, decked out in the purple and yellow fabric I had seen in his backpack earlier.
‘We’re at the start of another good week,’ Dexter said. ‘We’re still under the radar, but that ain’t hard when teachers are too busy babysitting rowdy kids now that Old Man Kepler’s lost his marbles.’
Everyone laughed.
‘Just remember, these aren’t fights. This is battle training. Practising. Preparing. A real-life supervillain attacked us last year, and we were all helpless little babies, but we won’t be caught with our pants down again.’
‘Good thing Ben Braver was there to save us,’ someone said. ‘Will he be invited too?’
Dexter ground his teeth. ‘That bozo got lucky, and no, he’s not invited. True descendants of the Seven Keys only.’
It wasn’t like I was dying to join Dexter’s party, but getting singled out was still a bummer.
‘This is top secret,’ Dexter said. ‘And Braver almost wrecked it when he caught Vic and me comin’ out of the forest after tryin’ to find a place to do this.’
Vic spoke up from the circle. ‘Best thing to happen to us. This old building is way cooler than the forest.
And it’s further away from all the teachers.’
‘Welcome to the most epic secret tournament the world has ever not seen,’ Dexter said. ‘Welcome to the Power Battle.’
Everyone cheered.
Some had capes. Some even had masks.
I understood exactly what was happening.
They were training to be superheroes.
Dexter’s voice boomed. ‘For our first match of the night – Balloon Boy versus Death Bunny!’
If I wanted to get a closer look, I’d have to crawl out on one of the catwalks, but first I needed a disguise. Luckily, I had a secret mask in case of emergencies.
A boy and a girl took the centre of the circle and powered up. The boy stuck his thumb into his mouth and blew like he was blowing up a balloon. He huffed and puffed until his fist was the size of a beach ball.
‘Go easy, dude!’ Vic warned him. ‘You don’t wanna make yourself explode!’
The girl fell onto her hands and knees, transforming in front of everyone. Her clothes ripped off, and white fur replaced the skin all over her body as she grew into a buffalo-size bunny with red eyes and sharp teeth.
‘I wanna pat that!’ Penny gasped.
‘I hope she’s got extra clothes,’ Millie said.
Death Bunny’s roar shook the windows as she charged at Balloon Boy.
He jumped out of the way and then swung his balloon fist into the side of Death Bunny’s face. But the adorable beast wasn’t even fazed.
She head-butted Balloon Boy, who went flying through the wall of students behind him.
Death Bunny pounded across the factory at ramming speed.
I couldn’t believe how hard-core the battle was. Neither one of them was holding back.
Balloon Boy flipped onto his feet, blew his fist even bigger, and swung his arm in circles like he was winding up a punch.
He nailed the furry white monster with an uppercut that sent her through the air, on a crash course for the catwalk I was hiding on.
Of course.
Everyone looked up just as Death Bunny tore through the catwalk, sending the whole thing falling to the centre of their circle.
Kids dived out of the way as I hurtled face-first towards the ground.
Vic stopped me midair before I kissed the concrete. She flipped me right side up and kept me floating with my feet just above the ground.
Whispers came from the crowd.
‘Where’d Ben Braver come from?’
‘What’s Ben Braver doing here?’
They said it just like that, too.
Not just Ben, but Ben Braver.
My whole name.
Dexter met me face-to-underwear-covered-face.
‘You forget how undies work?’ he asked.
‘No. It’s my disguise.’
‘And you just happened to have an extra pair of underwear with you?’
I thought very carefully before answering that question. ‘… Yes,’ I said. ‘Yes, I did.’
‘You’re like a fly that won’t buzz off!’ Dexter said.
‘It’s hard for a fly to buzz off when there’s a steaming pile of turd in front of him!’ I said, my mouth talking before my brain gave it permission.
Dexter fumed, but Vic put her hand on his shoulder.
‘Dude,’ she said. ‘He’s in the circle.’
A smile curled on Dexter’s face. ‘For our second match of the night …’
