The aftermath.
Everything changed after that night.
Donald Kepler was gone. I explained what happened to Headmaster Archer and Professor Duncan, and they understood right away. I think they even expected it. Maybe Kepler told them it was going to happen since he knew the future.
They announced that Donald Kepler had died in Angel’s attack – not that he was stuck outside of the universe.
A statue of him was even put up right behind Brock and Angel.
Brock took my place as ultimate hero of the academy, which I was totally cool with. He was, in fact, the one who saved everyone’s lives by turning back to stone. His sacrifice touched the lives of all of us.
Angel’s attack affected students differently. Half were more hard-core about honing their powers to defend themselves, while the other half just wanted to protect themselves from, well, themselves.
The attack messed up Penny the most. She said nothing was wrong, but it was obvious that she was afraid of becoming Angel. She even cut off all the strings on her ukulele.
Arnold and Noah were fine.
Sort of.
Arnold got his teeth fixed by the nurse with her healing power. But something was different about him. He was quieter. More of a loner. He hasn’t bothered me once since then.
And then there’s Noah.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t snuff out the fire on top of his head. Looks awesome – not so practical.
The worst part? He won’t be allowed to go home over the summer.
He was all, ‘No big deal,’ to everyone else, but I’m the only one who saw him cry because of it.
All in all, we were lucky.
Nobody was killed by the explosion in Lost Nation. Angel’s blast was strongest where she stood, so everything within half a block of her was crumbs while everything past that was just rattled like a small earthquake.
A few people were injured, but nothing a short hospital visit couldn’t fix.
The Lost Nation Police Department reported the explosion as accidental. No foul play suspected.
Coach Lindsay disappeared.
TBH, I hope he got away.
He was the kind of villain who wasn’t really a villain. He just made poor decisions because of his love for his sister.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that heroes and villains aren’t as night and day as I thought.
Kepler’s decision to change history gave a sad ending to a lot of people, but he did it to save the world.
Abigail only wanted to help humanity with her power.
Even Angel just wanted her brother and her body back.
The only one acting selfish and stupid this year … was me.
Was I the bad guy in my sequel?
I took all my stat cards, scribbled out the weaknesses section, and then hand-delivered them to their owners along with a short ‘I’m sorry for being a wad’ speech.
It didn’t erase my mistake, but it was a start.
Millie forgave me, so that was cool.
She wasn’t a fan anymore.
She was a friend.
The biggest bummer was that I was done at the academy. Headmaster Archer told me I wouldn’t be attending eighth grade there. It was my consequence for stealing Project Blackwood and giving it to Angel. And also, like, the million other rules I broke while I was a student.
But the good news? My mind wasn’t going to be wiped. I’d remember everything. The school. My friends. My adventures.
Headmaster Archer said he hated the idea of wiping minds. He considered it a policy of the old leadership and felt it was time for change.
One thing was for sure.
Kepler Academy was never going to be the same.