How to Save Someone: 101

Mark: Superheroes

"All right, fresh meat, listen up!" The class of fourteen-year-olds quickly stopped their talking and turned their attention to me. "I'm going to separate you into two groups. Listen for your name," I cleared my throat as I looked at my piece of paper of names. "Ben, Nolan, Bella, Loren, and Kai on the left." Five students shuffled to the left, the boys high fiving each other. "That leaves Hailey, Ginger, Nick, Danny, and Lucia on the right." The last group made their way over to the right wall. 

I stood between the two groups and pressed a few buttons on my watch to start the simulation. "Stay where you are," I warned the class as the walls collapsed around us revealing a simulation tree forest. "We will be playing catch the flag. Each team has three flags and a home base behind their flags. First team that makes it to their home base with all three of the other team's flags wins. On each of your school watches, you will get alerts when your flags have been captured and when a flag is at the other teams home base. You cannot steal a flag after it reaches home base, but you can steal it back from the person as they are trying to make it to their home base. Any questions?"

A girl on the left with dark hair to her chin and towered over the other girls in her class raised her hand. "How much can we use our powers?"

I flung my hands over my head. "Use as much as you want! Just don't kill anyone, okay? You have five minutes to come up with a plan." I pressed my "home" button on my watch, and my door opened up behind it. "I'll be watching," I called as I walked back into the gym, and the door to the class cube closed.

The class cube was created for virtual reality. You could create anything inside the cube. A forest, a snowy mountain, a deserted (or not so deserted) island, a hurricane, and even a blizzard. But on the outside, I could make the cube as small as I needed without affecting those inside. I could also use any of the four sides as a camera to view any area inside the cube.

"Isn't this thing cool?" I asked Rosalie as she quietly took her spot beside me, sipping from her hot coffee cup.

"Wow. Yeah, this is amazing!" She gazed up at the wall with me as it switched from scenery shots to views of the class making their plans. A countdown until the start of the game displayed at the top.

"I was going to wait for you before we started, but I wanted to make sure they had enough time."

Her dark curls glided along her arms as she shook her head. She pushed her glasses up her nose as she watched the wall. "No, of course. A junior proved to his pack of stupid friends that he couldn't feel pain by slamming his locker door on his hand." She rolled her eyes.

"Could he feel it?"

"Nope. But his hand was still battered anyway." I chuckled and shook my head. Rosalie's head snapped to me. She glared at me with her forest green eyes. "Don't laugh. You drank fifteen cups of espresso in one day your sophomore year so you could punch a hole through the brick wall of the gym. Then passed out in my mom's office and didn't wake up for two days!"

"Ah, those were the days," I sighed. "Now it would take me a hundred of those little cups for me to pass out in your mom's office."

Rosalie laughed as she sipped from her mug. "Oh, it's starting." The alarm blared signaling the start of the game.

The girl from earlier that raised her hand, Loren, started off the game with creating fog in the forest. Her group took off in seperate directions. The camera skipped to the other side of the forest where Hailey handed her team little vials of yellow liquid. They each downed it before Lucia stepped into a teleportation rift that lead her straight to the other side of the forest, right in front of one of the other team's flags. She walked right up to the flag, grabbed it, and handed it to Hailey in her home base. 

"Team B captured flag one," the AI voice stated over the intercom. 

Before Lucia could create another portal to another flag, a black shadow stepped through her previous rift. "Sneaky," the monster seethed through its teeth slowly. The monster screamed, sending Lucia and Hailey flying through the forest. Lucia created a rift behind herself, sending her to a soft spot in the forest. Hailey continued through the forest, speeding straight for one of the largest trees in the forest. She barreled straight into Danny's arms who appeared right behind her, in front of the tree. He gently glided them back down to the ground and placed Hailey's feet on the ground. Hailey looked to him, her lips apart. He nodded at her, smiling. 

"Whoa. Good catch," Rosalie stood back watching. 

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and bit on the side of my index finger. The camera switched to a view of Ginger and Nick hiding in a bush a few yards away from the other team's second flag. Ginger nodded to Nick, and Nick nodded back before he made a dash for the flag. Ice surrounded his feet as he ran. A ran cloud appeared over his head, and lightning struck just above his head, reflecting off an invisible barrier. Nick grinned smugly as he reached for the flag, but the barrier kept him inside. His smile quickly faded. "Uh oh," he whispered. Loren came out from the side and kicked Nick's barrier. It broke, throwing him far from the flag.

"Nick!" Ginger screamed. A cat with a flag in its mouth made its way between Nick and Ginger. The cat looked between them and quickly bounded toward the base behind Loren. 

"Grab the cat!" Nick yelled.

Ginger scrambled to the cat and grabbed her in her arms. She took the flag out of its mouth, and threw the cat to Loren. The cat changed back into Bella as she landed in Loren's arms. Loren rolled her eyes and dropped Bella on the ground. 

"Run!" Nick screamed to Ginger as he put up an ice wall between Ginger and the other two. 

The camera switched to Kai and Ben, who stood shoulder to shoulder. "Ready, bro?" Kai asked Ben.

Ben grinned. "Ready, bro." They fist bumped and cracked their knuckles, which glowed different colors under their skin. 

"Wait," Rosalie spoke up. "Do they have the same powers?"

"Nah," I shook my head. "Kai's bodily fluids are different types of acidic. When he cracks any of his joints, they glow different colors. Ben can mimic others' powers. Based on how much of a friendship he has with that person, the more he is able to use their power. He can also amplify their power."

"Interesting," Rosalie finished her coffee and walked to the far end of the gym to the trash can.

Ben and Kai were about to run at Ginger when glass balls broke at their feet and encased them in a dark brown goo that stuck them to the ground. Hailey ran from her hiding spot by them and over to Ginger. Kai wiped sweat from his forehead and touched it to the goo, melting it away. He ran as hard as he could to Hailey and Ginger. But as he got close to them, Lucia appeared in front of him through a rift, and her foot connected with his nose. Kai screamed and fell on his back on the ground. The students froze, except for Hailey who ran to Kai's side. "Uh, Rosie. We're going to need you after all."

Rosalie ran to me. "I turned for two seconds!" She yelled as I opened a door to the cube. She ran to Kai, on the opposite side of Hailey. I looked over Kai as blood gushed from his nose. His body turned as pain radiated through his body, he screamed and cried out in pain. His nose was turned in an unnatural position. I cringed just looking at him.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Lucia cried over and over as Bella held onto her.

"His nose is broken." Rosalie gently touched his face, making sure not to disturb his nose too much. "Kai, try to stay still for me for a second, okay?" Kai nodded and tried to straighten his body. Hailey wiped the tears from his eyes. The students gathered around as Rosalie bent over and lightly pressed her lips to Kai's nose. As she lifted up, Kai's nose shifted back into a normal position. He sniffled a few times, the blood stopped dripping from his nose, and he slowly sat up, touching his nose. 

"It's-it's fine. It doesn't hurt!" He smiled, and the whole class breathed a sigh of relief.

I clapped a hand to Rosalie's shoulder as she stood up. "Best nurse in the biz!"