Stronger

Chapter Thirteen

   Mikey stepped through.

   In his mind, he envisioned flying cars shooting down streets, animal robots transforming into thousands of different shapes, people stocked up to the max with leaves that were actually bombs.

   But what he was actually met with was a sunny schoolroom and a big smiley face on the whiteboard, welcoming the class.

   Behind him, the portal gurgled and he watched it fade away. "Sooo, I need a something here," he said to the room, looking around with his goggles. As he looked at the kids desks, the goggles outlined a few pencils with red and he stepped backwards, realizing that an innocent object that had the potential to kill him lay on a desk near him.

   "Man, but everything looks so normal."

   The door suddenly kicked open and Mikey instantly dove to the floor, hoping the kids were not coming back yet if school was in session. A pair of large feet stood at the doorway and stayed there. Mikey watched him for a second before looking around. His eyes widened when he saw a folder on the floor by the front desk, and he gasped lightly when the goggles outlined them in green. A green font appeared. This is the folder.

   He started crawling forward in the quiet ninja style. My quest will literally be done in a minute! he thought excitedly as he wormed over.

   But the person's footsteps caught his attention and he froze, watching as they headed towards the folder on the floor. They stopped in front and Mikey nearly shouted No! but bit his tongue before the words could materialize.

   A large hand reached down and picked up the folder. He watched in dismay as the person walked out, taking the folder with him. When the door shut behind him, Mikey banded a fist on the floor.

   "I almost had it! Why did you need it now?" he complained, getting up and racing for the door.

   He quietly opened it and poked his head out, wishing he could become invisible, or that it was night. Because at the rate that I am going, he thought, I won't be done with this until next week. Fear filled him when he thought of his brothers, so he slipped out of the room and walked in the direction he thought the man might have done.

   The hallways were eerily quiet, like it was holding its breath. Mikey gulped and edged closer to a wall.

   Some alarm started beeping, although it was quiet, and it took him a moment to realize that the alarm was coming from the goggles. With wide eyes, he looked around and gasped, backing away when he realized that the paintings he had been walking next to all glowed in red, thanks to the goggles, which was telling him that they were all dangerous. He didn't know how, but for his brothers, he was not going to take a chance, so he walked to the middle of the hallway and stayed there.

   The hallway turned and he peeked around the corner. He saw a man walking down, holding something that the goggles outlined with green, and Mikey smiled. "Okay, now how do I take that from him?"

   He followed the man, who seemed oblivious to the fact that he was being followed, down the hallway and watched when he turned into a room. As soon as the door clicked shut he raced over and placed his head by it, listening in.

   "--just leave that around anymore," he heard somebody say.

   "But what are we going to do with it? We need the information and we can't just learn twenty pages of words in font nine."

   "Somebody needs to guard it at all times. Never let it out of your sight, Dunko. I am depending on you. Otherwise, our world is doomed."

   Mikey listened to the conversation with a sinking feeling. They were definitely talking about the file. But he needed it! He exhaled when he learned that he was not only endangering Earth, but some other planet too. If the worlds ever figured that out, he was going to be famous for sure.