Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Matthew, Ben, and Lauren had just exited Jefferson High School, but weren’t sure what to do next.

“We’re in so much trouble, where are we going to go?” Matthew asked them.

“For now let’s head to my car in the back parking lot. Once we’re inside, I’ll try my best to explain the events that just happened.” Lauren replied.

“Shotgun!” Ben exclaimed.

They sprinted to the parking lot, with Matthew still exhausted from the run in gym class, and in need of occasional short breaks. Once they were finally in the car, they wasted no time in leaving the school property.

“We’re safe to talk in here.” Lauren announced as she drove.

“Oh in that case, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL THOSE SENIORS?” Ben snapped.

“Settle down, do you want us to get in an accident? They didn’t die, the ice was only temporary. In fact, they’ll thaw out in an hour or less, depending on body mass.”

“That’s a relief.” Matthew said. “Who exactly are you, Lauren?”

“What’s the point in acting like you don’t know?” she questioned.

“Uh, I’m not following anything you’re saying.”

“Well, I can tell you have elemental manipulation, like your friend Ben, who isn’t afraid of showing his Hydrokinesis. I’m Lauren Eisold, and if the pronunciation of my last name wasn’t obvious enough, I can control the element of Ice with Cryokinesis.”

“It’s official, I’m in a dream right now.” Matthew declared.

“Nope, it’s the real deal, bro.” Ben said. “I always knew I had a special connection with water, and Lauren couldn’t have explained it any better.”

Matthew’s brain went into overdrive. “The puzzle’s coming together now. I understand how you were able to run so fast when it was raining. I also now know why the bullies wanted snow-cones from Lauren. And lastly, I think I’ve discovered my element from what I’ve conducted of today’s events, especially when the sun came out in the gym run.”

“Whoa, you have Pyrokinesis?” Ben asked.

“Good guess, but I now know who I truly am. Matthew Flash is a controller of Light.”

“Light, huh? Aren’t you a little too gloomy for that?”

“What? I don’t know. What I do know is that I feel extremely worried now that my identity has been revealed to me.”

“I’m surprised you hadn’t known until now. You seemed so in touch with your element when you used your camera, that I thought it was just a clever way for you to hide your powers.” Lauren said.

“My camera!” Matthew hadn’t thought about it for a bit. He took it out of his pocket, and was glad to see that it wasn’t damaged in the scuffle with the seniors. “I always knew this camera would be important to my life.”

“Even though you already have your weapon, I’m taking us to go pick up more tools.” Lauren said.

“The camera’s a weapon? You’re not taking any pictures of me, man!” Ben announced.

“I still don’t know what all it can do though. I’m afraid I’m going to have no choice but to find out.” Matthew said.

Soon the trio arrived at the place Lauren had mentioned, which had turned out to be her own backyard.

“You two stay here. I’m going to pick up some things from the shed and be right back.” Lauren exited the car and went into the backyard.

“So I wonder if there’s anyone else who also has Hydrokinesis.” Ben spoke up.

“That’s what you’re thinking about right now? What about when the authorities find out what we did when they see the school footage? What will our parents and friends think of us now? Our nice, simple, past lives are over, Ben.” Matthew complained.

“Let’s just go with the flow for once, maybe this is the greatest thing to ever happen to us.”

Ben was going to continue to speak, until he was interrupted by long metallic blades bursting through the roof of the car.

“WHOA! Those almost hit us!” he screamed.

Matthew noticed Lauren hurrying back over to them when she saw what was going on.

“Get out of the car!” he heard her scream.

Matthew and Ben threw the doors open and leaped out. Soon they realized those weren’t just metallic blades, but in fact talons. Standing over Lauren’s car was a large metal contraption in the shape of a falcon. It began to retract its talons and started to voraciously tear the car apart with its talons and massive beak.

“That car was a birthday present…” Lauren groaned.

The falcon suddenly realized its targets had escaped from the vessel. It once again extended its talons, towards the trio. They ran into the shed Lauren had just been in to take immediate shelter.

“What is that thing?” Lauren asked.

“We don’t know! We never saw it approach from anywhere, and it just started destroying your car.” Matthew explained.

“That car wasn’t what it wanted though, it was us!” Ben screamed.

“We’re going to need to come up with a plan to destroy it. What details did you notice from up close in the car?” Lauren said.

“I’m not an expert on types of metals, but the talons at least looked extremely worn out, like this thing came straight from a junk heap.” Matthew stated.

“If the metal appeared to be old, it probably is. That also means it’s more capable of rusting. Ben, you’ve got to use your Hydrokinesis against this thing. I’ll try to make it vulnerable with an ice trick.”

“What should I do?”

“You’re going to be the bait, Matthew.”

“Of course I am.”

“Just find some way to make it focus on you only. Let’s hope for the best!”

After forming their plan, Matthew, Lauren, and Ben ran out to confront the metal monstrosity.

Matthew’s role as bait worked fairly well. Large amounts of light were reflecting off of the falcon, shining brightly on Matthew. He began to feel as strong as he did in gym class, and approached his opponent with confidence. Matthew started to pick up loose boards that were stacked by the shed, and hurled them at the legs of the falcon. It barely had an effect, but the falcon grew mad that Matthew was attempting to harm it. It began to focus on him, exactly as hoped for. While this was happening, Lauren ran behind the falcon. Ben climbed on top of Lauren’s house, as high up as he could. The falcon was about to prepare an attack, but Lauren had the opportunity she needed. She sent out a layer of sleet underneath the falcon. Its metallic talons had no traction against the ice, and it immediately began to slip. It let out a piercing shriek as it fell onto its back on the ground.

“Now, Ben!” Matthew and Lauren both screamed.

“Surf’s up!” he hollered. Ben formed a wave of water and rode it off of the roof towards the falcon. The wave covered the entire falcon in water, but unfortunately Ben was smacked off of his wave when their opponent’s wings flailed around. He fell forward and landed on a backyard table, hitting his head in the process. Ben then laid on the ground moaning. Matthew hurried over to his friend.

“Ben, are you okay?”

“Uhhhh, I’ll be fine dude, just a little head to the blow, that’s all.”

“Wait here a second, I’m going to check if we’re safe.”

Matthew met Lauren over by the fallen falcon. Rust was forming all over its body at a quick pace. The thrashing of the falcon was a big mistake for it, since its rusted metal soon began to break apart. Shortly, the falcon began to deactivate due to the rust and short-circuiting of the water.

“Matthew, look at this! All of the metal pieces share something in common, the letter T branded onto them.” Lauren pointed out.

“So what do you think the T is? A company or something?”

“I really can’t say I know. I fear this falcon is not the only contraption we’re going to see. We need to go into hiding, at least for a little while. I propose we retreat in the woods in the back of the neighborhood; I already filled some backpacks with my dad’s camping supplies and other necessities for us.”

“Hiding sounds good to me. Let’s go get Ben up to speed.”

Ben was still lying on the ground, somewhat in a daze. He noticed them approaching though.

“Hey guys! We really showed that boss who’s falcon!”

“Is he going to be all right?” Lauren asked.

“We’ll just have to find out”. Matthew said. He helped Ben put on a backpack, and the trio made their way to a retreat in the forest.

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Chapter 2

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Chapter 4