CHAPTER 35

When Emily was five years old, there was a thunderstorm that had scared her so much she had crawled into her parents' bed. That had started an argument between the two about her being 'coddled' that went on for three days. The morning of the fourth, her dad left to get groceries and never came back.

She made a promise to herself after that that she would never be scared again. If it just made things worse for her, then overcoming it was the solution to all her problems. So she embraced all the things that scared her before. Scary films? She watched them all. Spiders? She started picking them up, no problem. School bullies? She took them head-on. Dark rooms? She found a damn light.

That was only the beginning. She later learned that when she doubted herself, she became afraid. So she decided to remove that from her life too. She pushed herself to the point where she could never feel that way again, competing in all sorts of activities from rock-climbing, to track-and-field, to soccer. She even gave wrestling a go but gave that up as rolling around on the floor wasn't really her thing. She eventually settled on cheerleading as it worked out her entire body, built up a good community, and forced her to be in the spotlight more which she hated.

It eventually got to the point where she challenged her fears instead of being afraid. When someone pissed her off, she came right for them. She wasn't afraid to fight and she made sure everyone knew that. Britta once said that she was afraid of a mugging not for her sake but for the mugger's. Emily agreed, knowing she would probably attack the mugger right away.

So when a mysterious figure had entered the gym and then suddenly grew into a stone giant that attacked her, her response was not to scream and then run and hide like Britta had. Instead, she went right on the attack. And when more enemies came, she just kept on going. She was afraid of them, she couldn't deny that. But that only made her want to fight and beat them more. To her, her fear was the true enemy and she would beat it no matter what.

Personal stakes also happened to bring out the best in her, so when she saw the giant about to attack Britta, she'd stretched out her legs and managed to blow up her whole fist until it was the size of a car, punching the giant and sending it crashing backwards with one strike. She'd just kept going from there, her abilities coming to her naturally. She found out she couldn't just stretch but also twist her arm around like that. With the giant, she'd managed to throw her arm out and tie it around its legs to trip it up. That few minutes of combat had given her more control over her new power than the last few days. But she also knew when she was outmatched. When all the new stone figures had emerged from the ground, she knew she couldn't beat them all. It was a horrible feeling to have and she hated admitting she was weak to herself. But right now, she wasn't ready to take them on. So, she had to do what Franklin asked and get help.

Which was what led her to rummaging through the wreckage of the gym, looking for his phone. "Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on," Emily rambled, tossing aside part of the bleacher. "Where the hell is it?"

She had searched all over the gym and still nothing. It must have fallen under some debris but that was going to be a problem as the whole place was covered in debris. She decided to start where he had been punched through the wall as that was where he said he'd lost it. But, after sifting through a bunch of stuff, still nothing.

She could hear crashing sounds and cries from outside, wincing every time a new one came. She had no idea what was happening but it obviously wasn't good. Franklin wouldn't last long, despite how strong he was. She had to find that phone quickly. She wasn't sure what this Travis could do to help. She only knew one Travis, Travis Stroneman, and from what she knew about him, he didn't inspire much confidence. Still, maybe what gave her powers gave him super powerful ones, although that did make her a little jealous. Or maybe it was a completely different Travis who was awesome and powerful and would defeat all these bad guys with one strike. That would still make her a little jealous but at least he would be more helpful.

She was glad Britta was gone. It was the first thing she had noticed when entering the gym. Hopefully she had run off or was holed up somewhere safe because right now, Emily couldn't be worried about her.

"Damn it, where the hell is that stupid thing!" Emily cried, scratching her head in frustration. "Ok, think. Franklin was standing here." She stood right by the hole in the wall, trying to remember that scene as clearly as she could. "He was upright when the fist hit him, but let's say he was looking down at his phone." She mimed looking at her phone. "Now, if something hit me like that, how would my body respond. Hmmm. Well, when Millicent Alistair hit me in the third grade, I dropped my stuff right on the ground, so that obviously didn't happen here. But let's say she hit me so hard, I actually flew into the wall. Then my hands might have gone like this," she pushed her hands more to the side, "and anything in them would have gone flying over there."

Right as she turned, she saw a slight twinkle amongst the debris. Her breath caught a little but she refused to believe it was real. She scrambled over and quickly moved all the debris until she had it in her hand. "Oh thank you Britta for making me watch all of Castle with you. Those detective skills are no joke."

She opened it up and cursed, seeing it was password protected. Of course she couldn't access it. That would be making it too easy for her. But at least she had the phone and it was still working. Now all she had to do was return it to Franklin. She picked herself up and was about to run over to the hole in the wall when she stopped, hearing something. It was faint, barely anything. But it sounded like a voice to her. Was someone else in here?

You can't be distracted, she told herself. But still, what if someone needed help? What if they were calling for help and it just sounded faint? She looked at the hole where Franklin was no doubt fighting for his life. Could he hold out a little longer? She chewed her lip, looking back and forth, before muttering a curse and running over to the doors that led to the main hall and to the offices.

Just hang on a little longer Franklin, she thought desperately. Hopefully with his strength and tough skin, if those were his powers, he could go on. Still, she needed to hurry.

 She pushed through the doors and hurried down the hall. Where was the voice now? Had she actually heard something or had it just been her imagination? She came to a stop, listening carefully. Just when she was about to give up, she heard it again.

"…I know, but it's too late now."

She frowned. It didn't sound like anyone in distress. Just a normal conversation to her. But who would be having a normal conversation at a time like this? Maybe they weren't aware of what was going on, though she figured they would have to be deaf.

She walked a little closer, the words becoming more apparent.

"We can't stay here, not with what's happening." There was a slight pause and then, "no, I know that. But what can I do?"

Who was this guy? And who was he talking to? Was he on the phone with someone?

"This is too much. We should just get out of here. We did what we needed to anyway. Next time will be different." Another pause. "Yes, I know. But they're too powerful out there."

So he was aware. Or, it seemed like it. Who else would he be talking about? Still, what was he talking about? And who to?

"We'll get another chance, I promise…"

Emily edged a little closer and accidentally stepped on a broom, sending it clattering across the floor. She winced, tensing up.

"Someone's here. It could be one of them. We have to go, now." There was a slight pause. "No, too dangerous. Next time, when we're more prepared."

The next thing Emily heard was the sound of running. She slowly walked around the corner and just saw someone down the hallway exit the building. From the distance she couldn't make much out other than he had blonde hair.

The same questions kept flooding through her brain but she put them on hold. Whatever that had been, it was a waste of time. Franklin was still in a lot of trouble. She turned back around and hurried as fast as she could, running into the gym and right through the hole to the outside.

As soon as she did, she couldn't help but gasp at the sight. The entire courtyard was demolished, debris strewn everywhere. It looked like the ground had been ripped apart several times over and then sloppily but back together. But her main focus was on this weird, dark metallic stuff that swirled and writhed around in constant motion. Whatever it was, Emily did not want to go near it. Which meant that was probably where she had to go.

A few seconds later, her hunch was proven correct as she saw Franklin and some other people she vaguely recognized huddled together with some weird dark figure above them and a massive wave of that strange stuff ready to attack them.

"Oh not today loser," she said and cocked her fist as she got closer.

"This is it, you insolent brats! Now di-"

"Eat this!" Emily's fist shot out, stretching itself all the way to the man's face. To her surprise, it didn't knock him down. Instead, it went right through him, smashing his face into pieces. "Oh my god!" she yelped. "Please tell me I didn't kill someone!"

"Emily?"

She looked over and saw Franklin staring at her in shock and relief. "Hey Franklin," she said, waving at him. "Don't worry. I got your phone." She held it up for him to see.

"For the love of god!" She jumped at the roar, seeing the man's face reform, glaring down at her with utter loathing. "How many of you are there? How many vexing little brats do I have to kill?"

"Dude, anger issues. Seriously."

"Emily, call Travis!" Franklin yelled.

"I can't, your phone's locked," she yelled back.

"And there's no service here," one of the other kids, Sumin she thought, said.

"Oh damn, right."

"Hey Simmons!" Emily froze at the voice. There was no way it could be him. But nope, her luck continued to fail her as she saw Luke Decker wave at her. "Looking amazing as always I see. Hey since we both have awesome powers now, why don't we do some training sessions together?"

"Not the time moron!" she and Gabriela cried at once.

"Don't you dare ignore me!" the angry man yelled. "Now die!" He brought his arm down and the giant wave above him followed, dropping on top of them.

At least, it would have if a giant wall made of indigo light hadn't appeared in front of it, blocking it and holding it back.

"Hurry!" Sumin cried, pushing their hands up but it was clear they were straining themself.

"Emily, my passcode is 9999," Franklin yelled. "At least, it was, I'm going to change it now."

Emily quickly typed it in. "Ok, now what?" If there really was no service here, it didn't matter anyway. And yep, there it was. Zero bars.

"We're going to send Travis a text."

Emily stared at him like he'd gone crazy. "How is that going to help?"

"Just do it! Type in 'SOS. Mask at school.' He'll come."

Emily shook her head and did it. Fortunately, Travis's contact information was still on the main screen. "You know he won't get it right?"

"Just send it!"

Emily pressed send and just like she suspected, nothing happened. Just a message popping up telling her there was no service in the area and that her text would be sent once there was. "Now what do I do?"

"Stretch!"

Emily stopped, not sure what she'd heard. "What?"

"You're going to stretch. Stretch your arm out all the way to where there is service."

"Are you crazy?" she yelled at him. "I can't stretch my arm that far! The farthest I've done is across the gymnasium."

"Emily!" Franklin yelled again, eyes wide. "We don't have a choice." He gestured and Emily gasped. Sumin was down to their knees, their wall cracking from the pressure. The bad guy was sending his weird stuff around the wall and Luke and Gabriela were doing their best to hold it off, Luke somehow pushing it back without touching it while Gabriela was blasting at it with some glowing power from her hands. But their attacks got weaker and weaker with each blow. It was easy to tell none of them were going to last long.

"Franklin…I don't know if I can do it," she said nervously. She really hated admitting it but even this was pushing herself a little too much.

Before Franklin could say anything however, Luke interrupted while still holding off the dark substance. "So you're saying you can't do it?" he asked, throwing her his usual shit-eating grin.

Emily felt that familiar feeling well up inside her. The thrill of a challenge. She couldn't help but grimace and smirk at the same time. As much as she hated it, he did know her, especially how to push her past her limits.

"I'll show you what I can or can't do," she replied before throwing her arm back. Right across from the school was a small bakery that plenty of kids stopped by to get treats and such before and after school. Emily knew they had their own service cause she had seen the son always on his phone. At least, she hoped they had a different service. She didn't really know how it worked. All she had to do was throw her arm all the way over there. And then rely on Travis to save the day.

"YA!" she yelled, launching her arm forward as far as she could. She didn't know if she had a limit on her power. When she had tested it in the gym, she'd basically let Britta pull on it for as long as she wanted and even though she had crossed the entire gym, Emily still hadn't felt any strain. She hoped there was no limit right now.

She kept pushing, her arm elongating and stretching and extending. She had no idea how it worked. She didn't even really know how she was doing it. She just…felt it, like how she instinctively knew how to move her fingers or toes. She just kept stretching, like she had done it her whole life.

"What the…what are you doing?" the bad guy cried. "Stop that! It won't do you any good you know. I'm still going to kill you."

"Will you shut up?"

Keep going, Emily urged herself. She wasn't really sure how far she should stretch. She was already past the courtyard, her arm reaching beyond the parking lot now and still going strong. But the bakery wasn't even in sight. How would she know when she reached it? She supposed she would just have to go until she either hit something or couldn't go any further.

And then she felt it. A slight twinge all the way down her arm but mainly in her shoulder. She ignored it at first but then it grew stronger. It was a strain. So she did have a limit after all, and she was quickly reaching it.

Ignore it, ignore it, Emily chanted to herself. She couldn't afford to stop yet. She had only just made it past the parking lot. That wasn't nearly close enough. She had to go way further than that. She pushed even harder, feeling the strain increase but refusing to acknowledge it. This was nothing to her. Pushing herself past her limits was how she lived every day of her life. This was just another challenge for her to surpass. And with the others doing the same to hold Mr. Mask up there at bay, she couldn't do any less than her very best and then some.

"If you think that pathetic, and also really gross, display will save you, think again!"

"Emily!"

She looked up and saw a giant spear coming right for her. She gasped and moved but not quite fast enough, the tip grazing her side. She hissed in pain, clutching the wound. When she pulled back her hand, it was red. Her stretched arm faltered a little and she pushed herself even harder, trying to keep her composure.

"Luck won't always be on your side! Here!"

Emily saw another one coming and prepared to dodge it again but she knew she wouldn't be able to keep dodging these and maintain her arm like this. The strain was really getting to her now, her entire arm aching. But before she could move, someone shot in the spear's path, grabbing hold of it and smashing it apart. "Don't worry Emily," Franklin told her, standing guard for the next one. "I've got you covered."

Emily let out a small breath of relief before refocusing on the task at hand. How much farther could she go? When would she reach an area with service? Would it even work then? Would the text message send automatically? And if it did, would Travis arrive instantly somehow? Franklin hadn't said what his power was. They were giving it their all for one slim chance and Emily couldn't help but think it was a false hope.

She took a look around and saw Sumin's wall was mostly cracks now, that weird substance constantly bombarding it. They were doing their best to contain it but it was clearly a losing battle. Gabriela was also on her knees, almost completely surrounded while Luke was now flying (which definitely did not make her jealous) and mostly just dodging at this point. Franklin was busting through any of those spears that came but he was mostly taking them head on at this point, letting his skin to the work for him. And judging from his stance and breathing, those strikes were taking their toll. They didn't have long.

"Argh!" Emily moaned but kept pushing, sweat tricking down her…well, everywhere at this point. She had never given up on anything before. That wasn't who she was. So there was no way in hell she'd do it now. She just had to keep pushing, keep stretching, keep going, no matter what happened to he…

"AH!"

She felt the pain shoot from her arm to her entire body, a dark, throbbing pain that threatened to overtake her. She looked up and saw one of the spears had struck her extended arm, way past where Franklin would be able to block it. She tried to hold on, using every ounce of willpower she had to force herself to keep going and ignore the pain. But it was too late. Her one second slip had cost her and she felt her arm coming flying back, recoiling back into her shoulder so fast that it was almost comical. All that effort undone by one little thing.

Her arm was covered in blood from where the spear had struck her and she fell down, barely catching herself in time. She just wanted to pass out from the pain and exhaustion but she saw she still had the phone in hand.

"Now, you truly are finished!"

"Emily!

"Hold on!"

Emily ignored them all, looking at the screen carefully, her breath catching in her throat at the two small words there.

Message sent.