My brain blew when I opened my eyes.

Not literally of course, that would be gruesome.

Instead of being in the middle of the woods, I was standing on the other side of a road behind a white car. It made me wonder why Max didn't teleport my brother like this as well after me? I was still shaken up from that.

Woh...

Rouge looked over at me, “Next step is to get Tom and report back to me as soon as possible." she went on. "The enemy is here so you don’t have time to socialize. Your accomplice, D, will be there in case things become too much. However, if you and Rylie have any sort of interaction, Tom or D will take you to the safehouse. Am I clear?"

"It's a frozen summer treat." Maxwell painted in response, snickering at his own joke.

Was I allowed to socialize with D?

Tom, I remembered him. He was from my old school, but would randomly be absent due to illnesses. Like Maxwell, the two were around the same height, but he had extremely pale skin with a thick build. The teenager was only a few months older than I was.

"Why Tom?" I asked the two.

"He’s your age. I’m sure you two could get along." Rouge answered. "He'll whip you into shape to be the hero you’re supposed to be."

But that was the problem. I wasn't a fighter. I had always been pushed around and made fun of. I couldn't do anything right.

Hope always teased me about those thoughts though. She said that I had done so many things; I just didn't see it because I didn't credit myself for it.

"Don't worry." The man stuck out his right arm making the V shaped peace sign and smiled "We believe in you, the one and only Felix Ghost."

"Huh...I’m not-" I stammered. That wasn't my last name.

"Oh dear, you have a long way to go." the other sighed.

He scowled and walked me away from the woman. Looking at me dead in the eye, he said, "Kiran isn't the kindest guy out there. D can keep you safe just in case anything...radical happens. Know this, you can do this and maybe without his help. That'd be awesome and you are awesome which is super awesome."

Me? No. Just no. I couldn't do anything. I was just a scared little boy who ran away from all his problems. Whenever I did something, anything, it went wrong. Besides, I was scrawny and weak; nobody could depend on me.

But then why were these people doing exactly that? Why was I dragged into it? Ug, I didn't understand.

"Why me?" I asked him.

The man laughed. "Because you can do it! Duh!"

A solid answer please?

"What?" I frowned in disappointment. "Me?”

"You're rad. Like super rad. You got the power." He flexed his muscles.

I do?

"Like fire! Ow, wow, wow!" Maxwell cheered.

"We don’t have time for this." We heard Rouge say.

I shook my head. Like I could pull off that stunt, not with Kiran here at least. Whatever he could do, it scared me. "Not me."

"'Me' needs to go and get Tom." Max teased.

"Do I have to?" I asked.

He frowned. "Yeah, Frostie's orders."

"Frostie?" Man, he was weird.

"Yeah, chicks got ice powers."

"What!?" How could he say it so easily? "What else?" I exclaimed in surprise.

"A lot, but that doesn't matter." he went on, turning me around and pushing me towards the house. "Good luck, bud!"

Stumbling forwards, I looked behind me to check if he was there, but he had vanished. I wished I had powers like that, or did I not discover it yet? It might have been even more powerful than theirs with the significance they were putting on me.

When I looked ahead I saw Max on top of the rooftop. He gave me a rock and roll sign before disappearing again in the blink of an eye.

Hey, I wanted to teleport too! No fair.

My head sulked. “No way.” I was still surprised how he could do that. I sighed and continued walking to the house.

This reunion was packed. All sorts of different cars were lined up on the side of the road behind me like they were doing the conga. Tom's new house was plain and simple, painted the color of a light beige. It had two square-like eyes for windows that popped out at you and a brown mouth-like door that made the house look like it was staring at you, completely bewildered. Brushing off the dirt of my suit pants, I walked up to the front door where I heard laughing and talking. I knocked on the door three times as I stepped on the mat in front of their door with the word, 'welcome' written on it.

After a few seconds a lady opened the door, “Felix, I was wondering when you’d show up!” and she gave me a hug. “I’ve missed you.”

This was Mrs. Pross, a very kind lady I had known ever since I was little. Not super tiny little, but more in my middle school years. She had neck level black hair, brown eyes, and wore a flower patterned long sleeved shirt and a blue dress. Even though her head was average size, her face was a tad bigger than others like a cartoon character.

I could see the inside of the house from behind her shoulder now. The ground was a classic white tiled floor and to the left was the family room with a large couch in the middle and two smaller couches at its sides dotted white like a Dalmatian. On the walls hung pictures of their family.

To the right was the dining room with six wooden chairs all around a table with a picture of the family overlooking it. Numerous people were sitting along eating a variety of foods that were on display on the counter behind them. In this area was the kitchen which had even more food. I could make out lasagna, potato salad, and a tray with cookie crumbs (of course all the deserts had been eaten). A refrigerator laid behind it on the opposite wall with a stove next to it and a sink at the right wall filled with dishes, even paper ones for some reason. Stretching to a glass slider was the hallway that extended in front with stairs going up on both sides. People had abandoned this area but I could see someone walking out of one of the doors; the bathroom I assumed. Sadly, I couldn’t see past there since there were so many people outside.

“How are you?” I asked to let go of the hug. “With the party and the moving, this must be exhausting. How do you do it?”

“It's what you deserve for us going away.” She replied jokingly. “You have to have the party over with sometime and it's darling to see all your faces. You've grown so much. You used to be shorter than me last time we met and now look at you. You’re huge!”

“I'm only as tall as you.” I smiled tagging along with the jokes. “Have you seen Tom by any chance?”

“I'm sorry dear, but I really don't know. You could check his bedroom. Oliver was talking to him not too long ago so I'm sure he wanted to show him some things." Mrs. Pross stepped aside. "How about you have some food? You look exhausted."

I shook my head. "No, thank you."

I wasn't exhausted?

"Can’t keep up with the others either?" A teenage girl’s voice asked. It was of the one who came from the door: Kristy. Kiran's younger sister.

Kristy on the other hand was what I'd call, needing some help of sorts. She was only a year younger than me. She was a little taller, with light Arabic skin. Her long hair was black with the front strands of it dyed a bright green. Unlike Hope, she wore a plain pink skirt with white sneakers that had the reference of some show she was watching on it. The skirt led up to her white collared shirt with pink suspenders. Her shoulders were covered by big poofy sleeves and she had numerous multi-colored bracelets on her arms from some other fandoms she had told me about. I had to confess she had pulled me into several of them. She even carried in her arm one of the newer books she was reading. This one was bigger than normal, it was like some sort of dictionary.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

She trotted towards me and of course the first thing she asked me was, "I was wondering when you’d show up. Oh, what happened to you? Are you okay?"

I had completely forgotten about my appearance. Mrs. Pross didn't get any dirt on her outfit, did she? Regardless, I couldn't tell Kristy anything about what happened. "I fell."

"Too true, too true. I wonder if it’s part of that adventure." She replied.

"I tripped down a hill." At least that part was kind of true.

"You wouldn’t be on a hill to begin with."

"Adventure."

Folding her arms, she said grinning. "Interesting. Felix, you know how these things go. I’ll find out."

I looked down at the ground, suddenly taking interest in the wooden material. "I know..."

"Shameful, reaction. Just shameful. Don’t worry, I know it’s going to be great and….” she stammered. “I feel like this is part of my adventure too. I can’t explain it, but I know it.”

This wasn't getting anywhere. In the questions and logic department, Kristy and I were twins except she was much more dangerous with her curiosities. One time, she managed to get us imprisoned for accidentally on purpose stealing important documents for some robbery that wasn't even fully planned yet. We barely made it out without lives. Especially mine!

The point was that both of us asked a lot of questions. About everything and if something didn't make sense we'd be the ones to question.

"It's nothing." I said looking back at her. Maybe that would stop her nagging.

"Liar, I can feel it." She said, "If you tell me I’ll let you know where Tom is, okay?"

Eavesdropper. I wasn't surprised about that either. Actually, thinking about looking for someone made me wonder something about her.

"No, he was with Oliver."

"I saw them, both of them with my two eyes. I promise."

"You were in the bathroom."

"How would you know that? I was in the bathroom though."

Woh, was I actually right. "You were in the bathroom?"

"C’mon, tell me. I feel like I need to be there with you." She said, pleading.

"What about your brother?"

"Kiran?" She asked, hugging her book. "I mean, he's on his own adventure. He’s becoming an adult. He’s gonna be great! Oh, the stories he'll tell." Her head dropped.

"Thanks," I said back to her and ran ahead thanking her for the information. I had to get to Tom and fast or else. Well, I actually didn’t know what the “or else” was supposed to be but I was sure there was one.

"Oi!" Kristy yelled, walking after me. "You're not done telling me your story. I know we are supposed to be doing this, wait, this book… and you!"

I started opening random doors throughout the house. Her presence was completely ignored of course.

Tom wasn't showing himself easily. His mom hadn't seen him and neither did Kristy. I'd have figured she would have known since she knew anything about anyone in the past couple hours before she forgot. It wasn't likely he was here because of her attempted fib.

He wasn't in the bedroom or the bathroom. The Pross's sure kept things clean, I noted. What about the kid's room? I quickly changed my mind on the cleanliness, but he wasn't there either.

I went to the next door. Oh! This was a closet, not a room.

Ug, no matter how many doors I opened, or how many corners I darted through, he wasn't to be found. It was like he had disappeared altogether. I hadn't even seen him in years and here he was not being around...again like old times. Come on, Tom!

Kristy continued to bombard me all the while with her questions. “There’s this book with a bunch of different adventures! This one and one of those, they’re connected. It's an adventure and I’m a part of that with Tom! I don’t know why Tom is a part of this if he hasn’t been here for 5 years. It could connect with that weird guy by the food stand outside. It would make sense and with all these weird things happening to Kiran it would make sense. Am I right on this?"

I paused for a second before resuming my search. Who? Rouge did mention another guy earlier.

"Ha!" She said in victory, swinging herself from the door to get in front of me. "I knew you knew and I know you’ll need my help. BFF’s right?"

Whatever, that didn't matter now. Dee would find me. Didn't Maxwell say he'd be there if I was in danger or something?

Shush, Felix.

Shush, Kristy!

I know, right?

I ran back to the living room, not caring anymore. "I'll find out, you little imp!” she shouted. “Don't make me do all the martial arts on you and assert my dominance!"

Then, right out the window by the front door, I finally saw him in the corner of my eye. He was going off somewhere to the backyard.

"Crap," I said, darting off back in the other direction.

As Kristy reached me, I passed her. "C'mon, Feliximo!" She cursed under her breath spinning around.

When I got to the sliding glass door, I almost bumped into Hope, nearly spilling her drink all over her.

"Felix!" She said in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry!" I said, maneuvering around her through the open door. "I'm busy."

"It's ok-" Hope started saying before screaming as Kristy accidently ran into her. I could hear her yelp as the liquid spilled over her dress.

Wishing the best for the stain, I made my way through the gathering towards the teenage boy. Sometimes people would say my name and try to initiate conversation, but I didn't care. As long as I got to Tom, I was okay.

Before I could reach him, he jumped over a fence and kept running. Another man followed him as well. This was Kiran.

I was surprised to see him at such an event. You'd think he'd wait by the front door if he wanted to see me. This was very bad. Where's Dee?

"Hey!" his sister frantically called out as she shoved her way through the crowd. "Wait for me! Hi Mrs. Pross!"

I stopped at the fence. It was one of those classic picket ones you'd see at some regular neighborhood home in a movie. How was I going to get over this fast enough? Then again, Kiran wasn't supposed to see me.

What was I supposed to do?

Tom was only getting further away and Kiran was getting closer to him to do...something! How was I going to do this?

Kristy slid next to me. "Let’s do this." The girl bent down and aligned her hands side by side.

What was that?

"It's a footstep" She told me. "Go on."

Stepping on, I jumped over the fence and as usual, I fell on the other side into the grass face first. My companion landed beside me as I got up.

She smiled, "Ha! You fell. Hurry, let’s go!"

"Oh hush, you." I said and ran after the other two.

Suddenly, we were passed by another man: the one she, Rouge, and Maxwell had mentioned earlier.

He had dark skin with a buzzed head of black hair. His face was boxy and stern with some scars. He wore long, black, rubber pants that were tied down at the bottom. With blood stains, his sleeveless shirt was darkened gray. The man was tall and fierce with brown eyes and thick, black, gloves. He carried more rubber in the form of a backpack around his shoulders.

Before we could do anything else, he grabbed us and dove behind a small cluster of trees.

"It’s you. Who are you?" My friend looked over, smiling at me and then back at him "Where did you come from?"

"Emercy," he said, ignoring her. "I've got him and this girl."

"What's your purpose and why do you want Felix so badly?" Kristy went on..

"Hey." He looked at us. "Are you guys a thing?"

Huh?

"No, he already has a love interest." she answered.

"Sorry, babe."

There was a yell in front of us. It was Kiran, first surprised, then upset.

"That's right, Kiran!" The sister cried out as she tried to run and was immediately pulled back by the man. "Let me go. He's my brother."

"You don't look related."

"What? No, the guy out there is my brother and he" She pointed to me "Is the guy you're looking for."

I could hear her squirming. She looked over at me and said, "Do something."

Her eyes pleaded and still I didn't know what to do. Kiran was bad. I couldn't help the bad, but she was good and she needed my help for the bad. What?

This didn't make any sense!

I needed to wait and let things play out. That always seemed to work.

However, she could see my answer without me even saying anything. The two of us knew each other back to back like that.

Quickly, she spun around halfway and kicked the man directly in between the legs. He let her go for a second as she took off running around the trees. “Sorry!” she said.

He growled and swung me over his shoulder carrying me through them.

I wasn't joking. We ran through the trees. What in the world is going on?

So this is what a hologram looked like. Was that his power? What else did this guy have? Who was he? Was Dee even more powerful than Rouge?

Hoisting me into his big hand, he said to me. "Get to Tom."

What?

Without another word, he threw me. It was a feeling I never had before. His strength was inhuman, enhanced like a robot had done the actual hurl.

First I passed Kiran. I could make out his face with my similar brown eyes. His neat black hair was a mess and he wore a light pink collared shirt with a blue tie.

Then I passed a teenage girl who struck me with her looks. She was beautiful.

When she saw me shooting above her, her face lit up with pure joy. I could see her green eyes widen and her mouth shine in happiness. This was obviously Rylie.

At last, I saw her.

With wild brown hair that was full and long, she was a little taller than me. Her tanned skin contrasted against a white t-shirt of wool and green shorts. Besides this, she didn't wear anything which made me wonder how bad her tan-lines were.

I didn't get much time to see any more of them before I crash-landed on a squishy substance that also went down with me.

Oh, it was Tom!

He had changed since I last saw him. He had long, black, spiked-up hair like a wall grew on his head. Tom wore a black vest with a flimsy collared t-shirt underneath. Below this were baggy blue pants and bare feet.

Like usual, he was cold as always. I could feel it from his body.

"Get down!" he yelled.

Suddenly, the wind picked up and before I knew what was happening I was rolled away as Tom leapt to the side, and Rylie jetted past us.

“You must leave this place at once.” She said landing into a growing patch of thick grass. “Get to Rouge and get out of here. Now!” It hurled her into the sky colliding with our common enemy. The two spun around crashing into a tree.

Before I could see any more, Tom pulled me up. I could feel an overwhelming cold draft especially at my feet. "Here we go!"

"Sorry you guys!" Kristy yelled at us. As the temperature dropped, I could feel her arms wrapping around my chest.

"Frozen geyser!" Tom yelled and together, the three of us flew into the air.

It didn’t feel like flight though; it felt like something else. It was more of a feeling where you took off on some rollercoaster full speed ahead that you had waited hours of line-waiting to get on. This was the moment you realized why that roller coaster was the most popular roller coaster in the amusement park and why you had to sign a contract before getting on.

Oh, and you lost any accessories on the way like a jacket or a bracelet. We sure didn't get cubbies to put our stuff in on this ride. Kristy shouted something, but I couldn't make out what it was.

We shot into the air, leaving Oliver, Hope, and everybody else behind. It took us away from our homes, our school, and our lives. I could feel the wind, ripping my face off and my jacket flying off with my tie slowly loosening to the degree of choking me.

Was coming here my choice? No, it was not. Was doing this something I ever thought I'd be doing? Absolutely not, yet here I was going who knows where with someone I barely knew. At least I had a good friend coming with me.

Golly, I wanted someone to take me away from this back to my home. I missed everything already.

My stomach growled. "Dang it," I said. "I knew I should have grabbed something to eat at the reunion."