Bill Douglas's presence had completely changed the air around us. I had never felt anything like it before, and I also had never seen a group erupt into applause and cheers the way my class did for the Head Farmer. "Thank y'all for such a warm greeting, why don't y'all introduce yourselves. I'd love to get to know all of y'alls names and maybe your favorite tato' dish." He drawled in a warm deep tone. Everyone introduced themselves from right to left, basically only listing a bunch of food from the farm's menu as their favorite dishes. I was second to last right before Mr. Wilson. "My name is Nolan Gallagher.'' The Head Farmer's smile went away ever so slightly then came back, as he asked "So what's your favorite type of tater?" I hesitated as I always did when I heard this question, nothing ever good came from answering it. I looked him in the eye and responded "I actually don't have one sir, I don't really eat potatoes." The breeze of the farm air fell completely still and silent, even the cheery dogs stopped barking. "Well, that's too bad, y'know for you being on a potato farm and whatnot." Lighthearted giggles sprinkled the audience of students and guides, breaking the tension completely. For once I was relieved to hear laughter come from the class that was meant to be towards me. "Well, I am glad we're a little more acquainted, now I guess I can tell y'all folk a bit bout' myself and my home." He motioned towards the grand front door, and as he did one of the guides ran up to hold the door open for all of us. "Watch your step kiddos," Bill advised as he walked through the entrance. The class followed him into the house slowly and everyone seemed to be in disbelief at where we were. "I can't believe we are in Bill Douglas's house!" Sally squealed excitedly to Brooke trying to whisper. Brooke's jaw was on the floor and nothing came out of her mouth.
"Now this here is the home I grew up in. It was made by my great great great Grand-Pappy, Christian Elliott Douglas. That's him right over there.'' The Head Farmer pointed to a large portrait that took up a whole wall right next to the fireplace in the living room area. As we entered the massively open room I was completely speechless. This house was absolutely humongous. The farmer's home seemed even bigger on the inside than how it appeared on the outside. It was lined with dark walnut wood floors, a giant but classic-looking brick fireplace, and family portraits lining the top parts of the wall closest to the ceiling. The living room was decked out with a giant 90-inch T.V., three couches that could probably fit the whole class, and a birch wood rocking chair that looked as old as time itself. Everyone in my class was in complete awe, looking around like Charlie does in that one scene of Silly Sonka and the Potato Factory.
"She's quite the beauty ain't she? Y'all can go on ahead and take some pictures if you'd like. I don't mind." As soon as Bill Douglas said that all the phones whipped out in a flash and the raid of pictures began. As I took a couple of flicks for myself I caught a nasty glare in my peripheral from Mr. Douglas, one that made me feel that I wasn't welcome in his home. When the living room photoshoot died down, Bill motioned to the group and started walking and we continued the tour.
"For generations, my family has always been fairly ambitious about expansions, innovations, and whatnots. That's why the farm is the way it is today. I would've rather much been a bowler but when the time came I decided to inherit the farm and keep the family legacy of growth." A hand shot up in the audience, "Mr. Douglas! Is bowling one of your hidden talents? Are you like a secret pro or something?" Harris asked eagerly. "Goodness no!" Bill chuckled, "I might be the worst bowler in my family. If I ever went pro I'd be dead last in every event but at the very least I would always wear a smile." Lighthearted giggles fluttered in the hallways. Bill continued to teach us about the past generations of the Douglas family going all the way back to the beginning of their legacy.
"Christian and his younger brothers, Andrew and Thomas created the whole farm operation themselves and their whole goal was to cultivate this amazing land and bring the 'Blessings of Potatoes' to everyone in the States." Bill had given me yet another unwelcomed glare when he emphasized that everyone. At that point in time, I was getting more and more upset so reactively I glared right back. I felt the tension rise and felt an arm on my shoulder. Mr. Wilson looked down at me shaking his head, like he was trying to say "Just let it go." I usually did not let others get under my skin but for some reason, I couldn't stand when Bill gave me that look. He should've been the person letting whatever go, he's an adult and also a celebrity for crying out loud. The Head Farmer continued to ramble about family accomplishments and I slowly tried to tune him out as he guided us to the second story of the house.
As the tour continued I lingered behind my friends and teacher so that I would be glared at less. I felt as if I did a good job tuning him out for most of the tour, Bill said a few things about his past relatives, and at some point, Aaron joined in to assist him in explaining the family tree. Things were going completely fine until the group was guided to a mysterious corridor.
At the end of the hallway was a door that Bill had to unlock with a very old but special-looking key. Before we entered all my classmates murmured in suspense. "Do you think we're finally gonna get to see it?" Liam whispered very softly. I had no clue what he was talking about and I am pretty sure my face gave that away. "Why don't you guys and gals guess what's in here, I've got a little surprise for ya." Bill yammered out. "Is it the legendary family heirloom!" Liam screamed before anyone could take a chance at guessing. Bill smiled and gently pushed the door open. "You guys come on through but don't touch anything." The entire group peered through the narrow doorway but as they all began to fill the room no one spoke a single word.
I was the last to enter the room and as I peeked over Brooke's shoulder I could only see what I thought was the worst prank in history. What was sitting on that stone pedestal behind that weird door in that dark hallway? It was a big jar of dirt. Bill and Aaron's chuckles filled the silent air of the disappointed and confused tour guests. "Boy, you guys are speechless huh," Aaron snorted. Our entire group looked around the room, maybe for cameras or maybe for something else more fitting for the mysterious door. Bill's laughter came to a stop as he reached for the jar. "So the family heirloom is just dirt? Is it like the first dirt ever used on the farm or something?" Liam said with an empty voice and soulless eyes. I had never seen him look that distraught over anything in his life but I'd be pretty disappointed too if I waited my whole life just to see a jar of dirt.
"Not a bad guess there young man, but it's a little bit more special than that." As Bill answered Liam's question he opened the jar and the air began to shift. The dirt began to glow a starchy white and the boring old dirt became mystical pieces of earth that formed into what appeared to be a brand new pitchfork. The entire class erupted into applause and cheers for the display put on by the Head Farmer but I completely froze after what had been unveiled. Bill held up the glowing farmer tool. "This is the Douglas Family heirloom. This belonged to the first Head Farmer, Christian Elliot Douglas."
The energy in the air had completely changed, and as it did I recalled a history lesson that Liam never shut up about in class. It was said that in history, there were Potato Power users who had the ability to conjure up items as their powers and the most powerful users were able to make their items permanent even after death because their soul, mind, and body still reside within them. These items are known as Legendary Potato Artifacts and they can exist for centuries. That's when I felt a familiar hand rest on my shoulder. "You can sense it too huh, this one has a lot of energy for a Potato Power, and it's not even his," Mr. Wilson whispered while smiling at me. He must have noticed how star-struck I was with my jaw hanging open that whole time, no one else in the class other than us could comprehend what was truly in front of us.
"So this is a real Legendary Potato Artifact," I accidentally blurted aloud. Everyone in the room fell silent, all the questions and cheering came to an abrupt stop. What I hadn't noticed was that I moved from the back of the group to the very front unintentionally and I was smack dab in the middle of the room. Bill was now looking down at me glaring with a burning expression of pure hatred that I had been all too familiar with. "Now listen here boy, don't you go disrespectin' my family. You may hate the tatos' this Pitchfork created but I won't tolerate you dissin' my late grand pappy," he growled at me while clenching the Pitchfork even harder. "I didn't mention your stupid family you weird hillbilly that's what the Pitchfork is called!" I boomed back at him. I had enough of his obvious prejudice against me and my potato indifference. "Hey hey! Everyone just calm down we don't have to yell at each other over a little misunderstanding," Mr. Wilson had slid in between us swiftly to try and de-escalate as much as possible, but I was so mad at this grown man acting like a child. "No… I am sorry Mr. Wilson but I believe that I have a lesson I need to teach this one," as the farmer protested against my teacher he drew the pitchfork back like a mighty trident aiming it directly at me.
The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air, and through at least two walls and one window wondering why things always ended up being a fight. I was lucky though, moments before the tips of the pitchfork could make contact with my chest, I felt a potato cloud envelop around the top half of my torso. "Thank god," I said to myself under my breath. Mr. Wilson had always looked out for me, he really deserves teacher of the year. I was able to get up feeling mostly okay but I was now in the backyard of my new number one enemy. "You're a tough one to crack, boy," I shifted my head towards the loud roar that came from the direction of the house. Bill was still eyeing me down from what was left of the window. He started to glow with a starchy white aura and began to charge his pitchfork for another shot. I was not going to let him hit me from all the way over there, I readied myself and shouted "You wanna fight Bill, then come at me!" He lowered his pitchfork back and jumped down from the top of the house. As he landed, he shook the terrain and I couldn't help but reactively gulp.
My classmates, the guides, and the Head farmer's little brother all poured out of the house along with some farmers from down the road, all of them were looking at me like I had just committed the biggest crime in the world. The ground began to shake, way more than when the farmer touched down. I looked back at Bill, he had placed his free glowing hand on the ground with a smirk on his face and his stupid glare. The lawn began to crack and tear as potato plants began to sprout from the ground, becoming larger and larger, turning into what seemed like Golems made out of solid potatoes with potato plant hats to match. I bolted towards my classmates instinctively to get as far away from those things as possible. I had never seen anyone with powers like this before. Bill had summoned a total of four Potato Golems, all with glowing starchy eyes and no other facial features. Three of them were around ten feet tall while the other easily stood at over twenty feet. The Titanic-looking Golem had Bill resting on his right shoulder and stood still with the same resolute look in his eye.
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It looked like there was no turning back now, my body shook and my back became sweaty but I prepared to fight anyway. As I glanced back at my friends I noticed that Sally stood in front of Liam and Brooke with her arms splayed back as if she was protecting them like a motherly human shield. When I witnessed her resolve it was then when I remembered a conversation we had on the bus ride here. She had told all of us she didn't even have any Potato Powers, and probably never will, but a distant half-sibling on her Father's side did, so the school recommended she take the class anyway. Seeing how Sally defended my friends with no powers gave me the bit of confidence I needed and I think I stopped shaking.
I conjured the energy of my Potato Powers into the base of my stomach letting it flow freely throughout my limbs and out my fingers and toes, allowing the aura to fully envelop my body. I made a fist with both my hands and directed a good portion of my power into my hands. Unlike most Potato Power users, my aura flickered like the flame of a candle but harnessed two colors in it rather than the standard starchy one. My Potato Power contained a murky deep indigo that battled and danced against the bright everyday starch light. My Yin and Yang like aura was a clear representation of my indifference in this world.
When I stood against those giants made of potatoes the only thing I could feel was my heart beating through my chest and a surge of energy in my feet. I instinctively charged at the Golem in the middle thinking I could rush it down first, but as I approached carelessly the Golem on my right did a quick sweeping kick to counter my advance. That kick hurt a lot and launched me backward toward my classmates. As I flew through the air, I used the momentum to do a backflip, which created air resistance and slowed me down, allowing me to land in front of my friends.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Nolan, are you okay? Did that hurt? Do you need a Doctor? Why is Bill Douglas trying to fight you?" Brooke rattled away with questions upon landing. Before I could respond to her very appropriate anxiety attack, help came to the rescue. "Brooke you gotta chill out and breathe, your face is turning red and you look like you're about to pass out," Liam interjected nonchalantly. Liam's calm tone and relaxed approach always worked to calm us down and Brooke began to breathe again. As he rested a hand on her shoulder he turned to me, "Being able to make giant potato henchman dudes is pretty cool and all…" his face started to look more and more worried, "But the guy looks really seri- Nolan watch out!" As I turned back two giant potato fists dangled high in the air ready to bash all my classmates. The unattended Golem on the left must've gotten bored because it had fully sprung into action. As his double slam came down, a giant potato cloud shield came out. The swiftness and clever mind of my favorite teacher had protected all of us from a starchy doom.
"Everybody please remain calm," Mr. Wilson tried to shout over the panic of high schoolers. Even though the potato cloud shield was able to absorb one blow the Golem did not let up, it continued to unleash fist slams one after the other. My teacher did a stellar job at holding against the gruesome attacks so I decided to act while it was a little distracted. While it swung away at my peers I directed some potato energy into my right leg and swung it directly at the shin of the Golem. It's left leg had completely splattered into starchy bits across the farmer's backyard. The Golem had fallen onto its destroyed leg and lost it's balance. "Woah nice one Nole that was freakin' dope!'' Liam cheered from the sidelines. But it was not over yet, I could sense that the damaged leg was going to regenerate, but very slowly.
While I thought the Golem with one leg was going to be out of commission for a little while, I charged the center Golem with a full swing of my fist. The Golem reacted quickly, matching me with the same move, which resulted in a gigantic potato punch clash. As we clashed, the right Golem began to move. It came with a quick kick but I was able to get into a defensive blocking stance. Sadly, it had done very little for me. I had gotten sent flying towards my classmates again. Luckily for me, I landed on my feet just inches away from the legless Golem. I pushed forward for a second time, but fighting two Golems was proving to be very difficult. They had struck me within the rhythm of each other in every direction; left, right, above, below. I was flipping, sliding, and ducking all over the field but I could not land a single blow in return. "You can't beat me boy, you ain't understand what it takes. You shoulda' been a better kid, one who doesn't mouth off at grown folk." the villainous lumberjack mouthed off. Bill's comments had pissed me off just enough because I managed to strike the elbow of one of the Golems as they launched a big attack. Unfortunately, it hadn't done that much damage. I did it again to the knee of the other Golem as it's leg came down with a mighty stomp, but I had unfortunately gotten a similar result with it too.
That is when I began to notice that if I didn't strike with enough potato energy the Golem's could regenerate easily, and their defenses were already strong enough as is. I had struggled to keep up and I could tell I was slowing down but that's when I noticed someone from the pack of classmates run out to the side of the huddle. The boy was bright red with anger and he held a glowing potato with a fiery aura around it. The potato had begun to turn red and the energy became more intense. "Hey, you stupid giant over here!" He bellowed. "Brian Dermott get over here right this instant!" Mrs. Campbell screeched over the chaos. Brian then launched his potato straight toward the Golem on the right completely taking its left shoulder off. "Get a load of my Hot Potato!" He snapped, ignoring our chaperone. I could tell that the Golem had felt that one but it wasn't enough. Brian then unleashed a flurry of smaller hot potatoes riddling the giant with burn marks. Each of the holes on the body of the Golem closed quickly but it didn't matter at all. Brian had charged up a super hot potato through all the cover of the smaller ones. A bright blazing blue flame had covered the starchy vegetable and Brian had begun to sweat very hard. He gave the super hot potato a full swing of his arm, and as it rocketed towards the Golem it's rotation span faster and faster. The flaming projectile had struck the chest of the formidable giant with blazing glory exploding on impact. The Golem on my right couldn't regenerate fast enough as its body burned away. I took that opportunity to charge up some energy, and as I did I leaped through the air and kicked the Golem's burning head clean off its body. The Golem's remains had fallen to the floor and began to dissipate into an even paler starchy aura.
With the right one gone, I started to brim with confidence, I even looked the head farmer in the eyes as I charged up my next series of attacks. I pulled more of my potato energy towards my fist and my hand glowed brightly with my dichotomous aura. He looked as if he was filled with rage, but as he spoke out he spoke softly, "Your teeter totterin' boy… I reckon there may be hope for you yet." I ignored him and the Titanic Golem and went straight for the remaining one in front of me. Brian had focused on throwing more hot potatoes at the one unleashing attacks on my classmates so I had no more distractions. I started with a kick towards its fist shooting a punch away from me. Then I followed up with a hefty strike to the chest pushing the giant completely back. I charged again this time striking both legs, I punched the ankle of the left leg and then shattered the knee of the right. As I kept the momentum of my movements I was now behind the starchy beast. I leaped as high as I could, coming down like a comet of energy to strike down the Golem's head, finishing it off completely.
I glanced back again towards Bill, and he was completely infuriated. The super big Golem had begun to move and I knew that the real trouble was finally underway. I had felt a pitfall slowly sink in my stomach gazing up at this titanic monstrosity. "You've had more than enough fun boy, it's time I situate this once and for all." Bill boomed from atop its right shoulder. The Titan then raised its splayed hand casting a shadow across the entirety of the backyard and slammed its open palm towards me. I was prepared to launch a counterattack towards it in retaliation but that was when Mr. Wilson conjured the biggest potato cloud possible to completely shield everyone from the blow. "All you kids need to evacuate and get to somewhere safe now!" he announced at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, there was nowhere else to go. The impact from the grand potato slam had all its energy go into the ground sending cracks and divides across the terrain making it completely unsafe for everyone involved.
When I had realized how dangerous the battlefield had become I focused my attention on how I could get to the head farmer. That's when the right leg of the Titan had begun to move. As it stomped the ground it sent a massive tremor knocking everyone including me down. Bill had sent his land to ruin and even the house began to start toppling over. When the second arm slam came down that is when I decided to go all in. I put as much energy as I could into my legs and made a dash for it, quickly running up the Titan's arm. When I sprinted up the monster's right arm, Bill became adamant about letting me progress. He charged up the pitchfork and let it rain at me. I swiftly dodged it with ease that time I was not about to let this opportunity slide away. As I closely approached Bill I opened up our confrontation with a flying kick to the head to which he responded with a block with his arm.
"You foolish brat, you shoulda' just eaten your tato's!" he roared at me with a flurry of punches. Bill's hits were easy to dodge, it had seemed as if his energy levels were getting low, most likely from summoning a colossal potato being. I may have become overconfident because he ended up landing a punch to my chest. The attack had sent me flying down the arm of the Titanic Golem. The cards must've been in my favor because not only did I not fly off and die but I landed right next to the legendary pitchfork. I grabbed it and then charged the stupid farmer again but this time I had put my energy into the pitchfork slamming it onto the right shoulder of the Titan. That's when the Golem Boss's arm fell clean off the body. "Give that back!" Bill yelled, clawing away at the family heirloom. In his series of attempts to grab the pitchfork back, I had dropped it and it fell over 20 feet. With it gone, I had to rely on my own power and skills. It seemed like Bill was too caught up in the loss of his family's pitchfork. I took that opportunity to get some hits, throwing him off balance. That's when I charged up a big one with my right, I channeled all my contrasting potato energy in my fist, knocking him completely off the Titanic Golem.
The Head Farmer who had risen to the top of the potato world with his so-called brilliant potato innovations, had finally fallen due to my selfish indifference.