The monster's question made Kyle have a lot of thoughts, really quickly, all at once. Normally that would be depicted as a series of individual words and short phrases, but it was happening way too fast and chaotic for that, so a better representation would be:

Monstertanyawhatthehellknowsaboutthelampcouldhehurtjennywhat'sgoingonwhatHELP!

On the outside, this meant he just stood there staring at the monster like an idiot. The creature scoffed and waved him away.

“Get out of here boy!” the efreet snarled. “I've got business with the sorceress. And you don't want to butt in.”

Kyle's first thought was bully. Run.

Kyle's second thought was Tanya. And Jenny!

Call him crazy but efreet sounded kind of middle eastern to him. Now that he'd looked at it he'd seen enemies and things like it in video games, all of them designed with an ancient Arabian flare. So an ancient Arabian type monster showing up a few days after he found a genie in a lamp? It could not be a coincidence. And Tanya was hurt. He stepped between her and the efreet.

“Sorry,” he said, fighting down the fear that wanted to close his throat. “But I'm butting in.”

“...idiot...” Tanya muttered.

“Kyle!” Trevor's voice came from behind him. “You can't just....what the hell is that!?”

Kyle turned around. It wasn't just Trevor, Betty was there too.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded.

“We all got separated in the building,” Trevor said. “Jenny and I wound up here first!”

“An efreet!” Jenny's eyes were wide. “What's it doing here?”

“Look you two just take Tanya and go!” Kyle said, turning back to the efreet. “And if you find everybody else in the school, take them with you! I've got an idea!”

He didn't wait for them to answer, he just ran at the monster. He did have an idea. It was kind of a stupid idea, but it was still an idea. He remembered how strong he'd been when he'd punched Danny earlier. Maybe, just maybe, his wish had given him super strength. Or made him a great fighter. Or something that would let him fight hold off the monster until everybody else could get away.

Seeing his charge, the efreet grinned. Its claws caught fire and it swiped at Kyle's head, but it was just like Danny's punch before, like the blow was moving in slow motion. Kyle ducked easily under the swing and brought his fist up into the efreet's gut. Its eyes went wide with shock as it choked, gagged, and fell to its knees on the ground, gurgling and clutching its gut.

“How did...” Kyle looked at his own fist. “I mean, I hoped I could do something about it, but...”

Kyle turned back to his friends, staring at their shocked expressions. How was he going to explain this? The only one who didn't look shocked was Jenny. She looked panicked.

“No Master don't turn your back yet!” Jenny called out. “He's not...look out!”

She threw up her hands and her skin went from dusky brown to purple pink. There was a roar of frustration behind Kyle, and he turned back to see the efreet stumbling away from him, pink sparkles fizzling around it's eyes.

She said she could do minor magical tricks, Kyle thought. I guess she couldn't disguise herself and blind the efreet at the same time.

The fires within the efreets eyes flared higher, burning away Jenny's spell. It turned its attention to Jenny, snarling, but Kyle ran at it again.

“Hey!” Kyle said. “You're fighting me!”

The efreet swung a punch at Kyle but again, he ducked under it easily and planted one of his own across the efreet's face. Then another. A left, a right, fists smashing into the monster's jaw until one of the tusks broke off. Kyle wasn't much of a fighter, but it seemed like he was so much stronger than the monster it didn't even matter. When his punches knocked the monster's face out of easy reach Kyle switched to it's gut, punching faster and faster, a gatling gun of hits that sent the monster careening across the dirt.

Was that my wish? Kyle wondered. To get really strong? Was that the deepest wish of my heart?

“Heh!” The efreet said, standing unsteadily up. “Not bad, not bad you little pissant! Been a long time since I met a human who was stronger than me. A LONG time! If we keep going toe to toe you'll kick my ass, no doubt about it!”

Wait really!?

There was a glint of rough respect the monster's eye, and Kyle started having an out of body experience. He'd kept his sense of reality through all the genies, sorceresses, and monsters who had come through the ceiling, but finding himself overpowering an ancient beast and getting a respect one warrior to another was...

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Like, he'd seen this crap in TV shows, but...

Screw it. If he was living in a TV show now he'd use TV show lines.

“So give up,” Kyle said, clenching his fists, “and go away. I could do this all night.”

“Yeah but see the thing is,” the efreet said. “That's a lot of speed and power you got going there. Physical enhancement node right? And your reaction time ain't normal either. Gotta be mental enhancement too. So that's two big nodes you've already got committed. Pretty damn impressive...in a close quarters fight.”

The efreet's wings of fire hummed and he floated into the air.

“But I'm an efreet!” monster laughed. “I got my strength and powers built right in! So if I go up here you're just another little human bug!”

The efreet laughed and started throwing fireballs at Kyle and the others. The scene got chaotic fast. Trevor scooped up Tanya and pulled her out of the way, while Jenny ducked and rolled away from a few fireballs thrown in her direction.

Tanya pulled herself out of Trevor's grip and stood, raising her hands towards the monster. All around her feet new flowers sprouted in the grass, ones Kyle couldn't name. Four huge ones grew taller than Tanya and from their blossoms fired spears of green, acidic looking fluid. The efreet just laughed and burned them up in the air, but at least it meant he wasn't blitzing them all with fireballs anymore.

But Kyle could see they were going to lose. So far as Kyle knew the only ones of them who could fight it were him—even if he didn't completely understand why—Jenny, and Tanya. Tanya was already exhausted. If Jenny could help more she would have done it by now. And he didn't understand his own powers at all, but the efreet seemed to and it seemed to think there was no way to fight at long range. By Kyle couldn't see any option except to try.

He was going to try and shoot an energy blast.

He stood with both hands held out, cupped like he was going to catch a ball. He stood firm, proud, and feeling like a total idiot. He was literally mimicking stances he'd seen in anime. Is that how it even worked? Inner power? He tried to feel inside himself for some deep well of power. He almost thought he felt it. Alright, so picture that power flowing outward, into his hands, projecting towards his enemy, like....

Kyle had seen movies where someone tries to fire a gun for the first time and they get thrown backwards by the recoil.

It was a lot like that.

A bolt of lightning shot from the palms of his hands, blasting upwards into the efreet's chest. The crackling energy of it splashed around him. Kyle had absolutely no idea to control what was going on, and a lot of the magical energy wasted itself wreathing his body in snakes of crackling light that, while doing nothing to the enemy, had the benefit of making him look extremely badass. But most of it rose to strike the efreet in the chest, and Kyle saw him start to burn. The sky went white, the monster in silhouette, and with an acrid smell of burning flesh Kyle saw his target's arms and legs disintegrate in the blinding light. When the white flash flickered and faded the efreet was nothing but a burning, screaming husk that flew off into the distance as if fired by the canon.

And at the moment of impact, he also saw Evan and Ammeline coming out of the door of the school.

In the meantime Kyle, of course, went flying backwards along the ground and wound up with his ass in the air against the wall of the school building. Recoil was no joke. Tanya stood over him, sticking out a hand to help him up. She held it out almost begrudgingly, as if she were doing him an enormous favor.

“Thank you for saving me,” she said stiffly as she helped him to his feet. “I didn't realize you were so powerful! What kind of nodes do you have!?”

“I have no idea how to respond to that question,” Kyle said. “I didn't know what I was doing. I've never even...wait! What about the others?”

“They caught the backlash of that lightning bolt you fired at the end,” Tanya said, waving to where Kyle's friends were mostly on the ground unconscious, though Trevor was still standing. Unsteadily, but standing.

“Will they be okay?” Kyle asked.

“I assume so,” Tanya waved a hand dismissively. “I cast a quick charm on them. I can't erase memories, but with any luck they'll all think this was a dream.”

“I meant their injuries,” Kyle said.

“Oh. I think so? I'm not a doctor.”

“Master!” Jenny said, tackling Kyle with a hug and almost throwing him to the ground again. “You were amazing! Since when can you do that?”

“I don't know,” Kyle said, hugging her back. As he felt her warm body in his arms he felt another stab of guilt, and a flash of Evan's leering face, but he forced it down this time. He'd just had a life threatening experience, he could let himself enjoy a hug without excess guilt. Tanya looked at the two of them with crossed arms, biting thoughtfully at her lip.

“Ah yes,” Tanya said. “Things do make more sense now. The last genie. And I thought you were an Uzbedi agent...”

“Hey!” Trevor said, raising a hand like he was in class. “I try to be a pretty easygoing understanding guy but can somebody please explain to me what the everloving holy bugfuck is going on?”

“Dammit,” Tanya said. “My charm won't work if he's awake. Listen, can you believe this all has something to do with a really important secret and it could hurt your friends if you told anybody?”

Trevor looked around at the devestation, and at Jenny.

“Yeah sure,” Trevor said. “I can believe that. It doesn't actually answer any of my questions though.”

Kyle opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a groan from the entrance of the school. Ammeline walked out, holding the side of her head.

“What happened?” she mumbled. “I think I hit my head...”

“Pink!” Tanya hissed.

“What?” Kyle blinked.

“Jenny is still pink!”

“Oh right,” Jenny said, and with a shimmer her middle-eastern skin tone reasserted itself, disguising her as human.

“I'll explain everything later,” Tanya said, looking at Trevor. “The fewer people who know about this the better. And hopefully I can get a few explanations myself.”

“I'm okay with explaining,” Jenny said. “But what's that noise?”

Jenny was right. There were sirens in the distance. And everyone else was starting to wake up.

“We heard a noise outside while we were working late in the lab,” Tanya said quickly. “And when we went out to check, there was an explosion. Everyone okay with that? Can you all remember that story? I do not need the Uzbedi's going crazy right now.”

“As long as explanations are promised,” Trevor said.

“We'll meet up after school,” Tanya nodded. “For now...”

“What the hell happened!?” Coach Saunders shouted, leaning out the window. And then they firetrucks got there, and they had to start the explanations.