Chapter 17

Waking up to Karmageddon

When I woke up, I found Madison sitting in a chair by my bedside. I quickly came to the conclusion I was in the school’s hospital wing. Madison was skimming her book about her powers that Rockzee gave her, and was too distracted to notice I was awake.

“Hi, Madison!” I Said as I sat up. Her reaction wasn’t what I was expecting though. She dropped her book in surprise and fell out of her chair. I started laughing but quickly stopped when I saw the horror on her face.

“You’re awake?!” She said as she stood up quickly. “I’ll be back Ryder, I have to tell everyone.” She then bolted out of the room.

I have known Madison for some time, and this was not her typical response. She is usually very calm and collected. To see her acting like this made me worry that something had happened. “Did Maxwell White strike again?” I asked myself. Then my mind started going deeper and darker… “Did that guy that Nitro talk to tell everyone my secret?” I Said to myself. When your mind gets to this point, things start getting blown out of proportion. “Is the government after me now?” I about jumped out of my bed at that thought before the nurse came in.

“Hello, Mr. Young, my name Emmalee. How are you feeling?” She asked me.

Emmalee was a young, light-skinned brunette. You could say she was easy on the eyes, but if she is a nurse at this school then that means this lady has two things to note; one, she has nerves of steel. And two, don’t mess with her.

“I’m feeling fine, ma’am. Is everything okay? Madison just about had a meltdown when she left.” I asked.

The nurse smiled. “Well Mr. Young, your friends have been awfully worried about you. You see according to record, you have been in here for three weeks.” Said Emmalee. Before I could question her, she continued; “Now we both know where you have been the last few weeks, so in reality, you have only been here a week.”

“A week?” I asked in a loud surprise.”Wait, I have been asleep for a week?”

“Yep!” She said in a calm manner. “Your friends have been very worried for you. Your healer friend has been by your bedside every day trying everything in her power to heal you and wake you up. She kept saying “Not again, not again!” Over and over. Has this happened to you before Mr. Young?”

If it hadn’t been for her throwing out there that Rachel was by my side every day, I would have been very upset with her about how calm she has been about me being asleep for a week.

“No? Was I in a coma?” I asked.

“Oh no, dear! You were just exhausted from your intense training with Mr. Nitro and Mr. Dallas. They said you went farther and harder than any student ever had. Quite a feat if I must say Mr. Young to impress Mr. Dallas.” She said with an impressed smile on her face.

If too much information could overload a human, I would be out for another week. “Mr. Dallas was the man in the basement?” I asked.

“Yes! He is the mind super that put you into the sleep state. They used to call him Mr. Sandman. He is very well known for his powers. The dean uses him from time to time to train students she deems worthy.” Emmalee told me.

“Does that mean him and Mrs. Dallas…?” I stopped.

“Yes dear, they are husband and wife. Quite the scary pair if you ask me. But they are very well together. He is more on the funnier side then she is.”

“Mrs. Dallas, funny?” I Said to myself.

“Anyways, How is your body? Should be back to normal by now?” She asked me.

I felt around my body, there was no bruises or pain… but something was off…

“My muscles…” I said quietly to myself, but Emmalee heard me.

“Oh yeah, that is a side effect to using Mr. Nitros power. Your muscles grow rather rapidly. You will have them for a while if you keep training. But if you don’t the six-pack you gained will be gone in a few weeks.”

“I have a six pack?” I asked myself as I started feeling my stomach. Sure enough, they not only were there they were defined.

“Yes, again Mr. Young. Now if you will excuse me, your friends will be here any minute. You are not allowed to leave the wing though. Mrs. Dallas wanted to go over something’s with you.” She said as she waved and left the room.

I laid in bed with a blanket draped over my legs. I still had some of my clothes on, but they weren’t the clothes I wore when I passed out. “I really hope she didn’t change me…” I thought to myself.

Dustin came in first followed by Kyle. They were so happy to see me awake and okay. Dustin about knocked my arm out of socket when he hit my back to welcome me back to the land of the living.

“Man I’m so glad you’re okay. We told Jared that if you don’t wake up neither would he.” Said Dustin.

“Jared?” I asked in confusion. “You guys thought Jared put me in here?”

Kyle and Dustin looked at each other then Kyle spoke. “I saw you run to Jared’s room, then the next morning we heard you were in the hospital wing. We all assumed Jared did something bad…”

I felt bad for Jared, my friends are very protective (personalities of future heroes) so I imagine they really gave him a hard time.

“Jared helped me with my power guys. I left his room to go talk to Mrs. Parks but Mrs. Dallas caught me along the way.”

“Mrs. Dallas put you in here? Man remind me never to go to her office.” Said Dustin.

“Her office is actually awesome, but that is beside the point. Where is Jared?” I asked.

“Nobody knows. They say he goes straight into a training room, then lunch then back till it’s bedtime. He apparently didn’t want people bothering him.” Kyle said.

“We just happened to catch him once, when he had to eat. Rachel, said when you wake up and she finds out what he did to you, she was going to give it to him tenfold. But he ignored her, and just kept walking. I had never seen her so mad bro. You got a winner there.” Said Dustin.

I blushed. “I don’t have anything there bro,” I replied.

“Yeah, whatever!” Said Dustin with a stupid grin on his face. Dustin never really kidded with me about girls, we mainly kidded about him. “Amazing how you’re the popular one now.” He said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Everyone has been asking about you since you took first in the rankings. People who we have never seen before have been asking for you too, even the former number one.” Said Kyle.

“Former number one?” I have never seen the person before, nor have I ever heard anything about them.

“She’s the devil bro.” Said Kyle.

“Woah!” I Said. “A little harsh don’t you think?”

“She said when you get out, she will have a match with you. There was no question, she was straight forward and unrelenting.” Said Kyle.

“Sounds like everyone else who didn’t like me in my life,” I said.

“Yeah, but none of them were ranked number one in a super school.” Said Dustin with a serious look on his face. “I don’t know what we could do if she attacks you bro.”

“If she does, you can’t get involved,” I Said. Dustin is ranked in top ten, but I had never seen him in a fight. I love the guy but if he were to step in front of a dangerous person… I don’t know how well he would do. Of course, he is probably thinking the same thing about me…

At that moment we heard a commotion outside the room. It was Rachel and Madison, they were coming in.

Madison came in first and gave us a warning. “Kyle, Dustin, she’s mad you guys better get out.” Now normally, no one could tell Dustin and Kyle what to do… but Kyle and Dustin wasted no time and left the room.

On his way out Dustin turned to me with a look of sympathy on his face and said; “Good luck mate!” As soon as they left the room and the door began to close, it slowly began to open again. A face appeared around it, and if I didn’t receive a heads up that she was coming, I never would have guessed it was Rachel at first glance.

Her perfect hair was a mess, her makeup that she always carefully wore was none existent. Her eyes that were always so bright and beautiful were dark and sad like she had been crying non-stop. This Rachel Wilson had lost control, but why? I knew we were close friends, but this truly suggested something else.

She stepped inside and I could see her clothes. She wasn’t wearing anything elegant like she normally did. She was just wearing the school uniform. But her uniform that is usually so neatly pressed and straight was wrinkled and twisted.

“Rachel? What happened? Are you okay?” I asked in concern. But she didn’t respond. She slowly came into the room to my bedside. As she came closer I could see a tear coming down her face. She stopped next to me but she couldn’t look me in the eyes.

“They told us three weeks ago that you were in the hospital wing, but couldn’t be visited. No matter how hard I tried, they wouldn’t let me in to see you. Then a week ago we were let in unexpectedly… when I came in and saw you unconscious… I thought you were going to die…” She said with tears down her face now in full flow. I knew Rachel cared for me, but this was totally different.

“Rachel, I don’t understand. Why were you so worried about me?” I Said, but she ignored me.

“I tried to heal you, but I couldn’t find anything wrong. My connection to your blood flow was flawless. No matter what I did, you never awoke. It was like before…” she said but at this point, her words were jumbled with sobs.

“Before?” I asked.

Rachel’s eyes then caught mine… “Ryder, do you remember when you were eight years old? Do you remember what happened?” She asked me.

I stared at her… I never spoke about it… but there was something I hid from everyone. “Are you talking about when I was sick?” I asked.

Rachel nodded.

“Rachel, how do you know about that?”

She bowed her head like she didn’t want to look me in the eyes anymore… then she spoke in a soft, raspy, voice; “When you were sick, do you remember the girl who always came to your room?”

I looked at Rachel… then saw where she was going and my heart exploded in overwhelming confusion. “Rachel, was that girl you?” I asked.

She nodded again… “My dad was your assigned healer. You had some kind of sickness that couldn’t be healed. My dad had healers from all over the world trying to heal you but nothing was working, and you were dying.” She said this as more tears began to fall. “My dad told me about you and wanted me to be your friend in case it was your last days.”

She then did something unexpected… she put her hand on mine and gripped tight. “I became enamored with how happy you were. You became my best friend in no time. I no longer came because my dad wanted me to, but because I needed to. Ryder, I was crazy about you at the age of eight. Anytime my dad was there I wanted to be there because I got to see you. Your dad called me your little angel because when you slept I was always there sleeping next to you.”

My mind was working at a million miles an hour. This girl was a huge part of my childhood. Then she became a huge part of my life now, and I never knew they were one and the same.

“You stopped coming… Why?” I asked as tears began to bug my eyes.

“My dad made me. He said he didn’t want me getting hurt the day you die. I was so mad at him for everything, not saving you, and making me leave you. I never forgave him… Even after he died…” she said she continued to squeeze my hand. Only now, my hand was squeezing her back.

“Then I got healed…” I said softly.

“Yeah, and you left. I tried to visit you two days after they announced you were healed but you went home. My dad was considered the greatest healer in the world after that…”

“Was my ordeal that big?” I asked.

“You were sick and incurable in an era of supers. Never before had someone ever been impossible to cure. Then one day you were cured. People said my dad challenged the world to heal you, then after no one succeeded he did it. But that wasn’t the truth. My dad had nothing to do with healing you.” She said.

Now I know this is a lot of information for me to process, but to hear that I wasn’t cured by a healer, then was made news because I was sick just floored me. “Who healed me then?” I asked.

Rachel smiled and chuckled in between disbelief and tears. “No one did Ryder. At least that was what my dad thought.” She then pulled out a piece of paper. It had been wrinkled and tear-stained for what may have been years, but there were some fresh tear stains on it as well. She handed it to me. “Do you remember this?”

It was practically illegible at this point, but I remember it well. One night when I was in the hospital, I was mad because of my sickness. I asked the nurse for some paper and something to write with, and I wrote all over the paper. The words were: I hate being sick, why am I sick, I don’t want to be sick, why can’t someone save me… over and over.

“Wow, you had this the whole time? This was during a rough day of my life. It was the day your dad told me you weren’t coming anymore.” I Said while looking at the paper.

Rachel was about to start crying again but she stopped herself. “Ryder, did you look at the paper?” She asked me.

I didn’t realize it, but I never actually looked at the words. I just assumed what they were. But when I read it, it was not what I thought it said.

It read: I am no longer sick, I will never be sick, I cannot be sick… I’ll save myself.

I stared at the paper, it didn’t make sense. “Why does it say all that?” I asked.

Rachel gripped my hand tight and looked me into the eyes. “Ryder, when you were sick and no one could help you… You helped yourself.” She said.

The look of seriousness on Rachel’s face made me want to believe her, but I was too young then there is no way. “Rachel, that’s not possible. I was eight years old then. My power didn’t come to me until I was fifteen.”

Rachel shook her head and smiled. “No Ryder, you never knew you had power but you had it at eight years old. That makes you not only a prodigy but an incredibly rare and powerful one. When you were healed, my dad almost lost his mind trying to figure out how. He said you were special, but he never could have grasped how special. When media called my dad the greatest healer in the world, he was embarrassed. He decided to do whatever he could to earn that title after your story. I think that is what led him to do the mission that took his life.”

I interlocked our fingers to comfort her. I know how hard it is to lose a parent. My mom died during my birth, but she knew her dad. “I am so sorry Rachel…”

Rachel quickly responded: “Do not think I blame you, Ryder. My dad did his job, and sometimes the job takes us away. He liked you Ryder, and I promise he never ever would have blamed you for his death.”

It was strange, but Rachel and I were holding hands… it was nice. It felt like at this point either one of two things was happening. We were becoming closer as friends or… but of course, someone had to interrupt this moment.

A knock at the door surprised us and we instantly separated. A moment later two familiar voices sounded that neither Rachel or myself was expecting. The first person to walk in was my dad; he was short with a black mustache. His smile was nice to see since it had been almost been 3 months. Followed behind him was someone I had only met once. It was Mrs. Wilson, Rachel’s mom.

“Hey Ryder, how are you feeling?” My dad asked as he came in. “Mrs. Wilson told me you were here. Everything okay?”

Rachel tried to back away from the bed, but my dad put his hand on her shoulder and lead her back to my side.

“I’m feeling great dad. Good to see you.” I Said with a big smile. My dad and I got along really well. He ran a charity, so he did a lot of work from home. That gave us plenty of time to hang out after school. But in the last three months we have only talked once.

He came to my other side of the bed and gave me a small hug, but he was acting like I was delicate.

“Dad, I’m fine. Look!” I Said as I stepped out of bed. Both Rachel and my dad cringed but I just point to my body and said; “I just went thru some really intense training, and Mr. Nitro used his power to keep me going. When I finished, I was just so exhausted that I slept for a week. The nurse said it was a normal side effect.”

“A week? Rachel told me you were in the hospital wing for three weeks.” Mrs. Wilson said.

“It was a cover-up so no one knew I went up the mountain to train,” I Said. “I am sorry for worrying you guys.”

“You went up to the cabin?” Mrs. Wilson asked in shock. “Isn’t that placed reserved for certain supers?” She asked.

“Certain supers?” My dad repeated. “Ryder, did you get into trouble?” He then asked.

I laughed then asked: “Do you see Dustin? Because you know if I got into trouble, he would be with me.”

My dad and Rachel laughed. Then he said it was a good point, but you could see on his face he wanted to know what the cabin was about.

“Well Dad, I haven’t had a chance to tell you too much but… I am a super obviously. Not only that I’m pretty powerful.” I Said.

“According to everyone who knows about his powers, he is probably one of the most powerful…” Rachel stated.

“One of the most powerful at the school?” Mrs. Wilson asked in mild surprise.

“Not really…” I humbly responded.

“Most powerful in the world, or of all time…” Rachel said. She was making me blush by her comments, but man was I so glad she said it and not me.

My dad looked at Rachel, then back at me, then back at Rachel, and finally back at me. I assumed he was looking for one of us to say “Just kidding!” But it never came.

“Most powerful of all time? Ryder Young? Didn’t you just discover your powers? How is that possible?”

“Potential Power, am I right?” Mrs. Wilson asked.

“It was considered that yes…” I replied. Now everyone was looking at me including Rachel.

“Was?” Rachel asked with authority. “What happened at the cabin Ryder?” Now Rachel was giving me that raised eyebrow look again. Sometimes I think this look is worse and more useful than her GOP.

“Mrs. Wilson, Dad, if I tell you guys the truth… The whole truth about my powers… You can not tell anyone. I m not even supposed to tell anyone what I am about to tell you. Can I trust you guys?”

My dad and Mrs. Wilson looked at each other then back at me. They nodded but Rachel spoke up. “What about me?” She asked.

“What about you?”

“You didn’t ask me to keep your secret. Am I supposed to leave the room?” She asked.

I just shook my head and smiled at her. “I didn’t ask you, you goober. Because I trust you. Your one of my best friends. Why wouldn’t I tell you?” I finished. By now Rachel’s face was bright red, either from embarrassment or blushing, either way, it was cute.

“Well, since we are all in accord. I guess now would be the time to spill the beans from the beginning… which apparently started when I was eight years old…”

I told them everything about me. I was going to tell my dad eventually anyways, but telling Mrs. Wilson seemed like a no brainer considering she obviously cared for me in some way. Not everyone travels to visit someone in the hospital, and if she loves Rachel enough to be there for her when her friend is sick… she’s trustworthy in my book.

There were a few times in my story that shocked both of our parents. The fact that I healed myself when I was eight years old, how my power works and what I have done so far have been a few of the major “What?” Moments.

Rachel, on the other hand, was cool and collected until I mentioned what happened three weeks ago with Jared.

“Are you kidding me, Ryder? Are you seriously kidding me right now? Just stop! Just stop!” Rachel said with dissatisfaction.

I looked at her with confusion. “What’s wrong, Rachel?”

“I spent three weeks worrying for you to find out you had a new power, and you were practicing it. I threatened Jared, I went to the dean, I even had Ms. Emmalee on my list of people to never heal. But you were fine this whole time. Better the. Fine because you just made yourself all the more powerful.” She said all this, but part of me wasn’t sure if this was seriously scary Rachel or one of the joking proportion. Since I have never seen the ladder at least not too often, I just assume she’s serious.

“I’m sorry Rachel… they wouldn’t let me contact anyone. You would have been the first I promise…” I Said apparently the right words because she turned red, and had a small smirk on her face after that.

“You can mimic any power as long as you use your power on yourself?” My dad asked. “Does that mean you could become anyone, as far as powers are concerned?”

“Yep! So far anyone I have tried to copy has worked.”

“What about Rachel’s power? Have you tried copying her?” Mrs. Wilson asked me.

Rachel gave her mom a short glare, then she glanced back at me to see if I had.

I looked around the room to find a pen. The nurse had one on her desk so I grabbed that one and began a line on my arm. Everyone watched with anticipation as I used my power. The line shifted and glowed gold. The permanent marker usually didn’t need to expand much but the ink from the pen expanded as it glowed and floated around my arm.

“Woah!” Said all three of them, more or less. The shock and surprise caught them off guard.

My dad read the words “healing power” as it floated on my skin.

“Ryder that is amazing.” My dad said.

“Astounding!” Said Mrs. Wilson.

“Ryder… What am I going to do with you?” Asked Rachel.

“What do you mean?” I asked with a chuckle.

“I can’t even protect you anymore…” Rachel said with a little sadness in her voice. “I’m useless to you now that you can heal yourself.”

“That is the furthest thing from the truth Rachel Wilson.” Said Mrs. Wilson. “Your father should be the example why you should know that Ryder needs you with and without your power more than ever. I’d say you both need each other if you’re going to be the worlds greatest…”

“I agree!” I Said. “Besides without you, who am I going to lean on when times get tough? You are the reason why I discovered this power Rachel. Your book showed me how to use my powers. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. Thank you!” I Said as I walked toward her and gave her a large hug. She seemed to enjoy it because she held back on me a little longer than normal.

“I see you too have come quick close to each other. I guess that will be good when the time comes for you two to run the charity.” Mrs. Wilson said with a rather large grin.

“The charity my dad works for?” I asked.

“You mean the charity your dad owns? With me of course.” Mrs. Wilson replied.

“Owns?” I asked.

“You know I never told him that information, Shelly…” I dad stated to Mrs. Wilson.

“I’m sorry Jonathan, but if you planned on keeping that a secret when he has gotten ever so close to my daughter, you have lost your mind.” Mrs. Wilson replied to my dad.

“You own the charity?” I asked.

“I run it, but that is a conversation for another day. Right now we need to get you out of this room and back into school. By the way, what is your rank, Ryder? Dustin’s dad has been bragging every time I see him about Dustin being ranked so high. It’s insufferable.” My dad said.

“Well as of three weeks ago I was number one. Has that changed Rachel?” I asked.

“Nope! And it won’t, I can promise you that.”

“Wonderful! Mr. Strong is going to love that news…” my dad said with a proud smile. “Ryder, keep up the great work. Love you son.”

I winked at my dad and said; ” I will don’t worry.” We then all headed out of the hospital room and spoke to Emmalee about my dismissal.

“You can go, but on your way out all of you have to go to Mrs. Dallas office. She just sent me a note.” Emmalee said.

I looked at the nurse then my dad.

“What did you do this time Ryder?” He said with a laugh.

I shrugged and said; “I don’t know, but hopefully she isn’t sending me back to the cabin…”