The cold metal pins ached deep inside Jason Reed’s right arm.Jason stood alone on the heavy gray steps of the city courthouse. Cold rain fell from the dark sky, soaking his hair and his clothes. His right arm was wrapped in a thick, heavy white cast. Under the plaster, long pieces of surgical steel held his shattered bones together.His life was completely in ruins. His rich friends had abandoned him. His father had stopped speaking to him. He was facing years in a dark prison cell for bringing a hunting knife into the school boiler room.Jason stared blankly at the wet street. He was not a proud king anymore. He was a broken dog, beaten and kicked into the freezing mud.A long, sleek black sedan slowly pulled up to the curb. The car had no license plates. Its windows were tinted completely black, hiding whoever was inside. The car stopped right in front of Jason. The tires hissed softly on the wet pavement.The back door clicked and swung open. The inside of the car was completely d

The old Audio/Visual room was hidden deep behind the school library. It was a tiny, cramped space filled with broken televisions, tangled black wires, and dusty video cameras. The room smelled like warm metal and old plastic. There were no windows. It was the perfect place for a secret meeting.Adrian Cole stood in the center of the dark room. A single, bare light bulb hung from the ceiling, casting long, sharp shadows over his face.Lily Carter sat on a broken plastic chair. Her silver laptop rested on a stack of old cardboard boxes. The bright screen lit up her face. Marcus Kane stood silently near the locked wooden door. The giant boxer crossed his massive, scarred arms. The air in the room was completely heavy with tension."The Homecoming dance is tomorrow night," Adrian said softly. His voice was calm, but his dark eyes burned with fierce intensity. "Jason Reed will be inside the gymnasium. He is the trigger. The Cobra mercenaries will be outside with heavy weapons. They want to

The school hallway was completely dark and totally silent. All the lights were turned off. Adrian Cole stood alone in the shadows. He looked at the glowing blue minimap in the corner of his vision.The twelve glowing red dots had split up. Six dots were moving toward the cafeteria. The other six dots were walking straight toward the science wing."Lily," Adrian whispered very quietly into his hidden earpiece. "Where are they exactly?""They are in the science hallway, Adrian," Lily’s voice trembled inside his ear. "They are moving in a perfect line. They look like real soldiers. Please be careful!"Adrian did not answer. He put his phone away. He looked up at the ceiling. The school ceiling was made of cheap, square white tiles. He used his magical, System-enhanced Agility. He jumped high into the air, pushed one of the white tiles up, and pulled his body into the dark, dusty space above the hallway.He slid the white tile back into place. He laid flat on his stomach in the pitch-blac

Inside the gymnasium, the happy Homecoming dance had turned into a complete nightmare.The heavy, thumping music was dead. The beautiful spinning disco balls were completely dark. Hundreds of teenagers pushed against each other in the pitch-black room. They were crying, shouting, and holding onto their friends. They were completely trapped.Suddenly, a loud, terrifying sound echoed from the very back of the gym.BANG! BANG! BANG!Heavy metal rattled. Someone was hitting the rear fire doors from the outside. Four remaining Cobra mercenaries were trying to break into the gym. They wanted to take the screaming teenagers hostage."They are getting in!" a boy yelled, pointing at the shaking metal doors.The students screamed louder and backed away in pure terror.But right in the middle of the crying, panicked crowd, one person was not afraid at all. Sophia Blake stood perfectly still. Her beautiful, icy blue dress seemed to glow faintly in the dark. She did not cry. She did not shake. The

The tiny, dusty Audio/Visual room was completely silent for a few seconds. The only sound was Jason Reed’s quiet, broken breathing as he rocked back and forth on the cracked wooden floor.Then, the silence was ripped apart.WEE-OOO-WEE-OOO!Loud, screaming police sirens suddenly flooded the night air outside the school. The bright, flashing red and blue lights cut through the dark windows, painting the hallway walls in chaotic, spinning colors. The real world was finally rushing in to stop the nightmare.Lily Carter jumped out of her broken chair. Her laptop screen was shattered, but the main school computer monitor on the metal desk was still glowing brightly."The security cameras!" Lily gasped. Her voice shook, but her hands moved with fast, desperate purpose.She leaned over the main keyboard. Her fingers began to type furiously. Click-clack-tap!"Adrian, the cameras in the hallway caught everything," Lily said quickly, her eyes wide with panic. "They recorded you moving faster th