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been intimidated by
Spike—the way he pushed people around, the way his large biceps bulged under his shirt
sleeves—but now the senior didn’t seem so big anymore. Spike was just a bully—scared and
pathetic. Quick as a whip, the tentacles jerked the teenager’s body back and flailed him about
the alley once more.
        Simon glanced at the sphere of translucent light and saw the silhouette of
Tonya lying in the bubble. She might have been unconscious or even dead, but he couldn’t tell. He
eased his way closer and tried to peer into the ball. Tonya’s head twitched as though she were
having a small seizure.
        Mustering all of his strength and courage, Simon pierced the sphere with his
hand. The hot, gooey sensation made him feel like he had just stuck his fist into a bowl of warm
Jell-O. He extended his arm a little farther and grasped Tonya’s hand to wake her up.
        Tonya opened her eyes, and the sphere of light exploded all around them. The
shock wave rippled up both sides of the two buildings and shattered every single window at the
same time. A shower of broken glass plummeted to the ground, tearing through the hoods of the
parked cars below. Simon shielded his face and collapsed as shards of glass whizzed by.
        Dazed and in pain, he felt his vision slowly come into focus. Simon realized
he was staring into Tonya’s yellow-green eyes; she had fallen on top of him.
        “Wow, that was great,” she said, giggling.
        Simon’s mouth fell open in amazement. Her beautiful green hair had turned
pitch black from the ordeal, but she didn’t seem to notice yet.
        The two children stood up and looked down the alleyway. Spike lay nearby,
moaning to himself. All the cars had been destroyed, and glass was strewn everywhere. In the
midst of everything stood a lone figure: Buz.
        Simon limped over to the young man and saw tiny bits of glass stuck in his
plump cheeks. Buz’s face and body remained motionless, but his eyes followed Tonya’s every
movement. He trembled as she drew near.
        “Buz?” Simon inquired.
        The large boy fainted.
        It was then that Simon noticed the onslaught of camera flashes coming from
the entrance of the alleyway. Japanese tourists were videotaping them and taking pictures.
        “How odd,” Tonya said, looking at the group of frenzied tourists.
        “Come on. Let’s get out of here!”
        Simon grabbed her hand and led her out of the alley and into the main street.
The crowd backed up as the kids emerged onto the sidewalk.
        “Wait, I need to meet up with my…” Tonya looked up at the multistoried
buildings in surprise and quietly finished her sentence, “…class.”
        Simon pushed her along the street, away from the cameras and tourists.
        
    * * *
        
        Back at the disaster site, a dark figure entered the alleyway. Slivers of
broken glass crunched under his steel-tipped boots as he walked over to Buz. The dark figure
tossed some handcuffs onto the large boy’s chest. Bending down, he reached into Buz’s black
overcoat and pulled out a small phone.
        “You know that favor you owe me?” Butch’s charismatic voice penetrated to the
other end of the phoneline. “Forget about it. After what I’m about to tell you, you’re going to
owe me much more than you can imagine… Yeah, I’d say it’s of national security.”
        
    * * *
        
        Simon and Tonya made their way up the street about as fast as fish swimming
up a waterfall. Everyone in the area flocked to the demolished alley to get a peek at what had
happened. An old Japanese man showed a police officer the footage he had captured of the two
children running from the scene.
        Farther up the street, Simon sprinted past a policeman listening to his
radio. “ … thirteen or fourteen years old, Caucasian, green outfit,