He locked his eyes on one of the bounty hunters and ran straight at him. He tackled the hunter and knocked him to the ground. He grabbed the hunter's head and smashed it against the asphalt. He lifted it up and smashed it again. He did not want the guy getting back up-ever.
The second bounty hunter yanked Michael away. Michael landed hard on his back, the breath rushing out of his lungs with a whoosh. The hunter pressed his fingers against Michael's stomach. Instantly a connection between them formed. Michael felt the hunters mind probe his internal organs-and begin ripping a hole in Michael's stomach. He could feel the hot gastric enzymes spilling into his body cavity.
"You want to play, let's play," Michael muttered. He did a quick check of the hunter's body. He could see the organs and muscles and tissue. He spotted an unfamiliar gland at the base of the throat. Let's see what this little baby does, Michael thought. He focused his attention on it and squeezed with his mind.
He felt the hunter rip another hole in his stomach. Michael squeezed his eyes shut as more acid flooded his body. Enough fooling around, he thought. He didn't see anything in the hunter's body that looked exactly like a heart. But he figured that pulsing thing where his liver should be must do something important.
He focused on it and crushed the cells together. He tried to imagine that he was a trash compactor and the heart thing was an aluminum can. He gave it another good squeeze. And it stopped beating.
Michael pushed the hunter off him and pressed his hands against his stomach. He nudged the molecules of the gastric acid, urging them farther and farther apart. The burning in his stomach lessened until it felt like he'd just eaten too many chili dogs with lemon.
Michael caught a twitch of movement out of the corner of his eye. It was the first bounty hunter. He lived?
Time for round two. Michael shoved himself to his feet and took a step toward the first hunter. He heard a wet, squishing sound, and the hunter's body split in two.
Both halves stood up and turned toward Michael, their dozens and dozens of eyes locked on him.
Michael backed away and stumbled over the hunter still on the ground. Before he could move, they were on him. One latched onto the biggest artery in Michael's brain. The other went for his heart.
Red dots exploded in front of Michael's eyes. Then everything went black.
Maria moaned as the light around Michael went dark. This couldn't be happening. She wasn't going to let this happen.
But what could she do? She was back to being an ordinary girl. She didn't have any power.
"Michael, don't give up!" Maria cried. At least she could let him know she was there. Let him know she cared about him. Maybe somehow he'd be able to hear her, the way she'd heard him.
Liz slipped her arm around Maria's shoulders. "Yeah, come on, Michael. You've got to fight. I know you're a fighter."
Alex wrapped one arm around her and one around Liz. "You've got to come back, Michael. You still owe me two bucks!"
At least her friends were here with her. Maria didn't know what she'd do if she had to go through this alone.
That's it! she thought. I couldn't do it alone. None of us can do it alone.
She rushed over and squeezed between Max and Isabel. She grabbed each of their hands in hers. "Alex, Liz, come on. Form a circle-like we did that night in the cave."
Liz and Alex didn't ask questions. They quickly joined the group around Michael. Liz took Ray's hand and then linked hands with Alex. Alex locked fingers with Max. Ray reached out and took Isabel's hand.
The moment the circle of hands was complete, bands of color wrapped themselves around Michael. The sparkling blue emanating from Maria, the emerald green from Max, the bright orange from Alex, the rich amber from Liz, the deep purple from Isabel, and the creamy, almost colorless light from Ray.
Tears streamed down Maria's face. This had to work. What she had felt that night in the cave, the night Max had formed a connection between them, was the most powerful experience of her life. Stronger and deeper than anything she'd felt using the Stone. If the force of the group connection wasn't enough to save Michael, then it was over. He was dead.
"Come on, Michael. Come back to us," Max cried.
"Don't you dare walk away from me," Isabel added.
"I love you, Michael," Maria whispered.
They waited.
"Concentrate, everyone," Maria begged her friends.
She could feel Max's death grip on her left hand, and Isabel's nails digging into her right hand.
Slowy, slowly, a new color appeared, mixed with the bands of blue, green, orange, purple, amber, and white. The brick red of Michael's aura. It grew brighter and brighter until it soaked the room, throwing red light on everything.
Michael opened his eyes. "Can't you get along for one second without me?" he mumbled.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Maria asked. She kept a tight grip on Michael's hand. She didn't think she'd ever let go.
"It's the only way," Ray replied. "I don't want to put it back out in the world where some other innocent human might find it. And nothing on this planet could destroy it. If I keep the Stone here, it will be safe."
"You won't use it?" Michael pressed. "I don't want my 'death' to go to waste. Those bounty hunters were nasty."
"I'll never use it," Ray promised. "How about another Lime Warp?"
"I'd love one," Michael said.
When Ray headed into the kitchen, Maria turned to Michael. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't really tell us what happened."
Michael's beautiful eyes took on a pained expression. "I don't want to talk about it," he murmured. "They killed me, I know it. I was dead. I don't know how you saved me."
Isabel took Michael's other hand and smiled at Maria. "Teamwork," she said gently. "Turns out we all need powers."
"No," Maria corrected her. "We all need each other."
"That was pretty intense," Liz commented to Max as they started down the stairs to the parking lot. "I have to say, my life's gotten a lot more exciting since we became… friends."
Max winced. "Maybe we should stay away from each other completely," he said. "Even being friends might be too-"
"Stop." Liz grabbed him by the arm and pulled him around to face her. "Don't even say that. Didn't you feel what happened in there? Do you think that would have happened with just any group of people? There's something special between us… between all of us. You can't throw it away."
Max stared down into her eyes for a long moment. "You're right." He slipped his arms around her, pulling her against him.
Liz leaned into the embrace, resting her cheek on his chest. Even if they were just friends, she could stay like this forever. Just holding Max, feeling his heart beat.
His heart… it didn't sound right. Didn't sound strong.
Max's arms dropped away from her. Liz watched, terrified, as his eyes rolled up into his head. He slumped to the ground.
"Max?" she cried. "Max!"
[ Version History]
1.0 – scanned, formatted, and spell-checked from mass-market paperback.
2.0 – July 12, 2004 – The_Ghiti – proofed in detail against deadtree format.