Jenna looked out the van's window and hummed her favorite song 'Wake me up before you Go-Go' as Jason drove with Billy in the front seat. There hadn't been any problems so far and that was a welcomed relief. "How much farther to wherever it is we're going?" Jenna asked, turning her attention to those in the front seat.
Billy answered with the exact time of arrival, "Just forty-four minutes and fifty-two seconds."
Jason and Jenna both got a chuckle at that before coming to a stop at the Cascada Mine's entrance.
"Are we here?" Jenna asked, leaning over as far as she could to see.
"We're at the gold mine's entrance," Jason answered Jenna then said to Billy, "but, Billy, the sign clearly says…"
Billy cut him off saying, "Keep driving."
Jason shrugged in a 'whatever' fashion but putting the van back into gear and driving forward.
"Oooo….this is exciting but…how am I supposed to do anything here? I doubt the mine is wheelchair accessible." Jenna looked from Billy to Jason and back again.
Jason even shot Billy a quick look of question about that.
Billy's mouth half opened to reply but froze until he finally said, "I – uh – I hadn't thought about that." He was quiet for a second then burst to life, exclaiming, "There's a sled in the trunk! My mom was gonna send it to my cousin back east for their birthday but it's fine, you can use it."
Jenna blinked a few times as she processed this then decided against it. "I think I'll just stay in the van."
"You sure?" Jason asked, quacking looking at her in the rearview mirror.
"If I actually had some use of my legs I'd be all over exploring the mine, but I don't so I'm gonna opt out. It's all good." What really kept her firm in her choice to stay in the van was because she didn't want Jason and Billy to drag her around in a plastic snow sled. That was just too much for her.
Jenna made levity of the conversation when she added in, "But I expect a full report, mister. Leave no stone unturned."
Jason laughed at that and laughed even more when Billy said, "We don't have time to turn over every rock."
Heck, even Jenna got an amused chuckle out of that.
Jenna drummed on her numb legs and hummed her favorite song again as she waited for Billy and Jason to get back – Already it seemed like it'd been forever. Alright, perhaps not forever, but at least an hour.
Her drumming soon turned into hitting because she was so angry and wanted her legs to feel something, but they didn't. Her legs were present and yet completely gone at the same time. It was a feeling Jenna couldn't get over, despite her trying to make light of her condition. Truth be told, she hated it and hated herself for it.
Finally, Jenna stop and cried out in frustration and anger before dropping her face into her hands. "This is your life. Nothing is going to change. Deal with it." These muttered words brought her no comfort. If only she knew it wouldn't be like this forever.
The sound of approaching footsteps made her lift her head and she let out a breath upon seeing her brother return. "Finally!" she shouted at him as he opened the door.
Jason stopped midway of getting into the van because he heard music nearby. "Stay here."
Jenna was not staying there any longer. "Jason, come on! I don't want to be stuck here anymore. Can't we just go if you're done helping Billy?"
"You want to risk rolling around here?" Jason asked, waving his arm at the rocky terrain. When Jenna crossed her arms, not wanting to answer, he knew what her response was going to be. "Then stay here."
"Can I at least have your phone?" Jenna asked, holding her hand out. "Mine died twenty minutes ago."
Jason sighed and handed it over. "Fine. Just don't go messing with my playlists again. I don't want you Rick-Rolling me Wham!-style again."
"I make no promises," Jenna replied in a sing-songy tone as she swiped the phone from his hands.
Jason closed the door with a groan and went to check out where the music was coming from.
"You asked for it," Jenna chuckled and went right into his playlists to alter them. She was still doing this when an explosion happened and she heard faint screaming in the mix.
Jenna slid open the door and leaned her head out. "Jason?!" she didn't hear anything in reply so she tried again, "Jason!" All Jenna heard after that was another loud sound like rock collapsing. She was really starting to freak out now. "What do I do? What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?!"
Like the time of the accident, Jenna went into a kind of fugue state and lost all track of time. What snapped her out of it was the sound of the mine alarm blaring. "Jason?" Jenna called out again as she tried to process from the explosion to the alarm.
Jenna jumped about fifty feet when the van's alarm started to go off as Jason and Billy moved like crazy to get into the vehicle. "What the hell is going on?!" she shouted at them.
Jenna was answered when Jason tossed a clear crystal into her lap before putting the car into gear. "Merry Christmas," he said to his sister before asking Billy if he saw the others down the road.
Jenna couldn't even process the diamond looking thing in her lap, but held onto it nonetheless as she asked, "What others? Jason, what's going on?!"
"I had to dig deeper and we found these crystal things and now we're probably going to get into a lot of trouble," Billy replied.
Even with that information, Jenna wasn't satisfied. Especially when Jason sped through locked gates to go into another area of the mine. "Where are you going?!"
"To get the others," Jason answered, speeding and swerving along the dirt road.
"If you crash this thing I will kill you!" Jenna shouted at him as she held onto her chair, praying the locks on it weren't going to snap or anything.
"If you crash this thing my mom will kill me!" Billy added before going, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" as Jason swerved a tight corner again, just barely avoiding all the mine security that was catching up to them.
Jason saw Kimberly and Trini running up the hill and said to Billy, "You drive."
Billy didn't really like that idea. "I don't drive…" but he didn't get a choice because Jason was already heading into the backseat, so Billy took the wheel.
"Are you insane?!" Jenna demanded to know of her twin as he climbed into the back with her.
"You're on the wrong side," Jason pointed out as he opened the other door. "Who else is gonna pull them in?"
The next thing Jenna knew, Jason was pulling two girls into the van with them. "There's gotta be a joke here somewhere."
"Hello to you, too," Kimberly replied as she adjusted her coat, after getting into the far back of the van.
"What about the other guy?" Billy turned back to ask.
"Look out!" the rest of them shouted, pointing forward, and Billy did just in time but not without knocking a support over, causing a piece of machinery to fall down on the road.
"Just go downhill to the lights there," Jason pointed out.
"You want to drive now?" Billy asked, turning back again.
"Guys…there's a train," Jenna gasped as she patted her brother's arm repeatedly.
"It's gonna be okay, Jen," Jason assured her. "We got this."
A moment later, there was a loud bang on the roof of the van, and a dent coming into it. Jenna gasped as a boy's head appeared outside her window and called out, "Hey!"
"Pull him in!" Jason all but shouted at his sister.
Jenna opened the door and pulled him in. He just happened to fall right onto her lap, not that she could feel it.
He looked up at her and smiled charmingly. "Why, hello there. I'm Zack. Nice wheels."
Jenna groaned and pushed him off so he landed on the van's floor in front of her with a bit of a thud—Something that just made him laugh.
"Are you crazy?" Jason asked him.
"Yeah," Zack laughed, "I am."
Trini, who had climbed into the front seat with Billy said, "Yo, it's catching up."
Jason leaned forward, saying, "Look, there's the railroad crossing. That's the way out, Billy. You got it."
Billy, upon hearing that, floored it.
"Are we seriously trying to outrun a train right now?!" Jenna couldn't believe this was happening.
"He's got it," Zack said to her, followed by Trini saying, "I hope he has it," and Kimberly adding it, "He so doesn't have it."
Billy defied them all by calling out, "I got it!" just before crashing through the train crossing…only to get crashed into by the train.
The impact with the train sent the van flying through the air before crashing into the trees before finally landing on its side on the ground before.
The only thing Jenna could make sense of was a glowing white light before all senses left her.
When Jenna awoke, she sat upright on her bed in her room. "What the hell?" she said to herself when she finally got her breath, thinking everything that happened at the mine was all a dream - Even though she couldn't remember the previous day at all.
Feeling false comfort by thinking the whole mine and train thing was a dream, she stretched with a yawn, threw off her blankets, and got out of bed standing upright. Jenna walked over to her bureau and it wasn't until she saw the wheelchair next to her bed without her in it that she realized she was walking.
Jenna screamed in shock and delight and a whole other swirl of emotions, causing Jason to come running into her room, only to stop in shock.
"You're standing?" Jason said in awe.
"I can feel them!" Jenna cried out. "I can feel them!"
Jason laughed and went over to her sister, picking her up and spinning her around happily. When he set her on her feet, he started to say, "Jenna, I think…" but was cut off by their mom coming into the room.
"What is going on in here?" their mother demanded to know then saw Jenna on her feet. She gasped at the sight of it with tears in her eyes. "It's not possible."
"I can feel them, mom." Jenna laughed happily. "I'm back!"
Mrs Scott wanted to accept that her daughter was somehow alright but they were told by more than one doctor it would be impossible. This made her say to her daughter, "Get dressed. We're going to see Dr Milton." And then to her son, "Get ready for school."
Jenna didn't think it was necessary to go and didn't want to. "But, mom.."
"Now, Jenna!" she demanded then went off to call the doctor.
Once their mom left the room, Jason said, "My knee is better, too."
Jenna's hands touched her legs to make sure she wasn't dreaming and that's when she pulled the white crystal thing from her pocket. "Maybe it's magic," she joked.
"Maybe," Jason replied, showing her his red one. "I've got one, too."
Returning it to her pocket, she said, "I don't care what mom thinks. I know I'm fine and I don't need this thing anymore." Jenna's intention was to just move the wheelchair away from her bed but she ended up flinging it across the room with a crash against the wall.
"Whoa, Jen," Jason held his hands up in a calm down manner.
Jenna was shocked at what happened. "I don't know how that happened."
"Maybe you should see the doc," Jason suggested and when he tried to get her going by opening her drawer, he pulled out its entirety and ended up breaking it in his hands.
The twins shared a look of 'what the hell is going on' between them. "Don't tell the doc about this?" Jenna ventured.
Jason nodded and confirmed, "Don't tell the doc about this."
Jenna missed all her morning classes because of all the tests the doc ran on her, trying to figure out what happened. All he could come up with was that it was a medical miracle and didn't have an explanation. Well, Jenna thought she had one but it wasn't one she could say aloud.
When the doc finally let her go it was about lunch time. "Are you satisfied, mom?" Jenna asked as they pulled into the school's parking lot.
"Was it drugs?" her mom asked. "Steroids or something?"
Jenna laughed at that. "Do you seriously think I'd do that?"
Mrs Scott sighed. "I know how much getting back to gymnastics means to you."
"I didn't do or take anything mom," Jenna firmly retorted. "And don't you think the doc would have found anything if I did? I couldn't walk, now I can. Can't we just be happy about that and let it go? Maybe now I won't be such a burden anymore." Jenna got out of the car and slammed the door before her mother could say anything in reply.
Jenna went straight to the cafeteria since her next class wasn't until after. The first thing she saw a group of kids surrounding Billy like he was the most popular kid in school. "Is this the Twilight zone?"
"You're walking? What drugs did you take to make that happen?" one of the creeps from their school called out to her.
Jenna turned around, walked right over to the creep, grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "Strength and perseverance with a little determination. Try it some time, asshole."
"Whoa, Jen," Jason pulled her hand off the struggling creep and guided her away from them. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I will rip the tongue out of the next asshole that talks to me like that," Jenna seethed as she walked over to Kimberly and Jason at the lunch counter.
"With how strong you are now, you just might end up doing that," Jason replied, pulling his red crystal form his pocket and setting it down with Kimberly's pink one and Billy's blue one. Jenna followed suit with her white one. "Something's definitely happening to us."
"I feel like we need to go back there," Kimberly stated then gasped when all the crystals started vibrating and levitating.
Each of their hands shot out to lower their crystal back onto the counter. "Whoa…" Jenna said in mild awe, "the counter is boiling."
The others checked the temperature then pulled their crystals off once things started melting and boiling on the metal lunch counter. That was that for Jason. "We're going back there," he said to them all, "today."
End Part 2