Disclaimer: I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant.
Author's Note: Yes! Another chapter! And an update to GoneShots. No, you readers are not dreaming. This is reality. Anyway, I feel like this chapter is one of those ones where we jump out of the boiling pot but land in the fire. You'll see what I mean but I don't think you guys will like me as much after this.
As soon as the genius had untangled herself from the very uncomfortable position she and the two very loud boys were in, she jumped to her feet and watched the action. As soon as the tree started to fall, Astrid knew what Caine wanted. She turned away slightly, afraid to see Soren soup splattered all over the sand. Then Sam's brilliant lights flashed. Astrid spun around, wondering what in the world Sam was trying to pull off. With wide blue eyes, Astrid watched as a wide beam of light—wider than she had ever seen Sam use—engulfed the entire dead tree. The smell of scorched wood came into the girl's nose and caused her eyes to water. The brilliant light lit up Sam's determined face and caused the beads of sweat on his brow to shimmer. Astrid looked over at Caine and winced at the pure hatred and fury on the boy's green-tinted face. Astrid couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor boy for perhaps the tenth time that day.
The blast from Sam's lasers sent the tree spiraling backwards, narrowly missing Caine's ungrateful head. Though it missed the boy's head, Astrid could see smoldering embers and sparks shower on top of both brothers and burn into their exposed skin. The charred remains of a once lethal weapon exploded as soon as it hit the ground. Suddenly Sam's bright light dried up and the boy sagged forward. Astrid stepped towards the boy to settle him when he shouted 'Ahh' softly and fell to his knees. Astrid ran to his side, shouting "Sam, Sam!" but it was no use. The boy had already faded out. Edilio and Quinn both jumped to their feet and skidded to a stop next to Astrid, each one trying to get there before the other.
"Whoa…" Edilio breathed softly, wide eyes staring at the unconscious Sam. Quinn just blinked and heard a rustle behind him. Expecting Caine to jump up and toss him through the FAYZ wall, Quinn spun around, hands balled into fists. He sighed in relief to see that it was just a very dazed Brianna and Dekka making it up the hill. Dekka had an arm wrapped around the Breeze's shoulder and led her towards where the three were huddled around Sam. Dekka took one glance at the charred wood, a stupefied Caine just standing there, and an unconscious Sam and shook her head.
"What…happened?" she asked, not entirely sure she wanted an answer. She rubbed at her temple softly.
Astrid turned towards the two and shrugged. "We don't really know. Stuff just kinda happened…"
Brianna narrowed her eyes and slipped out of Dekka's grasp. "If Caine did this to Sam, so help me, that boy's not going to live to see another day."
Astrid suppressed the odd feeling to laugh. She shook her head. "No, Breeze. Caine didn't do this…at least not directly."
"Wha?"
Astrid pointed to the charred stump pieces and then back to Sam. "He was trying to destroy that tree. I guess it got to exhausting for him and he blacked out." Astrid neglected to tell the girl about Sam's weird actions with the clawing at his ears and the other things.
Brianna still looked unconvinced. "Yeah well, I still think we should just finish Caine off now." A soft cry brought all five of them out of their discussion. They turned around to see Caine jam his fingers into his ears. 'Not again!' he had moaned, eyes fluttering closed. He pitched forward and landed hard on his face.
Brianna erupted into mad giggles. "That was beautiful," she said through chuckles. Dekka, Quinn, and even Edilio looked slightly gleeful at the boy's strange actions.
Astrid frowned at their behavior but did not say anything or help Caine. Instead she turned to see Little Pete's gaze fixed intently on Sam. Then after a few seconds it flashed to Caine. After he stared at Caine for the exact same time amount, it seemed to move on to someone in the crowd. Astrid was almost positive it was for her and not someone else standing behind the genius. The girl was ecstatic. For the first time her little brother seemed to be waking up from his videogame withdrawal coma. Lost in the thrill of Petey's breakthrough, Astrid was about to tell Sam about it when she remembered the boy was unconscious. She frowned. Suddenly Edilio swayed on his feet.
"I'm not feeling too good…" he mumbled, tan skin paling. Quinn reached out to steady him. The moment Quinn's hand touched Edilio's shoulders, Pete let out a horrible scream. Quinn jerked his hand and looked as if he had set off a time bomb. Edilio collapsed in the same way both Sam and Caine did. Astrid saw Petey throw himself on the ground, screaming louder and louder. She plugged her ears and wondered if this was similar to the thing that Sam had felt. It still was strange to her that his screaming must've been internal while theirs was external. Through squinting eyes she could see Brianna and Quinn on the ground, grimacing while trying to cover their ears. Dekka was making her way slowly towards Astrid. The look in her eyes echoed Astrid's idea on trying to get Petey to calm down. They both crawled towards Little Pete, Dekka trying to coo in her softest voice with no success.
"Window seat! Window seat!" Astrid shouted at her little brother. The autistic boy did not respond to the trigger words either. He arched his back and kicked into the air like he did back when the FAYZ wall had vanished for a few moments. Astrid looked around, hoping to see the wall disappear again. Nothing happened apart from Sam and Edilio shakily waking up. Brianna instantly helped Sam to his feet while Quinn hauled Edilio to his. Astrid wondered briefly if Caine was up yet.
"Can someone shut that retard up?" an angry voice shouted behind Astrid. The girl grimaced. Yeah, he's up. Astrid thought grimly. He's mad his plan didn't work. Purposely keeping her back turned to the enemy freak, Astrid slowly made her way to a still screeching Petey. She patted his head and whispered soothingly to him. After Sam, Edilio, and Caine had woken up, his screams were not nearly as loud. He seemed to be winding down in his tantrum.
"It's okay, Petey… It's okay…" Astrid half begged for her brother to stop. Suddenly the howling ceased. The little boy looked once more at Sam, Caine and now Edilio—It was Edilio he was looking at before, Astrid thought, feeling an 'aha!' moment—and returned back to his comatose state. His fingers moved lethargically, playing a video game that wasn't there. Astrid's shoulders sagged. So much progress lost.
Silence filled the sandy dunes for a short while. No one dared to say or do a thing. Caine slowly struggled to his feet and glared at the people around him.
Sam looked around wildly. "What happened?" He said, finally breaking the silence. Brianna, Dekka, and Quinn shrugged. Edilio still looked a little woozy. Astrid was about to explain when Sam suddenly disappeared.
"Sam!" she screamed. Everyone gasped and turned towards Caine almost expectantly. "What did you do?" Astrid demanded. "When is his birthday?" She already knew the answer to the latter question but she had to make sure.
The dark haired boy shrugged. "We turn 16 next month," he said in a carefree voice. "It wasn't me. And frankly I don't care."
Astrid glared at him and suddenly a flying hand caught the boy's face. He staggered backwards and narrowed his eyes at Astrid. "I expected malice from the Breeze over there. Not from you, Astrid the weak genius."
"Where is Sam, you half-witted Cro-Magnon?" she shouted at him, mind too frazzled to think of a more offensive insult.
"Did she just call him something you'd put on a salad?" Quinn asked Edilio softly, his humor falling flat. The Honduran just ignored him and the boy with the fedora turned back to the unfolding action.
Caine look like he was going to exchange a few pretty words when he too suddenly disappeared. The remaining kids gaped at the empty space.
"What happened…?" Brianna whispered, eyes wide.
Dekka shook her head. "I don't know."
"They're just…gone?" The Breeze asked.
Neither Astrid nor Dekka answered.
Quinn frowned then looked at the empty spot beside him. "Hey, uh, guys… I don't mean to bug you or anything…but where's Edilio?"
Nemesis! I am ready!
Little Pete blinked. Inside his head was the image of his now broken Gameboy. On the screen were four little avatars. Two were undistinguishable. Petey recognized one of the others as Nerezza and the last as part of the other avatar the two players had shared previously. He focused for a while on that one.
It is mine now. We will trade. You will take one of mine. An assortment of faces filled Petey's brain and he tentatively chose one.
Pick two more pieces, the Gaiaphage instructed the boy to do.
Little Pete paused again. Slowly he selected two more pieces. Three faces appeared opposite from the Darkness's avatars.
Are you ready to finally end this feud, Nemesis? You will not succeed this time.
"I will not lose…" Petey mumbled softly, speaking his first words in months. This milestone was lost by all to the panic of the current Sam/Caine drama. After the particularly exciting part with the tree trunk, Petey met Sam's eyes. For a moment the two just looked at each other until Sam was wracked with an attack by the Gaiaphage. Petey fought it off by quickly sending the boy into unconsciousness. A similar thing happened to Caine. Unlike just sending raw shots of pain like he did with Sam, the Gaiaphage simply used his dormant hooks in the telepath's brain to torture the boy. Either method was painful to the receiver. L.P. also sent Caine under. The final piece of Nemesis was Edilio. Though the Honduran did not have powers, Little Pete knew he was destined to fill the space of the third avatar. He had purposely boosted the twins' powers to account for Edilio's lack of powers. The young boy met Edilio's wide, dark eyes and sent him into a sleep to protect his more delicate mind from the Gaiaphage. In his mind Petey surveyed his three pieces with a grim satisfaction. All three had gone up against the Darkness and all three had survived countless attacks. Edilio had survived being shot by Lana and strangled by Drake. Caine survived the cave attack and helped quiet the Darkness for a while. Sam was Petey's main piece. He had been ever since the Darkness tried to kill him off on the school bus. Various other times the Darkness sent minions to murder Sam. The mini fire starter at the start of the FAYZ, the coyotes, Drake, and Caine at the beginning. All sent to rid the Gaiaphage of Sam Temple. Little Pete nodded to himself. It was a good choice.
I accept your challenge, he thought back to the Gaiaphage. The boy threw back his head and screeched loud enough to put the siren at Pilot Spring to shame. As his screaming continued, his pieces woke up and the Darkness left his mind. Petey sent Sam, Caine, and Edilio to the game board and waited for the Gaiaphage to finish his turn.
The toy box with the sun in the corner waited for the game to end.
So, no, Caine wasn't killed by the tree trunk, but now three of our favorite characters have disappeared. Does anyone else sense the action is picking up? I hope the 'Invitation Accepted' part of the title makes sense now. Thank you to all of my reviewers!
Kate of Carlay - Thank you for your reviews! I really appreciate them. About the Brian part, I, um, completely forgot that I had typed that it was his brother. After you said that, I went back, read it, and laughed for about five minutes at my stupid error. Hope it wasn't too bad for you. xD
Atchair - 'Tis alright about not reviewing. I was kinda worried about writing Caine because I didn't want him to sound all mopey and stuff. Thanks a ton for the review!
JokerGrace - Well, compared to the other things I've written, this chapter was a wittle baby. Could you believe it if I said that thinking about Astrid's power was the entire inspiration for this whole fic? It'll come more into play in later chapters. Thank you for your review!
futurecullen26 - Thank you very much! I'm glad you are enjoying this so far.