Chapter 41
Gwen followed Carlos into a large room with a Hexagon symbol in the center of the room connected by a white line to several smaller Hexagon symbols.
"Is this what I think it is?" Gwen asked.
"Yep. A Transport Method system, able to send a group of Avatars to multiple locations at any one time." Carlos answered. "But it needs a single Avatar to remain behind to coordinate the system. A single Hexagon requires one Avatar and the other Hexagon at the other location to make successful Transport Method but a multi-person system requires an Avatar for sending more than one Avatar to different locations since it's all part of a large single system. Without someone to coordinate the system you'll just be sent to any other location with a Hexagon symbol."
"So this can send us almost anywhere in the world instantly." Gwen surmised as she looked over the symbol.
"Basically." Carlos stepped into the center Hexagon. "All right. Who do you want to go after first?"
"Cody." Gwen answered as she stepped onto a circle. "He's the closest and without help he won't make it to Hawaii and end up possibly dying of thirst."
"And Jimmy get's who?" Carlos asked.
"I can take Al if he's on that train." Jimmy answered as he stepped onto another circle. "Who would suspect someone undercover as a janitor on a train?"
"Okey-dokey! I'll have to send Jimmy first since Al is on a moving train." Carlos nodded. "If I mess up this one he'll probably end up scattered all around the world with his body apart appearing at completely random locations."
"Yeah we wouldn't want to go through that…again." Jimmy shuddered.
"Again?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"Don't ask." Carlos and Jimmy said at the same time.
Gwen shook her head. "Can we get on with this?"
"Right." Carlos pulled out the pocket knife that served as Warhawk's connection to his Avatar. "We're doing this."
The knife released a burst of black smoke that Carlos inhaled and a orange flaming aura surrounded his body. The large Hexagon and the surrounding symbols reacted to Carlos activating his Avatar powers by glowing bright white.
"Here we go." Carlos closed his eyes.
Gwen and Jimmy watched a holographic projection of the world appeared in front of Carlos and he zeroed in on the moving train going through the United States and down into Mexico.
"Got him." Carlos grinned. "Here you go, Jimmy!"
Jimmy was engulfed in a bright light and vanished.
"One down." Carlos laughed. "I just hope he didn't land somewhere he was seen."
Xxx
"DAMN YOU CARLOS!" Jimmy screamed for his life as he ran for his life from the big tiger that attacked him for scaring it when he appeared in its cage.
Xxx
"So who do you want?" Carlos asked.
"Cody." Gwen answered.
"Really?" Carlos looked surprised.
"Yeah." Gwen nodded.
"Not that I am questioning you but why?" Carlos questioned.
"I can't be biased with anyone of the suspects, even if they are friends of mine. I need to prove that Cody and the rest are either Nebula's Avatar or not." Gwen explained.
Carlos smiled. "Well, it seems you have come a long since Kurt started training you."
"I'm more mature than the both of combined and I have been since I started." Gwen retorted. "And I have Andromeda to thank for that."
"You flatter me, Gwen." Andromeda commented happily. "You were mature beyond your age and you grew up faster than you should have when you looked after your brother."
"Yeah, because my dad left when he was unable to cope with being a father since he and mom were so young." Gwen nodded. "And then I lost a good friend when I was six which is how I met you. You saved my life and here we are today."
"Sounds like the start of a crazy adventurous story." Carlos commented.
"Considering how many writers I know who are actually Spirit Avatars I'm not surprised you'd say something like that." Gwen looked at Carlos. "So let's hurry up. Send me to where Cody is so I can find out if he's Nebula's Avatar."
"Got it." Carlos nodded as Gwen stepped into the circle. "And here we go!"
Gwen's vision was engulfed by a bright light.
Xxx
When Gwen opened her eyes she was greeted with the blazing sun and the hot weather that was the Drumheller.
'Thank the Spirits for Cooling Methods.' Gwen thought as she looked around. 'What the? Cody hasn't left the plane yet?'
"Zodiac! Aw." She could hear Cody groan. "Bicycle."
Gwen then heard something hit the floor as she took cover.
"How is any of this crud going to get me to Hawaii?" Cody groaned. "If Sierra or Gwen were hear they'd think of something."
'Nice to know you have so much faith in my, Cody.' Gwen sighed as she put a hand on her Omni-Glove. "Veil against the material."
She vanished from sight as she walked out and saw Cody drop a bicycle that broke.
"Oh man, I'm never going to get to Hawaii. I should have just quit and gone home with Gwen." Cody sat down, looking miserable.
'Now I just feel sorry for him.' Gwen held up one finger. 'But this must be done. Spectral Volt.'
"Ouch!" Cody yelped as he leapt up into the air from a sudden shock to his back that made him fall down onto the junk pile in front of him. "What the?! What shocked me!?"
He looked around fearfully and Gwen couldn't sense any spiritual activity from him. 'Either Nebula's calling my bluff or Cody's not his Avatar.'
'He would have reacted to the Spectral Volt, no matter how low-powered it was.' Andromeda commented.
'So that means…' Gwen started.
'That Cody is not Nebula's Avatar.'
'Oh thank God.' Gwen sighed in relief. 'I didn't want to fight him.'
'Now there are two more to locate.' Andromeda reminded her.
'Yeah.' Gwen nodded. 'Alejandro and Ezekiel.'
She spared one last glance at Cody.
'You can't help him.' Andromeda knew what she was thinking.
'I know and he's much safer here.' Gwen closed her eyes and sighed as she turned to walk away. "Good luck, Cody."
Cody looked up when he thought he heard a whisper but Gwen was long gone.
Xxx
"Carlos, my lead was a dead end. Cody's not Nebula's Avatar." Gwen spoke through a symbol that appeared in front of Carlos.
"Guess that's a load of your mind, huh?" Carlos smirked.
"It will be when we find the real Avatar. How's Jimmy holding up?"
"He's tracking Alejandro on a train." Carlos answered. "Leaving Elliot and Dawn to track Ezekiel."
"Well, Alejandro will be hardest to track. He's smarter and faster than Zeke." Gwen said thoughtfully. "Elliot and Dawn won't have any trouble tracking him down."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Carlos looked at the map.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that home-school's off the grid. I don't know where he is." Carlos explained.
"You're kidding."
"Do I sound like a kidder?"
"You really want me to answer that?"
"No time for smart-assery, Gwen. Zeke's not in Canada." Carlos said, sounding very serious. "He can't have moved that fast."
"Where did you last see him?" Gwen asked, now sounding a little worried.
Carlos never sounded this serious before.
"Last I saw of him he made it…on the same train Alejandro is on."
"What?" Gwen questioned, sounding surprise. "He caught up with Alejandro? When did he have the chance for that? No way Al would have let someone follow him."
"Your guess is as good as mine." Carlos shrugged. "Good thing Jimmy's there."
"Not if he's alone with Nebula's Avatar. I need to get onto that train. I need a Site-to-Site Hexagon symbol."
"You mean teleport here then on the train? That's a little crazy. The train's a moving target." Carlos argued.
"I know, but we can't let Jimmy go it alone."
"Fine. Give me a second." Carlos grumbled.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Carlos said as the symbol faded. "The things I do for that girl and she's not even Melissa."
Xxx
Alejandro was relaxing as he sat on a train seat with his eyes closed as he listened to the sound of the train taking him to Mexico.
"Tickets please!"
"Hm? Oh!" Alejandro opened his eyes and searched his pockets. "I believe I have it here somewhere. Here you go." He handed his ticket to the conductor.
"Thank you." The conductor with brown hair and a bit of stubble said as he walked away.
'Ah, this is the life. I'm on the way to victory.' Alejandro smirked.
When the conductor left the car Alejandro was in he quickly drew a symbol in the air that glowed brightly. "Hey Carlos."
"Jimmy! What's up?" Jimmy grimaced at the happy tone in Carlos's voice. "You found El Douchebag yet?"
"Yeah and he's…too relaxed to be the Avatar of Nebula. No one ever saw me on the plane so he wouldn't have reacted to me at all."
"Sit tight. Gwen asked me to send her to your location."
As they spoke the door on the other end of the car began to open up.
"I think I can handle one Mexican pretty boy." Jimmy retorted.
"And I thought the same thing when I accidently released the little ghost dragon in Kurt's lab and look how that turned out."
"Little ghost dragon?"
"Oh right. We agreed to never speak of that. Thanks Jimmy."
"For what?"
"Exactly."
"Huh?"
"Now keep this channel open as I call Gwen."
"She needs to go after the other kid."
"He's on the train with you."
"Huh? Where?"
Before he could hear Carlos's answer he heard a loud screech before something slammed into him.
Xxx
"Jimmy? Jimmy!" Carlos shouted as the symbol in front of him fade. "I lost him!"
"Something must have happened." Warhawk spoke up, sensing how urgent things had just become. "Contact the others and let them know."
"Right." Carlos drew another circle. "Gwen, are you there?"
"I'm here, Carlos. What's going on?" Gwen's voice came through the circle, sounding concerned which was likely because she could hear the tension in Carlos's voice.
"We got trouble. Actually, Jimmy's got trouble. I lost him when he was talking Alejandro and Ezekiel on a train." Carlos answered.
"I thought everyone split up."
"So did I but we were both surprised to find out that Ezekiel somehow managed to slip onto the train Alejandro found. It's going through the states will be on the edge of Mexico in about several hours." Carlos explained.
"And since Cody was cleared that means that either…" Gwen trailed off.
"That Al or Zeke is the Avatar of Nebula." Carlos finished for her. "We got to move fast. I'm going to call Dawn and Elliot and let them know what's going on."
"Get me onto that train." Gwen said in a no-argument tone.
"Forget it, Gwen, I'm not sending you in there alone. If I do that and you get hurt then Kurt will tell Dawn and Elliot who will tell Alessa, Theresa, Bobby, and Alonso and they will gang up on me and probably kill me viciously and painfully." Carlos shook his head.
"Not probably, definitely." Warhawk commented.
"Yeah, definitely."
Carlos yelped as he spun around and saw Alessa and Alonso were standing behind him with frowns on their faces. "How did you get here?!"
"We got here because we're Avatars like you." Alessa answered what she considered to be a very stupid question.
"Kurt called us and told us to meet up with you here, saying you might have found Nebula's Avatar." Alonso explained.
"Kurt you sly bastard, thank you!" Carlos shouted with a large grin.
Xxx
"ACHOO!" Kurt sneezed onto the TV he was watching. "Carlos, you annoying maniac! You're talking about me during my favourite show!"
Xxx
"Quick, we need to get someone onto a moving train because Jimmy is in trouble." Carlos got back to the subject. "We think we've cornered Nebula's Avatar."
"That's good. We can finally capture Nebula and find the Red Marauder." Alonso smiled eagerly.
"Now we just need to capture the Avatar and separate Nebula from them." Alessa said.
"Yeah and save Jimmy!" Gwen shouted. "Hurry up and send me Carlos!"
"Okay, okay but let me send back up first." Carlos made another Hexagon symbol. "Targeting the train with Jimmy's signature. I got a sample of Dionysus's spiritual aura to make it easier. You all should land right on top of where Jimmy is."
"Well, hurry up, Carlos. We don't have time to waste." Alessa said impatiently.
"All right, all right." Carlos stepped out of the way as the Hexagon symbol glowed brightly. "And here we go."
Alonso and Alessa walked up and touched the symbol, vanishing in a flash of light.
"And you're next, Gwen." Carlos drew another symbol.
Xxx
Gwen watched as a hexagon appeared in front of her. "About time. Thanks Carlos!"
She jumped forward and was engulfed in a flash of light…
Xxx
….
"CARLOS!"
When Gwen opened her eyes, she, Alonso, and Alessa nearly fell of their feet which would have been fatal as they were standing the roof of a cabin that was part of the train.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Gwen almost fell over but luckly Alonso grabbed her hand just in time. "Whoa! Thanks!"
"No problem." Alonso smiled as he pulled Gwen up to her feet. "I guess this is what happens when you are sent onto a moving vehicle."
"I guess so." Gwen covered her eyes as the train was moving fast and was slamming air into her face. "Damn it Carlos! When I get my hands on him-"
"I'll be the one who murders him first!" Alessa said as she made to the back of the car and climbed down to the door.
"Are you sure about that?" Alonso rhetorically asked as he followed her.
"I've known him the least but I've put up with him and Kurt for a long time now." Gwen said as she climbed down the latter as Alessa opened the door.
"JIMMY!"
"HELP!"
The three Avatars were shocked to see a lion trying to eat Jimmy with the Janitor dressed Avatar conjuring a barrier to stop the lion from eating him.
"A lion?" Gwen reached to pull out her sword but Alonso stopped her. "Huh?"
"We can't harm a living being, Gwen. That's one of the main duties of an Avatar, protect the living." Alonso said as he walked forward.
"And how do we help him?" Gwen questioned. "We have to help him!"
"And we will." Alonso said as he raised one hand and put it on the lion's fur.
The lion growled but suddenly calmed down and backed away from Jimmy.
"Huh?" Gwen was surprised to see the lion looking so docile now.
"One of the perks of being the Avatar of Chimera, the Endless Faces. I can use Chimera's powers to calm and tame even the wildest of animals." Alonso replied with a smile as he stroked the lion's fur.
"Alonso's our top specialist in living animals and animal spirits." Alessa said with a nod.
"About time." Jimmy got up and quickly got the dust off his outfit. "That was too close."
"Are you okay, Jimmy?" Gwen asked.
"I'm good. Nebula will wish he could say the same when I'm done with him." Jimmy actually scowled which is something Gwen almost never saw.
Jimmy was usually well sarcastic and well…just like Noah now that Gwen thought about it. Only Noah liked to read books while Jimmy liked to sneak bottles wherever he went, even onto a show that kids liked to watch.
"No time for this." Alessa drew a symbol in front of her. "Carlos, we lost them."
"Lost them? What happened?"
"We saved Jimmy from being eaten by a lion." Gwen answered.
"What? A lion?" Carlos then started laughing. "Oh man! Jimmy always get himself in these kind of situations! Axes, swords, guns, and now lions?! He's a bigger danger prone maniac than me!"
"Hey!" Jimmy protested.
"Carlos! We need to find Ezekial!" Gwen shouted, annoyed that Carlos was losing track of the situation.
"All right, all right, he's…He's moving through Mexico at high speed…He's already moving through the ocean! He's heading straight to Hawaii!"
"What?!" Gwen and Alessa explained.
"Yep, looks like Zeke is the Avatar of Nebula."
"This is crazy. Out of everyone I didn't expect Ezekiel to be the Avatar of Nebula. He's harmless!" Gwen rubbed the back of her head. "He's the quickest to be voted off all the time! He has no common sense about things outside of his home so…That's how he became an Avatar!" Gwen suddenly realized why Nebula picked Ezekiel. "Everyone knows where Ezekiel lives but he lives in the Prairies far enough from any community that he doesn't have to worry about any spiritual monitoring outposts spotting a spirit like Nebula!"
"Meaning Nebula found someone to be his Avatar that could help him sneak past all of our monitoring posts in almost any states. Avatars are naturally given more freedom to move through countries, especially if they present the right credentials but to a spirit like Nebula that's child's play." Alessa caught on.
"And that was how he was able to avoid not only us but high class spirits like Jack Frost when you guys were in countries where snow and ice are the dominant weather." Alonso continued.
"And now he slipped past us again and is on his way to Hawaii but why? What so special about Hawaii?" Jimmy asked.
"Doesn't matter." Carlos said, sounding serious. "We're going after him now. I'll head him off and wait for him in Hawaii while you capture him from behind."
"Right." Gwen nodded. "But how will we get to the Hawaii?"
"I called in a favor."
"Who owes you a favor?" Nearly everyone and their spirits asked at the same time.
"Trust me, you'll know when you see it."
"I am not liking the sound of that." Alonso said with a frown on his face.
"I'm literally shaking." Gwen gestured to herself as her hands shook. "Who in their right mind would ever do a favor for Carlos?"
"HELLO!"
The familiar voice made Gwen go still. "….I should have known."
A helicopter flew down next to the train and they could all see the pilot.
"Kurt." Gwen mumbled.