Super

Chapter 8

[Noah]

        As soon as the villains disappeared, Teleman promptly collapsed.

        Several gasps from the less experienced heroes rang out as the Imitator, Tempest, and I rushed forward. I could hear Blaze behind us, snapping at a few off the teenagers to shut up and listen.

         We crouched down at the fallen hero's side just as he rolled over and began vomiting on the grass. I winced at each heave, shifting backwards a bit as the Imitator moved closer to hold his long hair out of his face. He seemed to have lost his hair tie during the fight, letting his thin, long brown locks fall into his face.

         It was nearly a minute before the convulsions subsided and shifted into dry coughs. Once he seemed to have gotten everything out, he carefully sat up, propping himself up on one arm and using his free hand to wipe his mouth. Sweat was glistening on his brow. He was scowling miserably, as if at any moment he could begin throwing up again.

        "What happened?" I asked quietly, to which the hero simply closed his eyes tiredly. I knew better than to ask if he was okay; Teleman was the most resilient of all of us, and if something had managed to affect him like that, then everything was most certainly not alright.

        Teleman shook his head. "That was...the single worst thing I have ever experienced."

        Tempest glanced at me, confusion written all over his face. I shrugged helplessly. I hated not knowing what was going on; it made me feel like I had such little control.

        After a few seconds of tense silence, Teleman began to speak again. "It felt as if my powers were taken--no, ripped--from my body. One second they were there, and the next...they were gone. It felt like a black hole had opened up in my chest." He shuddered.

        "Hold up," the Imitator interjected, holding a up a hand and sounding more assertive than I had ever heard her, "you mean to tell me that your powers were stolen?"

        "Not stolen," Teleman muttered contemplatively. "They're back now, and it was only for a few seconds."

         The Imitator thought for a moment before turning towards me. Fear flashed in her brown eyes, gone just as quickly as it had appeared. "The villains. They used his powers. None of them can teleport."

        The truth in the statement fell over the group of listening heroes like an anvil, heavy and uncompromising. Her words left no room for doubt, not that there was any. What she said made perfect sense, but that did not diminish the terrifying fact that we didn't know how the villains could have accomplished it.

         From behind us, the Virus voiced what we were all thinking. "But how? Who could have done something like that, literally stealing the power from another person's body?"

         I noticed Blaze pale, but I didn't think too much about it. "Maybe it's a new power that one of them have discovered? It seems like it could possibly be in Imperium's skill set, if he were to stretch his powers to the max..." I suggested half-heartedly.

         "It was the kid," Blaze muttered suddenly, so quietly that I could almost believe she hadn't said anything at all. But the panic-stricken look in her eyes was all I needed to know that it was her who had spoken.

        "What do you mean, 'it was the kid?'" the Imitator asked suspiciously, slowly twisting around from her position facing Teleman.

         Blaze looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck. "I--I--"