John
Before I joined Super Six, I had more friends that were girls than guy friends. Now I’ve made more guy friends. I have Hunter and Mute. And I have Steve, Jake and Drew. I never had any close friends either. But now my friends are close enough to be my brothers. I’m also friends with Matt. Just like Krys, we chat in the garden. He spends a lot of his time there either with me or Krys. Even though he doesn’t need to hide, he likes the garden. So one day, I walk over to the garden and I find him sitting alone in a rosebush. He spends time alone there too. I crawl into the bush and sit beside him. “Hey,” I begin causally. He looks up at me and smiles. “Hey John.” He says happily. “Any reason you’re sitting alone in a bush?” I ask. “Oh . . . well I just come in here to think. You know?” His hand covers something in the center of the bush where all the branches are spread apart from a thick stump. I try to see what he’s hiding. “Matt,” He looks up and sighs knowing I’ve figured him out. Reluctantly, he moves his hands away from the center of the stump revealing a carved out heart with the initials M and K inside.
I chuckle and punch Matt’s arm. He blushes but laughs too. “But I really have been thinking.” He insists. “About what?” I ask curiously. His face isn’t red anymore so I don’t think he’s thinking about Krys. “Well . . . I’m worried about Nick.” My eyes widen. “You see, when all three of us were crazy glowing people with strange powers, it made us closer. I mean . . . I barely knew Nick until now. He’s like one of my best friends and if he keeps hanging around in that warehouse and working for Rob and Scotch, he’s either going to kill someone in Super Six,” He pauses and takes a breath. “Or more likely, Rob and Scotch will kill him.” Matt gulps and beads of sweat break out on his forehead. Even thinking of Rob and Scotch makes him uneasy. “And I miss being friends with him. I guess besides being terrified every moment with Rob and Scotch, having these powers are pretty cool. I like being this way.”
I think about that a lot. I never really stopped and thought how amazing it is that I can transform into a snake and I save people every day. I decide I’ll try to appreciate my powers better from this point on. “Why don’t you talk to him. He’s more likely to listen to his friend than his enemy.” I conclude. Matt nods and debates this. I don’t think twice before I offer to help him. “Sure. I mean . . . I trust him not to hurt me but Rob and Scotch might drop by and . . . you know.” He shudders. I transform, ready to help. He opens a portal and we both crawl through. We teleport to the warehouse where Nick is sharpening his dagger against a metal fence. Inside the warehouse to organize people’s stuff it’s divided neatly into several different fences. Nick is sitting near one. Matt walks up to him. “Nick, I’m saying this for your own good, but you need to quit working for Rob and Scotch.” Matt orders firmly. Nick grunts. “Is that why you’re here you little traitor?” he grumbles. An expression of hurt overcomes Matt. Nick looks up for a moment and sees he hurt Matt.
“Okay, that was harsh but still . . . I’m not quitting and there’s nothing you can say to convince me.” Nick explains. “But-” Matt begins pleadingly. “Shut up. I said no!” Nick snaps. “It would be safer.” I pipe in to support Matt. Nick rolls his eyes. “Safer?” he scoffs. “You think making trouble with murderers is ‘safer’?” He snorts and shakes his head. He looks at Matt in the eyes with a mix of anger, frustration, sadness and pity. “Just get out of here kid. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Nick goes back to sharpening his knife. “And John,” he pauses but doesn’t look up from his knife. “You better get out of here before you get killed.” He sounds emotionless. Maybe that’s just what Rob and Scotch did. Maybe they beat all the emotion out of him so he’d just carry out their orders without protest. It makes me sick. “Why don’t you just listen!” Matt yells. “Nick?” a voice calls out. Matt shudders. “Who’s fucking with you Nick?” another voice asks. I realize who the voices belong to. It looks like Rob and Scotch decided to pay us a visit.
Rob and Scotch slam open the warehouse doors and freeze when they see me and Matt. “What is this? What are those fuckers doing here?” Rob demands. “Uh . . . I was just . . . they were just . . .” Nick frantically searches for a reason why he hasn’t beaten the crap out of us. Rob and Scotch exchange glances and start walking toward Matt. I hold my breath unsure of what to do. Matt quickly opens a portal. “C’mon Nick. We can leave right now and stop all this fighting and hatred.” Matt said holding the portal open. I can tell Nick is debating this carefully. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me? Don’t listen to that little faggot!” Scotch snaps. Nick studies the portal. “C’mon Nick.” Matt pleads softly. “Shut it asshole!” Rob screams running over to Matt. He wrestles Matt to the ground and the portal closes. I feel inclined to help but I feel like this isn’t my business anymore. Just to be safe, I step forward to help. I catch Scotch’s eye. “Stay out of this slimy. This is between us and Matt.”
I feel like a traitor but I back away. If Matt needs me he can ask for my help. I know he will. Rob slips his swastika knife out of his pocket and pins Matt to the ground with his knees on Matt’s shoulders. Matt squirms back and forth but he knows it’s useless. “Get off me!” he snaps. Rob just laughs at him. “You’re a pathetic little shit you know. What’s the matter? Scared of a little blood?” He slides the knife across Matt’s cheek and little red beads of blood creep out of his skin. I glance at Nick who stands looking down at Matt biting his lower lip. Is he really going to sit and watch Rob kill his friend? Well I won’t. I watch Matt’s big, hazel eyes until they meet mine. He mouths me the word “help” so that’s exactly what I do.
I shoot a yellow beam at Rob and he rolls off Matt. “You son of a bitch!” he snaps furiously. I run over to Matt and help him up. Scotch pulls out a black gun and shoots at us. I duck and bring down Matt with me. The bullets soar over our heads. Scotch shoots rapid fire at us until he’s out of bullets. He hits his gun like a lunatic but nothing happens. Matt opens another portal and scurries through. I follow him but not before looking at Nick one more time. His feet stay planted on the ground and he shakes his head. I scowl at him and run through the portal.
Matt and I end up behind Le Café. “Thanks for saving my butt.” Matt says grinning. I’m surprised he’s not mad or sad that our mission did nothing but almost get us killed. I study the thin line of blood on Matt’s face. “No problem. And, uh, we should really get you some healing medicine for that cut.” I add. Matt tenderly brushes his fingers against the cut smearing the blood. He laughs. “Oh yeah! I forgot about this.” He giggles but a more serious expression takes over his face. “Nick’ll definitely quit next time.” Matt says boldly. There’s gonna be a next time? I smile at Matt’s persistence. He’s a good friend.
