Prodigal Son's Prayer

11

Margot turned to Peter. "I'm going to warn Ned and Sarah. Try to keep that bomb from detonating."

Peter nodded. "Be careful."

"Don't explode."

Margot ran ahead, hoping she didn't have an asthma attack, and barely managed to catch up as the students were entering the Decathlon venue.

"Please be sure all cell phones are turned off," the moderator said.

Ned handed his phone to the security.

"Thank you," the security guard replied.

"Ned! Sarah!" Margot called. "Ned, sarah, the glowy-"

But she didn't get some chance to tell him as they had to prepare for the competition.

---

Peter was standing on the back of a trailer truck. A ringing tone was heard in the background.

"Karen, you have to get me to Decathlon as fast as possible," Peter said. "I hope Margot made it."

"Sure thing. Just tell me where it is."

"Right across the street from the Washington Monument."

Peter held his phone to his ear.

"Hey, it's Ned. Leave a message."

"Ned, call me back! The glowy thing is a bomb! I hope Margot told you and Sarah!"

---

At the Decathlon, the students were scribbling. The purple energy core was glowing in Ned's pocket. Margot glanced at it worriedly, then to Ned and her twin.

---

"There's a vehicle approaching on your right," Karen said.

Peter grunted and climbed on top of the cargo.

---

"We have now entered sudden death," the moderator said.

The students prepared themselves, trying to be calm and placed their hands on their buzzers. Flash took a deep breath, clearly nervous. Margot smirked as she noticed his nervousness.

---

Peter leapt on a SUV.

---

"The next correct answer wins the championship."

---

MJ hit the answer bell with a bored, impassive look.

"Midtown Tech?"

"Zero," MJ said.

"That is correct. Midtown takes the championship!"

Ned and Sarah hugged MJ and she smiled. Margot grinned. More Midtown students piled in for a group hug.

The Midtown High students were walking towards the Washington Monument.

"We won!" a student cried.

"You guys, I am so proud of you," Liz told them.

"Told you we didn't need Peter," Flash stated.

"Flash, you didn't answer a single question," Ned said.

Margot nodded as she pulled Ned and Sarah aside and said, "The glowy thing in your backpack is a bomb."

"What?!" Ned cried. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I tried, but the decathlon started. Peter's on his way and will likely tell you the same thing. Be careful until we figure out how to get rid of it."

MJ was standing alone with a book.

"Taking it all in, Michelle?" Mr. Harrington asked.

"Oh, yeah, I just... um, I don't really want to celebrate something that was built by slaves," MJ replied.

"Oh, I'm sure the Washington Monument wasn't built by-" He looked up at the monument. A park ranger wobbled his hand as a confirmation to MJ's words. Mr. Harrington pursed his lips and walked away. "Okay. Enjoy your book."

"Thanks."

Sarah chuckled softly. "Well put."

MJ nodded. "Where's your sister?"

"Probably getting herself into trouble."

"Is that common for her?"

"Unfortunately yes."

Peter swung on top of a bus. Peter and Ned finally reached each other on the phone.

"Oh, Ned, you're alive!" Peter exclaimed. "Margot's okay, right?"

Ned was at the Washington Monument, about to get a security check. He whispered, "Peter, are you okay? Margot's fine."

"Ned, Ned, where's the glowy thing, the glowy thing?"

"Don't worry, it's safe. It's in my backpack. Margot told me and Sarah what it was." He put his backpack down on the conveyor belt for an X-ray security scan.

"No, Ned, listen! No, no, Ned, the glowy thing is dangerous. Wait, she told you? You can't let it go through security!"

"You missed the Decathlon. I covered for you."

"Ned, listen to me!"

"We're at the Washington Monument now. You gotta-"

Liz took the phone from Ned. "Peter, is that you?"

"Oh, hey, Liz," Peter said.

"Is that Liz?" Karen asked.

Peter jumped from the bus, tumbled on his back, and started running.

"Please put Ned back on the phone."

"You should tell her how you feel."

Peter tried to put a word in edgewise but Liz ignored him and talked on. "You freak! You are so lucky we won. You know, I want to be mad, but I'm more worried. Like, what is going on with you?"

Now at the Lincoln Memorial, Peter was running towards the Washington Monument.

"Liz, I have to talk to Ned or Sarah. It's really important!"

"Miss, all items on the belt, please," security said.

"Liz, there's something in Ned's backpack! It's really dangerous. Don't let it go through an X-ray."

Not hanging up, Liz put Ned's phone through the X-ray machine along with Ned's backpack. Ned walked through the scanner, oblivious, and moved to collect his backpack. The X-ray scanner screen buzzed.

"Liz? Liz! Damn it." He kept running, and the Washington Monument came into view as he got closer.

Ned put on his bag. The students entered an elevator.

"Hey, Mr. Harrington, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?" Flash asked.

Margot narrowed her eyes. "Can it."

Outside the Washington Monument, Peter webbed his backpack to a tree.

The elevator was steadily climbing upwards. The core in Ned's backpack began to glow. Margot stared at it with wide eyes and panicked as she tried to figure out what to do. Sarah was down on the ground with MJ, so she unfortunately couldn't help.

The tour guide said, "The Washington Monument is 555 feet, 5 and 1/8 inches tall. Notice how the marble and granite are cut around the stone."

The energy core erupted with light, breaking glass, and the tip of the monument cracked.

Margot frowned and said quietly to herself, "Okay, now what? Come on, Margot. You can figure this out. So think!"