"Everything."
Aidan Gallagher was still trying to process everything he was hearing. "So you fought an alien from space? And that alien was a copy of Mr. LD Curtain, aka Erik Reinhart who now is in control of this whole school and will soon want to kill all of you guys?"
"Probably just me." Brandon replied nonchalantly.
"But he's dangerous to everyone here. Once he finds out we're working for his brother, he might wipe our memories." Evan reminded.
"If he finds out." Bradley added with a smirk.
"He's gonna find out." Joseph said seriously.
"How do you know? Think about it. Do we look like spy-kids who carry buckets around and make plans to overthrow the principal of a school?"
"We've literally been making the plan for a while now." Joseph pointed out.
"But do we stand out? We're all teenage guys, who have been involved with music of some sort over the years. Those other kids don't operate the same as us."
"Well, we really all have one thing in common." DeAngelo butted in. "We're all friends with Brandon. And he's the one with the Reinhart problem. We're all just helping him, right?"
"So that's how we blend in." Aidan interrupted. "We just act separate. If we all give each other specific jobs, we can do the plan together... but separate."
"Just like the 14th Amendment." Trey realized.
"No, that's separate but equal." DBro corrected.
"Whatever." Said B. Wells. "I'm not the only one in trouble here. We have to stop The Emergency, that's our mission. Never mind me. But I agree with Aidan. Besides our roommates, we need to split up so we don't attract attention."
"And don't act suspicious around Reinhart." Evan said sternly. "We're not gonna take the same approach as the other kids. We have abilities of our own that Reinhart doesn't have. And you know what? I'm actually glad we have Aidan on our team now, because teleporting is one thing none of us have! Welcome to the society, Aidan."
"Thank you, Evan. It's good to meet you guys."
"Yeah, likewise." Joseph agreed.
"Alright, now that we got that out of the way, how about we focus on the here and now? Figure it out as we go along, right?" B. Wells proposed.
"Yeah, we have a school assembly in a couple hours before lunch starts. Then we got some lectures tonight about the basics of the school and stuff."
Everyone looked over at Joseph. "What? I paid attention to the schedule."
"Guys, go back and organize your rooms. We'll meet up during lunch."
And so everyone left the room, minus B. Wells, DaVan and Aidan, who stayed behind, putting his arm around Brandon comfortingly just like he used to when they were younger.
"Hey, it's alright. I know this is gonna be hard for you, but you gotta overcome your fear. And you gotta overcome your hate too. At least until we beat the guy."
The rapper chuckled in his vulnerable state. "Yeah, I got you guys with me, so I think I'll be ok. As long as I don't have another panic attack in front of him."
Aidan frowned. "C'mon, don't worry about that. The more you think about it, the more it'll happen. Just breathe deeply and relax. You'll be ok."
B. Wells smiled. "Yeah, you're right... hey, who's your roommate?"
Aidan sighed. "Some guy named Paul. He's kind of annoying, to be honest."
Brandon paused, looking up at his friend. "What? Paul who?"
"Paul Ladeau. Why?" He then saw the look on Brandon's face. "Do you know him or something?"
___________________________________________
The Sheriff's car pulled into the Wells driveway. Jim Hopper walked out of the vehicle and walked up to the front door of the house, knocking on the door.
Allan opened the door, smiling at the man. "Good morning, Sheriff. Ready to find my boy?"
"Honestly, not really. And why are you asking me? You should be asking your wife that question."
The husband sighed. "Well, she cried all night even after I told her we were gonna find Brandon. So I don't know if she's ready or not."
"She'd better be ready, because we're leaving soon."
"Yeah... I know. Did the other parents say anything?"
"I could only get to Evan and Joseph's parents."
"And?"
Hopper had a frustrated look on his face, probably because he spent the last night on nothing.
"The Colabufos know nothing about where their son could have gone, and Evan's parents aren't even worried. The father's on fire duty most of the time, and his mom believes he's safe with Brandon, because he has powers or something. I just think she's crazy."
Allan's smile faded. "Powers?"
"Yeah, she said he and Brandon fought some bad guys around her house a few days ago..."
"Our son has a powered friend?"
"Well, hold on, Allan. I wouldn't jump to conclusions-"
But the man had already walked back into the house, calling for his wife. Hopper could hear some jumbled arguments and stressed voices, before they both walked out the front door, not speaking.
"Ok, I see that went well. Allan, you got your Google maps on?"
"Mmhmm."
Jim stepped into the car, with Margaret getting in the back while her husband rode shotgun. "Let's hit the road."
The parents continued to be silent as they drove down the road, Hopper looking from time to time at the GPS. He didn't know if this was going to be a waste of time, or really what it was going to be at all. He just knew these parents were determined to find their son, and if he didn't help them, they would make a reckless decision that could get them in trouble.
And if finding Brandon helped solve a missing person's case that was on the news, he could finally get all of the stress off of his back and have some time to chill. So he kept driving, being patient with the Wells parents. Because if he wasn't patient, what kind of sheriff would he be?
___________________________________________
B. Wells walked with Aidan Gallagher into his room, where Paul Ladeau stood, his arms crossed. "I thought you'd come here sooner or later."
"Paul. What are you doing here? I thought I told you to back off."
"You did. And I didn't listen."
Brandon scoffed. "Why do you think I told you to stay away? This is dangerous."
"Is it? Because I don't see how going to a new overnight school is dangerous."
"Look, there's a lot going on right now. And you just intruded on a very important mission that could put the world in a really bad place."
Paul laughed. "You're saving the world at a high school?"
"How did you even get in? Or know that I was here?"
"Everybody knows about the change. Nobody cares because it's not our district. And when I saw you and your friends on the news, I went searching."
"Do you even have a car?"
"No, I rode my bike. And of course, I found nothing. But I went to check out this school today just to see what it was about, and I saw you guys getting out of a car and walking in. So I just joined the line and registered just in time. It's ridiculous how easy it is to get into this school."
B. Wells was speechless. "There's so many things wrong with what you said."
Aidan, who had been listening to the conversation the whole time, stepped in between them. "Hold on. I had to pass a bunch of tests to get here. What do you mean, you registered just in time? Someone must have known you were coming."
"Yeah, I lied. My mom came with me. I'm gonna get you out of here and take you back home."
"What?!" Brandon and Aidan exclaimed at the same time.
"You didn't get into this school the regular way. Otherwise, you wouldn't be on the news."
The boy sighed. "Ugh, you're so annoying... Ok, Stop!" He held out his hand, freezing Paul in his place.
Aidan's eyes went wide. "Good thing you told me about the magic earlier, or else I would have been way more surprised."
"What do we do?" Brandon whisper-shouted.
"I don't know. He's about to sabotage the whole thing!"
"If my parents find out I'm here, and with you, we're all dead!"
"Well, can't you just wipe his memory? Like, Men In Black?"
The boy shook his head. "Nah, it doesn't work like that."
"You gotta get him out of here somehow."
Brandon thought for a few seconds. "I got something, but it's a stretch."
"Do it."
The artist sighed. "Confuse!" He said, pointing to Paul, magic swirling around his head. "Bring him out to the parking lot."
"Oh. Right." Aidan took the tall boy and teleported out to the lot filled with cars.
"Ok, where's your mom?" He asked.
"Paul!"
A woman waved from her car, revealing herself immediately.
Julie Ladeau ran over to the kids. "Paul, what were you doing in there? You've been in there for a while now."
"I-I don't know."
"I'm sorry about this, ma'am. He was wandering around campus asking about a friend of his. He's wasn't supposed to be in there."
"You didn't find Brandon?" She asked worriedly.
Paul shook his head slowly, looking down in a daze. "I'm... confused."
"He seems a little overwhelmed. You should take him home."
"I'll do that. Thank you for bringing my son out to me."
"Of course, no problem."
"Have a good day."
"You too!"
As quickly as the problem had appeared, it was fixed in the same amount of time.
Aidan found a car to hide behind and spatial jumped back into his room, startling Brandon. "I still gotta get used to that. It's been a bit."
The boy laughed. "Yeah, it has. Well, he's gone now."
"It was that easy?"
"Yeah, he wasn't even supposed to be in there. I guess his mom just expected him to come out with you."
"Good thing he didn't."
"That's for sure. Now, go back and see Evan. You guys need to plan your day out."
"What about you having a roommate?"
"Best case scenario, I get my own room. Worst case, I get a new roommate. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Brandon smiled. "Alright, if you say so. See you around, Aidan."
As B. Wells went back to talk with DaVan, the other kids had their own ideas of what to do.
Joseph sat on his bed, considering what BDog had just said.
"No, that's too risky. Reinhart doesn't even know us, and I think we should keep it that way."
"But getting to the top could get us on his good side. He'll never see us coming."
"Didn't Reynie and Sticky already do that? You know how that went."
"Yeah, but we're different. Plus, we don't even know if he uses a Whisperer machine this time, or if he uses kids."
"We might just have to find out during the assembly. That'll clear up a lot of questions we have. Can you hold out on the plan until then?"
Bradley nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so."
"But actually... maybe it would be a good idea for somebody like DBro to get on the inside. Nobody would suspect him. We just gotta be careful."
"Don't worry, Joey. We got this."
And in the room beside them, Lil Eli sat nodding his head to a new song of his, Addict.
Depression at a low, I done turned into a savage
She turned to a addict, she turned to a addict
Depression at a low, I done turned into a savage
She turned to a addict, she turned to a addict
Depression at a low, I done turned into a savage
She turned to a addict, she turned to a addict
Depression at a low, I done turned into a savage
She turned to a madman, she turned to a madman
"Bro, how'd this even happen?" DeAngelo started. "This used to be my school and now it's all turned around."
Trey shrugged. "I didn't even know this was possible. A chorus teacher hijacking an entire school and becoming the principal? Weird."
"It's more than weird, bro. It's messed up. I didn't even wanna be here, but now that he's taking over this school, it feels personal."
"Don't go crazy yet." The rapper warned. "You don't want Reinhart to notice you on the first day you're here."
"First day? I hope we're done with this after tommorrow!"
Lil Eli turned around to face the guy. "I feel you, bro. I really do. But I think is gonna take more than one day. We're gonna need to blend in with the crowd. And once Reinhart trusts us, then we can move. You know how this works."
DBro sighed, nodding. "Yeah, I know. This whole thing is just causing a lot of stress."
Trey smiled. "Good, use that. If people see that you're stressed, they'll back off you a bit. Give you some slack."
The other rapper lifted his head. "Woah. I think I have a good idea."
"Really? What you got?"
DeAngelo grinned mischievously. "Chill, I'll tell everyone when we meet up. For now... we got a meeting to get ready for."
___________________________________________
Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance stood behind Mr. Benedict, watching the secret camera his tiny drone had planted into the school. Unlike his brother, he was smart in that regard. Nathaniel always used to like making bigger contraptions for attention, but Nicholas was quiet, and made tiny things.
This camera was microscopic, so it was dangerous to get it in, but once it was along the walls, it was smooth sailing from there.
"Well kids, it seems like our new crew is settling in well."
"And they've even made a new friend." Reynie noticed. "At least Brandon has."
"And they already ran into Curtain without trouble." Sticky added.
"He has no idea what's going to hit him." Constance said with a smirk.
"Remember, Nathaniel is still smart." Replied Mr. Benedict. "He'll notice something is up if the boys aren't careful."
Milligan was listening in from a distance, but could still see that his daughter looked a little distressed. The long haired man walked over to the girl slowly. "Katie-cat? Is everything ok?" He asked.
Her head hung low. "I'm just worried. I know everybody's doing good now, and I know some of them have powers and all, but they don't have the tools like I do... I should have given one of them my bucket."
Sticky gasped. "You would do that?"
"If it kept them safe, of course I would! I just... don't want them to get their memories wiped like my dad did."
Milligan put his arm around Kate, comforting her. "It's alright. They're taking a different approach."
"But is that a good idea? We don't even know how The Emergency is being broadcasted. They might need to find another way to break the machine."
"That's why Mr. Benedict chose the kids he did." Reynie pointed out. "If there is a Whisperer, they can break it with their powers. And if not, they can figure out another way."
"Reynie's right." Nicholas chimed in. "Not all of them are gifted in a supernatural way, but they are all gifted in some way. I trust them to stay safe and secret, especially with the ones who have nothing to do with the character of Erik Reinhart. They'll blend right in."
Kate nodded, listening to his words. "Yeah, you're right."
"Don't feel bad, Kate." Milligan reassured. "We're still helping them as much as we can. And in turn, they're helping us and the rest of the world. Everything will be fine."
Just then, Number Two hurried into the room. "Sir, there's a vehicle pulling in."
Mr. Benedict looked up. "What? Who? How? Why?!"
"I don't know, it looks like a Sheriff's car."
"We can't let them in." Sticky said. "So what do we do?"
"Do you think you can take care of it?" Mr. Benedict asked the woman.
"That depends on what 'it' is."
"Well, find out quick! We're on a mission here, we can't have interruptions now!"
"What if it's some of Curtain's men?" Reynie piped up.
"Not likely. He doesn't know we're involved."
"Then who could it be?"
Margaret and Allan walked up to the front door of the big house with Sheriff Hopper.
"You sure this is the place?" The father asked, concerned and skeptical.
"It's your son's phone we followed. I'm the one who should be asking that question."
"Well, it says he's here."
"So let's go get him."
"Why would he be in a place like this?" Margaret asked. "Was he... kidnapped?"
"From what Evan Haggett's mom said, probably not. But I guess anything could happen."
"It's the sheriff, and a middle-aged couple." Rhonda responded to Mr. Benedict.
"Go down with Number Two and answer them."
"But sir, it's the sheriff. Do you think they're looking for Brandon?"
Nicholas stopped. "Oh.... this is bad. This is very bad."
"Wait!" Kate interrupted. "I think I have an idea."
Hopper knocked on the door firmly, waiting for a response.
"Maybe they're not home?" Allan suggested. "We could just go in. You're the sheriff."
"That would be against the law."
A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing Milligan, looking a little frustrated. "Hello?"
"Hey, Sheriff Jim Hopper here. I'm here with these two parents, they're looking for their son Brandon Wells. Have you seen him around?"
Milligan appeared to be thinking, then shook his head. "No, I haven't. Why, is he missing or something?"
"Uh, yeah. That's why we're looking."
"So, what? You think he's here?"
"We've been tracking his phone. The GPS led us here."
Milligan paused, trying to figure out what to say.
"It's his phone! He left his location sharing on." Rhonda informed.
"He left his phone on!" Number Two specified.
"What? How do we fix that?"
"I think I can hack in. Give me a second."
"Dad? What's going on?"
Kate came to the door, looking confused and possibly distressed.
"Katie-cat, the sheriff is here. They wanna know if you've seen a kid named... Brayden?"
"Brandon. Brandon Wells." Margaret corrected.
Kate put her hand on her chin, as if she was thinking. "Mmmm.... No, I don't know who that is."
"But then why did his phone lead us here?" Allan asked.
"Your phone could have glitched or something." Kate reasoned.
"No, my phone is fine." The father argued.
"Is there anyone else with you?" Hopper inquired.
"No, my wife's at work. She won't know anything either."
"But... I just don't understand. The map took us here, so his phone should be here."
"Uh... Allan?" Margaret interrupted. "Look at your phone."
The man looked back down at the device, which had rerouted.
Hopper sighed. "What now?"
"My phone rerouted his location back to our house."
"But how could it have done that? We know his phone's not at our house."
"We don't know that. Didn't we have him put it in the drawer with his 3DS near the couch instead of in his room?"
Margaret's eyes went wide. "Did we do all of this for nothing?"
"How did it bring us here if it was just gonna reroute back home?"
Hopper groaned. "Guys, if you're gonna act like this again, I'm gonna have to step away from the case completely and give it to someone else who can actually help you. Because right now, this is all seeming like a dead end. It's just a man and his daughter here, and from what I can tell, they don't seem like the kidnapping type?"
"Your son was kidnapped?" Kate exclaimed. "That's terrible."
"We don't know that." Hopper replied, frustrated. "Look. Allan, Margaret, I'm sorry. But I doubt Brandon was kidnapped. If he was in any sort of trouble, wouldn't he have at least tried to reach out?"
"But he left his phone at home!" Allan shouted back.
"Did he?!" Margaret yelled, starting to argue again.
"STOP!" Hopper snapped. "You two are really frustrating me right now. He's not the only one missing. There were 6 kids and they disappeared all at the exact same time, and they were in different locations when they left. So my guess is they're just being rebellious and they'll all come back soon. Calling me was a good idea at first, but the way you approached the problem is very wrong. I'm gonna drive you back home, and you're not going to call again unless you have any real updates on your kid. Understand?"
The parents nodded sadly.
Jim turned to Milligan and Kate. "I'm so sorry to have bothered you. Thanks for putting up with us."
"It's no problem." Milligan replied. "You're just doing your job."
"I hope you find your son!" Kate called out as they left the porch.
With that, Milligan closed the door and let out a sigh of relief.
"That was close." His daughter said with a chuckle.
The two walked back upstairs, laughing at their close encounter.
"We really dodged a bullet there, huh?" Nicholas joked.
"Yeah, for sure." Kate replied.
The Wells parents got back into the car, defeated.
"I thought for sure we were gonna find Brandon." Allan complained.
"Yeah, well, we didn't. Look, I appreciate you trying to help, but nothing good has come out of you arguing. I'm gonna take you home now, and you're gonna resolve your issues by yourself. Don't go out on your own. You won't find any relief from it. You got that?"
The couple nodded understandingly.
"Good. Now, let's go home."
Sheriff Hopper left the Benedict house to take the Wells parents back home. He was disappointed too, but he knew this wasn't the end.
It was just the beginning.
___________________________________________
Joseph Colabufo walked through the halls of the Victor Senior High School with BDog.
There were a lot of people in the halls, most of them his age, and some slightly older or younger.
"You ready for this?" Bradley asked.
The boy shrugged. "I don't know. I'm a little nervous since we're undercover. But I have you and the rest of the team with me, so I think I'll be ok."
"Yeah, same." The blond boy replied. "Relax, we're gonna be fine."
The kids piled into the auditorium, everyone talking amongst each other.
"Dang, there's actually a lot of kids here." Trey remarked.
"Wait, I think I actually recognize some of them." DBro realized, pointing to some of them. "There's Joe Walters, Cole Evans and Olivia Lessi. And look over there, Skye's sitting over there with some other dude.
"Oh shoot, that's Adam Reifsteck. And there's Austin Mockbee next to him. I don't get it, they all went to Gates."
"I guess people from all over come here now. They prolly heard the news about an overnight high school and migrated here."
"You think it has anything to do with The Emergency?"
DBro looked over at the rapper. "Why would I know anything about that?"
Aidan Gallagher tapped DaVan on the shoulder as they walked to their seats. "Woah! How'd you find us that quick?"
"You know how." Aidan smirked.
"C'mon, keep up." Evan insisted, tugging at Brandon's arm.
"Ok, ok, I'm coming."
"What's going on, bro? You seem a little distracted."
"Well, I am. I'm seeing a lot of Gates and Churchville kids here. Is this just a blend of all the districts now? Look, there's Nick Muraco with Nate Alfieri. What is going on?"
"Hey, focus. Let's get some seats."
Evan and Aidan guided B. Wells to some seats in the middle-front section.
"So, you get any ideas?" Aidan asked the singer.
"Honestly, Brandon hasn't been doing the best since that panic attack. We're trying, but it's hard."
Aidan nodded. "Understandable. This is important, both to him and the rest of us. So the stakes are higher now than they might have been last week."
"Yo, is that Evan Haggett and Brandon Wells?"
Evan turned around. "Cody?"
"What's up, guys? I didn't know you would be here!"
DaVan laughed. "I didn't know you would be here either!"
"I thought for sure once the school changed your mom wouldn't let you go."
"Well, she did."
"It's really cool that you guys have these connections. Now you can make music here, together!"
"Yeah, for real, bro."
Aidan tapped Evan's knee quickly. "Hey, look!"
"Alright, I'll talk to you later..... What?"
The boy turned around to see the man himself walk on to the stage. Brandon froze in fear as Erik Reinhart smiled his creepy smile, along with the cheers from all of the other students in the audience.
Evan put his hand on Brandon's shoulder to calm him down. "It's ok, he's only on the stage."
"I know, but it's triggering some bad memories."
"Block them out with Jay or the YMCA kids. You can't have another episode."
B. Wells took some deep breaths as Erik began his announcement.
"Hello, Victor Senior High School!"
Everyone except the 7 rebels clapped and cheered with excitement.
"As you may know, my name is Erik Reinhart, and I'm the President of this school as well as the Choir teacher. You might be wondering how I pulled off this change to an overnight high school campus. Well, with The Emergency going on, my associates Jeff Smith and Allison Chipman agreed that this was a good change for the districts here in this part of Upstate New York. Victor was the town most willing to adapt to the switch, and apparently, you all agreed too."
"Oh, what bullcrap." BDog whispered under his breath, while the cheers continued.
"And as long as you are here, I can guarantee that this will be safe place for you, away from The Emergency, and away from your problems. When you leave here, you will be a different person... better person. I promise. And if you don't believe me, just wait. The Emergency will be no more. Instead, we will initiate... The Improvement."
Evan sighed, annoyed. "Seriously? Do they actually believe that?"
"I mean, he sounds convincing." Aidan said. "Think about it. These kids will do anything for The Emergency to go away."
"Yeah, makes sense."
Reinhart clasped his hands. "Ok. So before we get into the rules here, there's something I'd like to kick us off with. Without further ado, please welcome our very own Concert Choir!"
Brandon's eyes went wide as students piled onto the risers.
"No way."
Yes, the Concert Choir had other kids from other schools there. But it mostly consisted of the loyalists that Reinhart favored over at Churchville. And the crazy part was, he probably didn't even know them well.
As Erik turned around to conduct, Brandon noticed one boy in particular that stood up there, looking pretty disturbed and nervous...
"Is that Jesse Ward?" Evan asked.
Brandon nodded. "Yup."
And then they started singing.
We all walk these halls, from different locations
And to different destinations, but the halls we walk, we walk as one
DeAngelo was clearly disturbed by this. "They sound kinda creepy, not gonna lie."
From Victor, Churchville, and Gates, we came up through the grade ranks
So the halls we walk, we walk as one
Joseph's eyes were wide too. It seemed as though everyone around him was intensely listening to the words as if being brainwashed. Something was clearly off.
Because it's with the Saint's Pride, we thrive on this ride
Because it's with the Saint's Pride, you can see it in our eyes
Because it's with the Saint's Pride, we move into the next phase of our lives
Because it's with the Saint's Pride, with a spirit that never dies
Mr. Benedict and the society watched the unsettling scene, Constance getting chills from the memories of the last time.
"You think they'll be ok?" Sticky asked.
"Nathaniel is concerning. But as long as they can keep their confidence, they won't waiver. I believe in them."
Brandon couldn't believe Jesse was up there. But it couldn't have been his decision. He could see the fear in his eyes. He had to talk to him.
Joseph, Bradley, Trey, DeAngelo, Aidan, Evan and Brandon stayed quiet in this moment. Now they knew there was something else behind LD Curtain's "Overnight School" plan. There had to be some reason to get all those districts to comply. The Improvement wasn't what he said it was.
So as the kids sat in silence, watching the Concert Choir sing, they hatched new ideas in their own heads to save those children, and the world as they knew it.
They were in the thick of it now. There was no going back.
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