Pandemonium broke out.

  Kids started to rush to and fro, trampling each other in an effort to get themselves to safety.

  "We've got to get out of here," Michael said, snapping his fingers. Two little robots flew into his hand. One came from the flag and one appeared from one of the bullies pants. I raised my eyebrow.

  "No time," Harper said, seeing that I was about to ask a question. She grabbed my hand and we started to run. The hallways were a mess but we finally got to our common room after five minutes of hard running. Just as we did the ship shook as if there was an earthquake.

  "Why are they here?" Michael asked. "They shouldn't even be able to track this place. This is a cloaked ship."

  Harper looked at me. I saw the light bulb go off in her brain.

  "Your flesh watch," she said. "Austin probably put a tracker in it and the reason you couldn't hear the count down and whatnot is because your flesh watch isn't standard issued. It's what the Manipulators use."

  Great. I was the reason hundreds of innocent kids were about to get slaughtered. Harper must have seen the look in my eyes, because she patted my back.

  "It's not your fault they put that thing in you," she said. "I wouldn't have put two and two together either."

  "You just did."

  The ship shook violently and Michael fell on his butt. I figured I might as well sit down if the ship was going to rock this way.

  We all lowered ourselves into the bean bag chairs that were on the floor. I noticed Michael playing with his bots again.

  "What are those things?" I asked him. Michael shifted uncomfortably but then fidgeted with one of them for a second. It turned on and flew into the air.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Whoa," I said as I watched it fly around and do backflips and other cool stunts in the air.

  "That's so cool," Harper said, just as amazed as I was. Michael started to thank her but someone burst into the room. It was Leo.

  His eyes were pitch black. I stood up off my bean bag and faced him. Tendrils started to drift out of his eyes.

  "Leo!" I shouted at him. "You betrayer!"

  Michael's robot darted toward Leo but the Dark Matter struck it down. That overwhelming fear entered the room but for some reason it wasn't as bad as last time.

  I glanced over at my friends and saw them paralyzed on the ground in fear. Why wasn't I being affected like that?

  "You," Leo said in a deep voice. "You aren't paralyzed?"

  It sounded as if he was confused. Leo scrunched his face and my friends started to whimper and curl up into fetal positions. I felt the terror but it still didn't feel anything like what I had felt before with Austin.

  "You are immune to my fear," Leo started to get angry. "Nobody has been immune to my fear!"

  The tendrils rushed at me, and I put my hands over my face very unheroicly.

  Then something happened that I couldn't explain. The tendrils got very close to my body and suddenly a light flashed so bright that it blinded me. The next moment the light was gone and I felt like I could do a flip. Leo was curled up on the floor. His eyes were blank.

  "You're glowing again," I turned around and saw Harper. She looked shaken up, but okay. I looked down at my own body. Sure enough, the hazy glow was back.

  "Did you guys see the flash of light?" I asked my friends. They both shook their heads. Harper was looking at me like I was crazy, so I explained what had happened.

  Once I was done, Harper got off her bean bag and knelt down next to Leo.

  "He still has a pulse," she said. Her voice was still shaky. She stood up and in the next moment Bajer rushed into the room.

  I watched as tears entered his eyes and he bent down to see Leo.

  "I told you no," Bajer started to cry. "I told you not to do it!"

  Claire walked in quietly and laid her hand on Bajer back. She started to talk.

  "He made his own choice," Claire said, though she too seemed sad at what had transpired. She turned to us.

  "Tell me everything that happened," she commanded us. We did, trying to get across every single detail. Once we were done Bajer stood up.

  "Come with me," Bajer said, wiping away the last of his tears. "We need to get that flesh watch of yours removed."