True Love! Read online

  Chief Michaels looked at me and said, “Once again, thanks. I’ll let you deal with your team!” He turned and walked away.

  Zeke looked at his now foam covered behind. “Thanks, Ja-”

  I flew forward, lifting Zeke up. “Dude, stop talking!”

  “Right! I don’t want to catch on fire,” Zeke agreed.

  Adam walked forward. “Zeke, bud. You know you’re my BFF.”

  “And you are my BFF to the max, times two!” Zeke said.

  “But you can’t talk so much around people who don’t know our secret identities!” Adam told his friend.

  “Oh right. I knew that; that’s why I was laughing. I found it funny that…”

  “Zeke, stop talking!” Adam said.

  Zeke closed his mouth and mumbled. “Gotcha, dude.”

  I huddled up with Ms. Nancy and Hana. “During the time that Zeke kept us entertained, did you come up with anything?”

  Hana rolled her eyes. “I’ve thought of like a billion things in the last second.”

  “Did you think of anything useful about the snowman?”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it. There has been no record of anything like it that I can find,” Hana replied.

  “I got zilch!” Ms. Nancy said. “Whatever caused this was powerful.”

  “Should we be worried?” Jason asked.

  “Nah,” Ms. Nancy assured him. “Worrying won’t stop whatever is going to happen. We can’t even be sure anything will happen.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  “Honey, nothing is sure in life,” Hana said.

  “Is that what you meant?” I asked Ms. Nancy.

  She nodded. “But I have faith that whatever happens, you will be able to handle it. You took the snowman monster out very easily!”

  Jason walked up to me. He put a hand on my shoulder. He remembered Adam was with us and removed his hand. “We’ve handled this for now. Let’s get to where we should be before anybody notices we’re missing.”

  “Right!” I said. I turned to Adam, Ms. Nancy, and Zeke. “Thanks for coming guys, I really appreciate it!”

  Adam looked me in the eyes and said, “You know I’ll come if ever you need me!”

  “Me too!” Zeke added.

  Ms. Nancy put her hands on the guys’ shoulders. She smiled at me. The three of them disappeared.

  Jason and I flew back to school and switched into our civilian clothing.

  Dear Diary: I’ve pretty much figured out by now that with my great power comes great complications. I just have to deal with it. After all, it does make my life interesting. The giant snowman was, at least, something different. I won't worry about it for now. I know sooner rather than later it will become clear enough who sent that snowman monster, as well as how I can stop it. Not just me, but my team and I.

  It felt good seeing Adam again. He’s a cool guy. I like him a lot. It’s just that I also have to admit that I like Jason too. The guy has always been there for me and probably always will be. I guess it’s best to let events play out and see what happens. I’ll keep an open mind. It’s kind of what I do.

  A Positive Vibe

  The next morning, I walked downstairs and found Mom at the kitchen table. She sat there, holding a cup of coffee in her hand.

  “Hey, Mom,” I said.

  She didn’t answer.

  I glanced over at my dog, Shep. He always wandered over as soon as I appeared at the bottom of the stairs. But he stood there just staring at me, his tail caught in between waves.

  “What the heck?” I said. “MAC, activate my uniform!”

  No answer.

  “Look, I don’t know who or what is doing this, but you are messing with the wrong girl!” I announced loudly. “Come out so I can see you!”

  Nothing happened.

  Thinking about it, if I did have an invisible foe in the room, just telling them to come out so I could see them surely wouldn’t have been much incentive for them to reveal themselves. Being invisible gave them an advantage. I listened carefully. They might be invisible, but I thought I could still smell or hear them.

  Inhaling, I picked up the faint trace of candy cane. Listening closely, I heard a very fast heartbeat.

  “I don’t know who you are, but I can tell you are nervous from your heart rate!” I said. “You have three seconds to reveal yourself before I release a FART that could drop a herd of rhinos in their tracks! I am speaking from experience!” I warned.

  There was a flicker in front of me. Snow appeared from the ceiling. The snow dropped down and formed a human shape. A female human shape. The shape became a tall lady…blond in a red bodysuit. “No need for that, Lia!” she told me.

  “Who are you?” I demanded.

  “My name is Nitivia, and I come from the North Pole. You are needed there!” the woman said.

  “Excuse me?” I asked her.

  “You are needed at the North Pole. Sorry that I had to freeze your mom, dog, and the general area... but these are desperate times,” Nitivia told me.

  “Please explain!” I said.

  “The current vibe at the North Pole is off. Our role is to bring happiness to all, but something is trying to harm Santa and his staff…” Nitivia said.

  “Look, lady; I’ve been to the North Pole. I’ve never been able to find Santa’s workshop!” I said.

  “Our North Pole sits in a prime dimension, and it allows us to spread happiness for all!” Nitivia explained.

  We heard a knock on the back door.

  Nitivia frowned. “That’s funny; everything should be frozen.”

  “Lia! Are you okay?” I heard Tanya say from the other side of the door. “There is a disturbance in time, and I sense it’s coming from your house.”

  Nitivia crossed her arms. “That must be Tanya Cane. I thought she’d be immune to a time freeze spell!”

  “Everything is weird…” I said.

  The door turned into paper and Tanya walked through it. Glaring at Nitivia, she said, “Who are you and why are you still dressed for Halloween?”

  “I am Nitivia, daughter of Santa, and I am here to enlist the help of Lia!” “Well that’s news to me,” I replied.

  Nitivia nodded at me. “Sorry, the interdimensional travel has me a little slower than usual. I have jet lag.”

  Tanya looked at me. “This lady really doesn’t make a lot of sense. But I’m guessing she has something to do with the giant snowman you faced off with yesterday.”

  Nitivia touched her nose. “That is very close. I am here because of that snowman. The strings of energy that bind and tie all our worlds together are loosening, and that is not good. The dimensions are supposed to let some energies pass between them. That is our goal at our North Pole, to create positive energies for all the dimensions. But some force or some being is trying to corrupt that energy by trying to make us send out negative energies. Or, as you say, bad vibes.”

  “That doesn't make a lot of sense!” Tanya said. “Right?” she asked me.

  “I agree, it doesn’t, but neither does the fact that I’m strong and can lift mountains, and that you can control time!” I countered.

  “It all does make sense, just on a level you can’t comprehend,” Nitivia replied. “That’s why I need you to come to my North Pole to see if you can help us figure this out!”

  “Why Lia and not me?” Tanya asked. “I’m the time-sensitive one.”

  “That is why you may not come. Your powers in my dimension would be greatly increased. You would become a danger to all that is!” Nitivia remarked.

  Tanya smiled. “Oh, that is so cool.”

  I shot her a glance.

  “In a bad way,” Tanya replied.

  The room crackled with energy. Tanya’s little sister, Kayla appeared above us. She floated down to the floor. “I like what I hear!” she said.

  Nitivia shook her head. “You, Kayla, have not been a very good girl. You are certainly not allowed at our North Pole!” Pointing at Kayla, she said.
“In fact, I will wipe the idea of it from your mind!”

  Kayla stomped her foot on the floor. She threw her hands up into the air. The entire house shook. “My mind is not easy to…” She stopped. She smiled. She sat down on the floor and started sucking her thumb. “Yummy!” she said.

  Tanya grinned. “Lady, I don’t know what you did, but I kind of like it.” She folded her arms, impressed.

  “I just reset her mind a little,” Nitivia said. “She will be fine. Once Lia and I leave, time will start up again.”

  Tanya turned to me. “Do you trust this lady? I think the two of us can take her.”

  Nitivia nodded. “You would be worthy foes. Your minds are more formed than Kayla’s. I would have to work harder to stop you. I’m not sure I could stop you both. I am sure, though, that I’m on the same side of good, just as you are. Please, good needs you!”

  I could feel Nitivia’s words in my heart. I knew she was either telling me the truth or she believed she was telling me the truth. “I trust her!” I told Tanya.

  Tanya nodded. “I’m not the trusting kind. But, like you, I kind of trust her as well. Though I’d feel better if there was a way I could tell for sure.”

  Nitivia shook her head. “Nothing is ever totally certain in an infinite universe! Well, I guess change is certain. Nothing else. Therefore, even saying nothing is certain, isn’t certain; as change is certainly certain. I think.”

  “Yeah, she’s way too deep to be evil,” Tanya told me.

  I thought about what Nitivia said and wanted. I, too, could sense something was off-kilter. I knew I wanted to help. But I also felt a little weird about leaving my home and my dimension behind. “How long will this take?” I asked.

  “As long as we need,” Nitivia said. She smiled. “I sense your fear about losing time and missing schoolwork in this world while you are gone. No worries, you will return to this very second in time.”

  “That’s handy,” I replied.

  Nitivia smiled. “Time works in weird and strange and wonderfully wacky ways.” She moved forward and put an arm around me. “I know you’ve visited other dimensions and other times.”

  “I haven’t done the other times thing…” I said.

  Nitivia grinned. “That was my bad, but you will.” Looking me in the eyes, she said. “Please, I want you to come with me willingly. We need you. All of time and happiness needs you.”

  “She makes a good point,” I told Tanya.

  Actually, her words themselves didn’t make much of a point. At first glance, they seemed to be mostly gibberish and nonsense. But I’ve been super for a while now. I know the universe is an infinite place with infinite possibilities. I could sense that this lady spoke the truth. I had this great power, and it was needed wherever she was from.

  “I know nothing about your world!” I said.

  Nitivia put her finger on my forehead. I froze for a second. My mind flooded with information and images…elves, lots of elves, singing, and dancing. A big chubby man with a beard, a white-haired woman, snow, snowballs, candy canes, snowmen, millions of different snowflakes.

  “Hey, what are you doing to Lia!” Tanya said to Nitivia. She reached for Nitivia’s hand, and a wave of energy shot Tanya across the room. She stopped a second before hitting the wall. Tanya floated slowly to the ground. Tanya clenched her fists together. The room... no, everything started to shake. “I suggest you let my friend go now!” Tanya yelled.

  Nitivia held her finger on my forehead for a second or two more. She smiled and lowered her arm. “Done!” she said.

  “I’m okay!” I told Tanya.

  The world around me stopped shaking.

  “Truly impressive power, Tanya,” Nitivia said. “Once this is over, I would love to test myself against you. I always strive to be the best!”

  Tanya smiled. “I look forward to taking you up on that. I’m sure the good folks at BMS labs can set up a nice training area!” Tanya walked back to me. “You sure of this, Lia?”

  “No, of course not. But I know it’s something I have to do. It’s something I want to do. I can sense this lady’s goodness. We need to preserve that!”

  “You ready to go then?” Nitivia asked me.

  “Do I need to pack anything? A toothbrush? Deodorant? A change of clothing?”

  “We will activate your computer interface when we arrive!” Nitivia said.

  “Then let’s do it!” I replied.

  Nitivia snapped her fingers.

  Dear Diary: Okay, I was off once again to yet another dimension. This one I could feel was filled with good energy that could spill into the other dimensions and worlds. I also did feel something was off in this wonderful land, and if I couldn’t help fix whatever was off, then bad vibes would fuel bad thoughts throughout our world and others. We didn’t need that. I’m a big believer in thinking and doing positive things! Right now, I couldn’t think of doing anything more positive than trying to generate positive feelings throughout the universe. Yeah, it might be a little corny. But sometimes the world needs corny!

  Keeping Things Positive

  The next thing I knew, I found myself standing in the middle of a giant workshop surrounded by a bunch of tiny people with pointy ears and long feet. They were all dressed in red and green outfits of varying styles. They hummed and sang as they worked on making toys and wrapping them.

  Their song went something like this:

  “We whistle while we make toys…

  We make toys for girls and boys….

  Girls and boys of any age……

  They know our toys are quite the rage….

  Our toys bring the world to light!

  Our toys are out of sight!

  Our toys cause such delight!

  We love making the worlds so bright!”

  “Nice song,” I said to Nitivia.

  “Thanks!” she said. “The elves work here and send out positive energy to your world and others!”

  “Now, you’re convinced the creature that appeared in my world is related to the problems in your world?” I asked.

  Nitivia nodded. “Yes, very convinced. Things here haven’t been right since that creature appeared in your world. I believe we have a rogue elf using rogue holiday magic.”

  “What makes you believe that?” I asked.

  “We’ve had random objects come to life and attack,” Nitivia said. She closed her eyes. “In fact, I sense an attack is about to come.”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Here in the workshop,” she replied.

  I looked around. I saw elves sitting on wooden benches working on all sorts of stuffed toy animals…bears, penguins, dinos. I figured those could be obvious choices to spring to life so they could attack. The walls of the room were decorated with flashing white lights, and big people sized red and white candy canes. I didn’t think those would pose any threat. That is until the candy canes started to glow and grow. They grew arms and legs. They dropped from the walls and screamed, “Attack!”

  “How are they talking without mouths?” I asked Nitivia.

  “Magic,” she said. “I’m actually surprised that you commented on their missing mouths, instead of the fact that bunches of candy canes are going berserk.”

  I shook my head. “In my life, berserk is kind of the norm these days.” Nitivia smiled. “That’s why I knew you would be perfect for this job! Nothing rattles you!”

  The candy canes started swarming towards Nitivia and I. They ignored the elves who tried holding them back.

  “The candy canes sense our power!” Nitivia said. She pointed at a couple of charging canes. Lightning flew from her fingers. The lightning passed right through the candy canes. The canes jumped at us. They were sticky and loved to clamp on.

  “Oh gross!” I said.

  “My magic doesn’t work on them!” Nitivia said.

  More and more candy canes stuck to me. I felt them trying to weigh me down, drag me to the ground. I laughed. “Please! It takes way more tha
n this to stop me!”

  Nitivia snapped her fingers. She disappeared from under all the candy canes that tried to hold her. The candy canes quickly caught their balance and lunged at me.

  Nitivia appeared above me. “I believe your raw physical force is better equipped to deal with this confectionary creature!” she said.

  “Sure!” I said. “This will be fun!”

  I started spinning at mega super speeds. At first, the candy canes clung to me for dear life. I kept spinning, picking up force and speed with each rotation. I spun so fast the momentum lifted me off the ground. The candy canes tried pulling me down. I felt their tugs but barely. My speed increased to the point where each rotation was almost instant. While the candy canes refused to let go, my motion had created a lot of energy. I rubbed my hands together to create even more heat.

  “Ah, I see what you are doing,” Nitivia told me. “But if you generate too much heat inside here, you will melt the elves as well as me.”

  “Oh…maybe plan B then…” I said.

  Nitivia pointed to the roof of the building. “Better idea! You take them outside and then melt away!”

  I saw an opening appear in the roof above us. I spun myself towards the hole, climbing and spinning faster with each rotation. In less than a second, I hit the cold open air. I felt the chill, but just barely. I had generated so much heat that the cold didn’t stand a chance against me. I kept rising! I wanted to make sure I only melted the candy canes.

  “Do you think I’m far enough away?” I called out to Nitivia.

  “I believe so,” she called back. “I’m shielding the workshop now, anyhow!”

  I spun a couple more times, just building up heat energy. I used all my mental power to keep the heat near me. I wanted to let it all out in one massive fast blast. The canes and I rose higher and higher. I saw them starting to twist around me. The heat was working. I clapped my arms and released the stored up energy. The heat from my body instantly melted the candy canes. I smiled and landed back in the workshop. The place now smelled of peppermint.