Gradually, the noise faded and I could hear my heart | pumping blood to my head. Air flowed into my lungs. I | heard Nelson ask Tamara again, “Are you okay?” Then he | said it again and I realized he was shouting. He had been all | along. | I sat up. The sound of my pulse got louder and louder and | soon Nelson looked up. He heard it, too. | “Choppers,” he said. He was right. I wasn’t hearing my | pulse. It was the sound of helicopters. | Suddenly I felt fine. | I grabbed Tamara’s ankles. Pulmo grabbed her shoulders | and we picked her up together. Nelson jogged ahead, | looking out for the helicopters. | “Four members of this super-powered team and not one | of us can levitate stuff,” Pulmo said. | “Hey, you’re the alien,” Nelson said. “Shouldn’t you have | a levitation device or something?” “Tl have to work on that.” | We carried Tamara across the tennis court and past the swimming pool. A tennis ball floated in the water. | I moved my hand along the doorframe, fusing the door to | the wall. | “There. It will take them a while to get in,” I said. | Nelson grabbed his communicator off his utility belt. | “What are you doing?” Pulmo asked. | “I’m calling Reuben,” Nelson said. “Hopefully he can | stop them from killing us.” | Pulmo looked at me, and then said, “Nelson, it’s not right | to have to ask permission to use our powers.” | “Of course it’s not right, but you’re either dead or an | officially recognized Superhero. And ’'m making the choice | for you. Reuben might be a sleazy Superhero agent, but he’s | our only hope of getting out of this alive.” |