Iskra groaned. The fourteen year old tried to raise her arms to rub her eyes, but they wouldn’t move. Her sleepy mind processed this. Then, as if waking from a dream, the panic of not being able to move her arms set in. She opened her eyes wide, and realizing that her eyes hadn’t needed to adjust, freaked out even more. She looked down at her arms and stared in horror at the state-of-the-art, thick, silvery-metal cuffs on her upper arms that were pinning her to the wall. After spending several minutes trying to pull her arms out of the cuffs, she gave up, and slumped back against the wet stone wall. Her legs ached from sitting criss-cross-applesauce for so long. She blearily looked around the large stone dungeon, (for now she could tell that that is what it was), and saw three huddled forms around the room, all chained in the exact same way. She could tell what these people looked like, the light in the dungeon was just bright enough for that, and she didn’t think she knew any of them. The forms stirred. The form closest to her, a girl with jet-black hair and a symbol like a red flame on her forehead, spoke up first. “So you’re awake!” she said with a wry smile. “We thought you’d never wake up.” Iskra squinted at the girl. “Who… what..?” “Oh right!” the girl laughed. “I forgot to introduce myself. I don’t know what my real name is, but what THEY call me is Anali.” “Who’s they?” Iskra asked. This time, a boy with blonde hair and a gray tornado on his forehead replied. “THEY are the scientists and guards who imprisoned us. The ones who manipulated our parents, telling them nothing was gonna happen to us. The ones who altered your DNA and mine, making us something else. Superteens.” Iskra looked down at her legs. So… I have powers?” she inquired. “Oh, yeah,” another guy, Asian with brown hair, said. “Just like us.” Iskra noted that he had a periwinkle blue swirl on his forehead. “What symbol do I have on my forehead?” she asked. “You have… LIGHTNING!” exclaimed Anali. “Woah!” Her eyes sparkled and her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’. “That’s really powerful!” the Asian guy said. “You’re more powerful than me!” “We all are,” blond guy smirked. Iskra feebly laughed. “The scientists took us from our parents, who were all renowned experts in engineering, psychology, stuff like that. The minute we were fully ‘enhanced’ they whisked us away. No one will ever hear from us again,” blond guy said. “Hard to take in, I know. By the way, my name (or at least the one the scientists gave me) is Saar. And the other guy,” he nodded towards Asian Dude, “is Typhoon. I’m an energy sucker, Typhoon’s air, and Anali, as you might have already figured out, is fire.” Iskra nodded, trying not to look terrified. “Oh, you poor thing,” Anali said, “you must be scared to death! Don’t worry, they won’t severely hurt you. You don’t have to be afraid. Besides, you have us. We’ll help you. The first few days are tough, but after that, it fades into routine. Just stay on the guards’ good side,” she warned. “Saar couldn’t sit up straight for a week!” Iskra nodded, then smiled at Typhoon and Saar. “Thanks.” she murmured. They smiled back. Iskra shook her short brown hair out of her face, “You guys are awesome.” Before anyone could respond, the heavy metal door banged open and light flooded the stone room.

Blinking back the dots that came to her eyes, Iskra saw one guard coming straight at her. The guard took a key and unlocked her arm cuffs. Around the room, the other guards were doing the same thing for the others. Iskra’s guard pulled her to her feet and marched her out of the room with the others close behind. They marched out into a bright hallway, not unlike a hospital hallway, a complete contrast from their prison. They marched towards the last doorway of the long, long hallway. The guards enjoyed marching, especially when one of the teens tripped and the guard could kick them and bark, “Get up! Get up!” Along the way, Typhoon started coughing. The guards told him to stop, but he couldn’t. “Oh, no.” Anali said in a worried tone. “He’s having one of his coughing fits.” Turning to Iskra, she explained, “Too much air in his system, you know, power surges, and this happens, every other day or so.” Typhoon’s guard, fed up with trying to shut Typhoon up, punched him in the gut, making him double over, gasping for air, and slung him over his shoulder. Iskra, not able to stand this injustice any longer, burst out, “Oh stop it!” Immediately, Typhoon started shaking his head, but it was too late. Her guard turned her around, and, looking her in the eye, said, “You want some too, girlie?” Her eyes widened and she tried to back up, but the guard held her fast and repeated, “I said, you want some, girlie?” Iskra shook her head. The guard laughed. “I thought not. Now, leave us alone and let us deal with your boyfriend, okay?” With that, the little party started forward again, nearing the doorway. Iskra had a look of disgust on her face, still smarting from the ‘boyfriend’ comment. Typhoon, seeing Iskra’s face, had a look of hurt on his face. Saar and Anali shared a smirk. Then they were through the doorway.

The room was circular with bright white walls and fancy equipment, flashy screens with letters and numbers zipping across, a big compartment in the wall with a bed attached. In a corner, there was a changing screen and a closet. Typhoon was set down, and Iskra, Anali, and Saar were forced to their knees beside wheezing Typhoon. Through the still open doorway came a balding man who shut the doorway behind him. Then he walked over to the four kneeling teens and looked at them appraisingly. He stopped at Typhoon. “What’s wrong?” he smirked, running his fingers over his lapels. For Typhoon was still wheezing, and it wasn’t looking good. Typhoon was gray-colored, weak, and sweaty. The balding man squatted next to him and lifted up his chin. He asked, “What happened?” Anali opened her mouth to explain. She said, “He’s having a coughing fit. They told him to stop but he couldn’t, so they punched him in the stomach. Since then, he’s just gotten worse.” The man nodded and turned to Typhoon. “I’m Dr. Crackton, in case you didn’t know. We’re going to try to heal you once and for all. You don’t have to get tested today.” Typhoon nodded. “Thanks.” he whispered. A guard led Typhoon away.

Dr. Crackton turned to the remaining three. His caring expression was gone. He sneered at them, “You can get up, now.” The guards pulled them to their feet. Dr. Crackton addressed them, “You will begin today’s testing” He walked over to the closet. Opening it, he grabbed a gray jumpsuit, a red dress, and a yellow dress. He left the blue jumpsuit where it was. Dr. Crackton threw the clothes at their owners. He pointed to the screen. “Go!” he barked. Anali and Iskra grabbed the dresses, ran to the screen, and changed. When they were done, they found Saar already strapped to the bed. “Wha..?” Iskra gasped. “Shh…” Anali whispered. “I’ll explain. He straps us to the bed, then we go into the chamber. A bunch of magnets and probes prod us, but it doesn’t hurt. You’ll be fine. You’ll have to get used to it, because we have to do it everyday. I’m not sure why…” With this, Anali turned around. Iskra followed. They saw Saar, who had emerged from the chamber and was now shakily sitting up with the help of the guards, a look of discomfort on his face. Anali and Iskra rushed up to his sides. Iskra asked, “Are you okay?” “Yes,” Saar affirmed. “Was anything different?” Anali asked. “I don’t think so,” Saar said. “Do you usually look this discomforted?” Iskra anxiously inquired. “Pretty much,” Saar replied. “Actually, now that I think about it, everything was a little more powerful.” “Anali!” Dr. Crackton called. “You’re up next!” Iskra helped Saar off the bed and into a spindly chair near the closet. She heard footsteps and turned to see Typhoon standing behind her. Her eyes brightened and she ran to give him a hug. “Typhoon!” she shrieked. “You’re okay!” Typhoon smiled and looked contentedly at Saar. This contentment was broken when Saar, seeing his lovesick expression, laughed and said, “She’s just happy you didn’t die.” Typhoon glared and muttered, “You wish.” Anali then walked over, and seeing Iskra and Typhoon hugging each other, said, “Don’t let the guards see that.” Iskra let go and sputtered, “We’re just friends!” “Iskra!” shouted Dr. Crackton. “You’re up!” Iskra, terrified, stayed rooted to the spot. Typhoon gently took Iskra’s right arm. Anali grabbed the other. They walked her over to the bed. “It’s gonna be okay!” Anali whispered as they walked away.

The guards placed their hands on Iskra’s quivering shoulders and shoved. She tumbled back onto the bed. Before she could get back up, they grabbed the straps hanging from the sides of the bed and bound her up. She tried to scream, but had no voice. They pushed her head down, slipping it inside a leather circlet. Then she was moved into the chamber. Inside the metal contraption, a dozen whirrings started up. Tools popped out of the interior. For the next twenty minutes, she was pinched, poked, and prodded. She could understand why Saar had looked the way he did.
After what seemed like a million years, Iskra felt herself going back to the white room. The probes retreated and she breathed a sigh of relief. Once she was back in the room, the other three wanted to know what had happened. She unsteadily got to her feet. Almost immediately, she collapsed backwards into the waiting arms of Typhoon. “I knew that would happen,” he said, smiling sheepishly. Iskra smiled, and then lost consciousness.

Hours later, Iskra awoke to her face being swabbed. She blinked her eyes and saw a guard with a cloth in his hand. Iskra’s senses woke more. She felt the familiar pinch of the arm cuffs. She was in the dungeon room. All the other superteens were asleep. The guard started talking. “You’ve been in and out of consciousness all day. Happened to the others, too, when they did their first testing. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” Iskra replied, “I’m already feeling better.” The guard smiled. “Good!” he said. “Why do we have to do testing?” Iskra inquired. The guard’s face turned serious. “Dr. Crackton said that there was no reason at all other than to make y’all crack so you’ll do anything for him- even overthrow the government. He’s using you- and controlling you.” Iskra gaped at him. By this time, the other three had started to wake up. The guard quickly scampered out of the room. Iskra hurriedly relayed what the guard had said. “So the doc wants us to help him overthrow The Dictator? Impossible.” Anali said. She had a look of scorn on her face. “The Dictator has too many Protectors.” Typhoon asked, “How does he think we could overpower them all?” To this, Iskra could only shrug. Saar grunted. “If he thinks we’re going to help him, he should think again.”
“What was that you were saying, Saar?” Dr. Crackton strode into the room and stopped a few inches from Saar. Dr. Crackton put out his pointer finger, and, lifting Saar’s chin, said, “Don’t say that again. You will crack!” With that, he shoved Saar away. Saar’s head hit the stone wall, and he fell forward, unconscious. With a roar of rage, Anali started straining against her bonds. The evil doctor laughed and started towards Anali, but before he could touch her, Iskra began to sing, “Oh, God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you! Oh, God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you!” “Silence!” Dr. Crackton yelled. He glared at the four teenagers and stalked out of the room. The teens were alone.

Anali stared at Iskra, amazed. ‘How did you know that that would stop him?” “I didn’t. I was praying,” Iskra explained. Just then, Saar woke up. “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.” Typhoon asked, “Are you okay?” Saar nodded, then winced. “Ow,” he said, “That hurts.” Anali smiled sympathetically at Saar, then turned back to Iskra. “Tell me more!” she begged. “Okay,” Iskra said. “I’m starting to remember things.” “Now that I think about it, so am I.” said Anali. “Yeah,” Typhoon said. “Like how my name was… Adonis! That’s it. I just remembered.” “Strange,” wondered Anali. “Is it because we stood up to the doc?” “Maybe,” Iskra said, “maybe he was controlling our memories through the testing! Remember all the syringes? But we didn’t have testing today. The guard said he was controlling us. Maybe that’s how?”

“You’re right!” said a familiar voice. Iskra gasped, “It’s you!” It was the guard who had told her about the testing. “My name is Erach. I don’t think what Dr. Crackton is doing is right. On one of the machines, I found a setting to take away your powers. I can help you, if you want.” Anali warily looked at him, “Are you for real?” Erach quickly answered, “Yes! After all, my name means ‘helper’. I should live up to my destiny.” Iskra muttered, “1 Peter 5:10, ‘And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” “What?” Typhoon asked. “I was remembering a verse I found in fifth grade when I was going through depression. God gave me that verse, and it pulled me through- it can pull us through!” “Oh,” Anali said. “I remember when I was little, my papa, he would say, ‘Lucia, time to go to Sunday School.’ And I would go and learn about God. I think I would have broken a while ago if not for God. He pulled me through, even when I didn’t know he was there.” “I remember church! Wow, God must love us. I would have been long gone,” Typhoon said. Saar nodded his head and said, “Yeah.” Turning his eyes to the ceiling, he said, “Thank you, Lord.” Iskra watched this with happiness. The joy of Christ flooded her veins. And then her memory sparked again. “My name! It’s Alyn!” “Woah!” Erach cried. “Everyone’s remembering!” He turned to Saar. “What about you, young man?” Saar looked down. I’m sorry. I don’t know,” he said. All of a sudden, Iskra yelled out, “Brother! Denver! I didn’t see it before, but now I do! You’re my older brother!” Her eyes sparkled with shimmery tears. Saar, open-mouthed, stared at Iskra. “Really? You’re really Alyn?” “Yes!” Iskra frantically nodded her head. She then turned to Anali. “Do you think we should become power-free?” “Yeah.” Anali said. Typhoon said, “I think that we should.” Iskra nodded. She then turned to Erach. “Why haven’t we been collected for testing yet?” Erach said, “Machine broke.” Iskra laughed. “Good,” she said, “now all we have to do is escape the cuffs and get to the room with the power-sucking machine.” Erach smirked. “I can help with that,” he said as he dangled a key from his fingers. Quickly, Erach unlocked all of their cuffs.”Okay,” Iskra said, “Let’s go!” With that, Erach led them out of their prison room and into a side hallway. “We have to go quietly,” he warned. They creeped along like cats, carefully hiding when someone walked by. When they got to the room, Erach peeked in. ALL CLEAR, he mouthed. They creeped in. Erach pointed Iskra and Typhoon to a bench. “I’ll do Saar and Anali first,” he said. Iskra and Typhoon sat in silence for the first few minutes. Then Typhoon said, “So um how are you?” He then slapped his hand to his forehead, realizing how dumb the question was. But Iskra, unfazed, was answering! “I’m scared. Not just for me, but for me AND Denver. What are we going to do once we get back into the real world? We don't know how to act!” Typhoon nodded. “That makes sense.” And then Erach ran into the room.

“Go! We've been found out!” “What?” Iskra cried. “What about Denver and Anali?” “Your brother told you to go. He says he loves you very much and hopes that you will be safe in the journey ahead.” Iskra tore away from the two guys and ran down the hallway which Erach had come from, screaming, “Denver!” She got to Anali and Saar, who were in a room, ready to fight. When Saar saw Iskra, he hoarsely said, “No! Alyn, why are you here?” Iskra didn't respond, just wrapped her hands around his neck and wouldn't let go. Saar tried again. “Alyn, go! The guards are coming! Save yourself!” But no matter what he said, Iskra wouldn't let go. “I've already lost you once, Denver. I can't lose you again!” Typhoon and Erach came running in after Iskra and Saar looked at Typhoon. “Help! Please, keep her safe!” Typhoon nodded. He grasped Iskra around the waist and dragged her off Saar. “No! Denver!” she screamed, flailing and kicking and trying to get loose. Typhoon threw Iskra over his shoulder much like how the guard had thrown Typhoon over his shoulder the day before and ran out of the room. “Shh…” he said. Iskra quieted down. She stopped screaming and starting crying instead. Typhoon lifted her down from his shoulder and held her tight, like a little boy might hold a teddy bear. A drop fell on Iskra’s face and she saw that Typhoon was crying, too. “God will pull us through,” he whispered over and over. “God will pull us through.” Iskra sang quietly, “I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaken.” Then she buried her face in Typhoon’s chest and cried even more. Typhoon carried the crying girl through dark hallways and gloomy corridors. Finally, they reached an exit. Typhoon took a deep breath, reared back, and ran into freedom with Iskra in his arms. He had fulfilled Saar’s last request. He had brought Saar’s sister to the place where she belonged.