Part Two: Shadow Kids Strike Back
NINE
JimJim had been a Council Kid for a while. To be exact, it had been five weeks. The time had passed quickly for JimJim. It didn’t feel like it had been over a month but it had. The time had definitely flown by for him.
Some good things were happening. He was getting much better at concentrating and thought-zapping.
Whenever JimJim saw a kid who was doing some stuff that would get a timeout, he concentrated. He thought-zapped. The kid stopped doing whatever was about to get a timeout.
It was cool when it worked and it worked most of the time. But for a few days, it hadn’t been working so well.
It was Thursday. Things changed about a week ago.
Things were going along just fine. JimJim was getting to thought-zap every day. There were more chances some days and less other days. JimJim was having a good time. He thought he was getting very good at thought-zapping.
The day before things changed, JimJim only got to thought-zap once the whole day. That was just dandy. No one in his class at school got a timeout that day. There wasn’t even one timeout all day. The next day, it changed.
JimJim wasn’t surprised. He was disappointed but not surprised. TT wasn’t following the classroom rules. He was fooling around. He was playing with his gadget again. He was going to get a timeout. JimJim saw that it was going to happen. That is when things got strange.
JimJim started thought-zapping. He concentrated. He thought, “Straighten up. Put your gadget away. Pay attention. Turn around and listen to the teacher.”
It was just a regular thought-zap. JimJim expected TT to put his gadget away. He expected him to straighten up and start paying attention. That wasn’t what happened. It wasn’t even close to what happened.
TT glanced at JimJim and smiled. He was getting JimJim’s thought-zap. It was working just like the other times. So far, so good.
JimJim was surprised. TT started playing again with his gadget. He pushed some buttons. That was when it happened.
The purple shadow suddenly appeared. JimJim figured that it would drop over TT but it didn’t. Instead, it popped between JimJim and TT. It was very dark. JimJim could barely see TT. This was very strange but there was more.
A second purple shadow popped up on JimJim’s right side. A third one popped up on his left side. JimJim looked behind himself. There was another purple shadow back there. He was surrounded. There was no way out. JimJim was caught in the Shadow Kids’ trap.
JimJim wasn’t sure what was happening. Was he afraid? Was he going to scream for help? Would the purple shadows attack him? What was going on here?
JimJim hung in there. He didn’t get scared. He didn’t yell out for help. Instead, he concentrated. His thought-zap got stronger. He sent all of his energy directly into the purple shadows.
He quickly looked from one shadow to the next. He kept looking. He concentrated. He thought, “You can’t win. You can’t defeat me. You can’t stop a Council Kid. You won’t succeed, no way, no how.”
JimJim gave it all he had. He concentrated. His powerful thought-zap held back the purple shadows but his power was quickly slipping. How long would he last? It was using up all of his energy. He was getting weaker. It was getting harder and harder to hang in there. He was within a blink of giving up.
JimJim didn’t know how he could continue but he could never quit. He could not give up. He was down to his last ounce of energy. He had to hang in there. He had to do it for the Council.
At that very second, the purple shadows began to fade. JimJim was finally winning. The shadows got lighter. JimJim could see through them. The purple shadows floated to the corners of the room. JimJim wasn’t surrounded anymore. The purple shadows were gone. It was like they were never there.
JimJim shook his head and looked around. What happened? Was it really over? He was a little scared now. He could not believe it. It was all way too weird.
JimJim calmed himself down. He took a big breath. He looked at the teacher. He glanced at the other students.
At first, he didn’t see it but then he did. TT and two other kids weren’t in the classroom anymore. Where did they go? They were just gone. He thought, “Where did they go? What happened while I was battling the Shadow Kids? It’s all way too weird.”
