The Magic Factory

I’m going to be terrible at this game, Oliver thought. Not only was his mind feeling far too slow to keep up, he didn’t want to even touch the ball if it meant all those birds bearing down on him!

He squinted, trying to see what was happening. Walter was moving through the atrium so fast Oliver’s slurred mind could hardly make out what was happening.

Walter’s specialism for magnetism clearly lent itself well to switchit. He used his power to imbue the ball with a strong magnet. It was attracted to one of the hoops and whizzed across the atrium so fast it was barely perceptible. Then it went straight through the hoop.

A claxon sounded. Walter punched the air with triumph.

“Three points, Walter Stroud,” Coach Finkle shouted.

But there was no respite, Oliver realized, because Coach Finkle already had a new ball in his hands. He threw it up and the game began again.

Beneath him, Oliver could feel Mabel growing more frustrated. She desperately wanted to join in the fun. But Oliver’s head spun. He couldn’t stay focused on anything around him. He could hardly tell who was whom, let alone whereabouts of the small ball in the enormous atrium. It was frustrating. There was no way he’d score any buckets like this.

“Come on, Oliver,” he heard Hazel call out. “Join in!”

He glanced over to see a blurred shape whoosh past him. The only thing that made it unmistakably Hazel was the color of butterscotch. His desire to join in grew even more. He didn’t want to be like Simon and miss out on all the fun.

Then suddenly someone was racing right toward him. Oliver felt a sudden electric shock zap through him. Mabel shuddered in pain and Oliver lost his grip on her feathers. There was a collective gasp as Oliver slid off her side.

Panicking, he grasped forward and gripped her talons by his fingertips. He was now dangling hundreds of feet in the air, barely clinging on. With all his strength, Oliver heaved himself back onto Mabel’s back.

As his adrenaline subsided, Oliver noticed another ostreagle hovering beside them. On its back, he could just make out Edmund.

“Told you I’d kick your butt,” he scoffed.

Oliver felt incensed. Edmund had used his powers to zap Oliver and his ostreagle. It was a dirty trick. He already had the upper hand without the helmet, which made it an even cheaper shot. Oliver wasn’t going to stand for it.

Oliver reached up and detached the helmet. Right away, the horrible pulsing feeling disappeared. His vision refocused. He locked eyes with Edmund then dropped the helmet to the ground.

“Think you can do this without your powers?” Edmund said with a smirk. “Good luck!”

“Powers or not, at least it will be a fair fight,” Oliver shot back.

Edmund glared at him coldly. Then he kicked his ostreagle’s flank and the creature darted away.

Within seconds, Edmund had the ball. He whizzed upward in a zigzagging motion. Little bolts of electricity trailed behind him, keeping the pursuing ostreagles off him. Then Edmund threw the ball toward a hoop. But instead of the ball going into the hoop, it completely vanished.

All the ostreagles stopped mid-flight, casting their hawkish gazes around the court, waiting for the ball to reappear somewhere else.

It did, right beside Hazel. She’d used her power to make the ball jump from one location to another. The claxon sounded out for Hazel’s block point and below Coach Finkle announced, “One point, Hazel Kerr.” Oliver was thoroughly impressed, not to mention glad that Edmund hadn’t scored.

Hazel went to grab the ball. But a sudden pulse went through the atrium, like the rippling of a pebble on water. It pushed the ball away from Hazel’s fingers and floated it right into Esther’s hands. Her ostreagle raced to the closest hoop. Esther dunked the ball for a bucket. The claxon sounded.

“Three points, Esther Valentini.”

“Awesome,” Oliver said aloud. He was getting a feel for the game now that he could actually see what was going on.

Far below, Coach Finkle was ready to launch a ball up to begin play.

Clutching onto Mabel, Oliver asked her, “Are you ready? I want to join in this time.”

She snorted happily.

Coach Finkle threw the ball. Mabel went flying. Oliver’s stomach flipped as he plummeted through the air.

Suddenly the ball disappeared. Mabel stopped soaring downward, making Oliver’s stomach flip again. Then the ball reappeared right beside Oliver. He suspected Hazel had done this, to give him a chance at a shot.

Mabel surged for the ball. From below, the other ostreagles also surged upward. Oliver didn’t have time to think. He grabbed the ball and threw it with all his might at the nearest hoop.

It soared through the air, right on target. But suddenly electricity zapped all around the hoop, completely melting it. The ball sailed onward, where the hoop had been, but no points were awarded to Oliver.

As the claxon sounded for the block point, Oliver glanced around to see who had blocked him. To his irritation, it was Edmund who’d blocked his point by melting the hoop. He punched the air with frustration.

“One point, Edmund Branner.”

“Nice try!” Hazel called to Oliver as she swooped past.

Oliver knew she’d done everything she could to help him but without using his powers, he’d never get any points.

Once again, Coach Finkle had the ball. He shouted up, “Cavendish! Get involved!”

From the highest point of the atrium, Simon’s ostreagle hovered. Simon waved languorously from its back. He clearly had no intention of joining in the game at all. But Oliver wanted to. He wanted to get a bucket. Three points would be more than Edmund had, and beating him would feel like winning to Oliver.

Coach Finkle threw the ball. Oliver charged downward on Mabel’s back. Edmund got to it first. He grabbed the ball and threw it immediately to the nearest hoop, which just so happened to be at Oliver’s right shoulder.

Everything happened in a split second. Oliver wanted to stop the ball from entering the hoop so much his mind immediately shifted to the place where he could summon his powers. Oliver cast his mind out to the ball, commanding its atoms to change.

Suddenly, the ball transformed in midair, turning from a solid ball into a strange viscous goo. It had been just a mere inch from the ring of the hoop but now it dribbled through the air and turned to a puddle on the ground.

The strain of using his fledgling powers made Oliver’s forehead bead with sweat. But it was worth the effort when he heard the claxon.

“One point, Oliver Blue.”

He’d gotten a point! He’d blocked Edmund’s shot! Even without the helmet, he’d summoned his powers! Oliver felt on top of the world. He’d never been good at sport, and yet here he was having the time of his life, actually exceling. He could get used to this.

“Go Oliver!” his friends started to cheer.

He looked over and Ralph flashed him a thumbs-up. Then he caught sight of Esther. She looked thoroughly impressed and flashed him a gorgeous smile.

But there was very little time to celebrate. The ball appeared once again in Coach Finkle’s hands. Once more he threw it directly into the air.

Quick as a flash, Edmund was there. He looked more determined than ever as he caught the ball.

Oliver’s stomach flipped as Mabel plummeted downward, beelining, like all the other birds, for the ball in Edmund’s hands. But Mabel was faster than the others, more determined, as though their win earlier was driving her on. They pulled ahead of the rest of the flock.

As the distance between Oliver and Edmund diminished, Oliver could see the look of sheer concentration on Edmund’s face. He was clearly trying to summon his powers. By the looks of things he wasn’t succeeding. Sweat was rolling from his forehead. He glanced over at Oliver, his teeth gritted, his expression alarmed at the sight of the ostreagle bearing down on him at its frightening speed.

“Throw the ball!” Oliver exclaimed.