Avery floated a mesh bag full of plastic spheres out of a closet that had been hidden by the padding on the walls. Opening it, she poured the spheres, which the others now saw were colorful playground balls, the kind that younger kids would play four-square or wall-ball with. Or at least, kids in 2005.

  "What are you d... Ahh!" Joey was cut off by a ball being thrown forcibly at his face. He raised his hands to block it from hitting him, but another one hit him in the leg, and yet another hit him in the shoulder. He peeked out from behind his hands to see Avery, surrounded by floating playground toys, grinning mischievously.

      "Block it or catch it!" she yelled, telekinetically tossing more at him, while simultaneously throwing at the others. Fed up with not having enough hands to block all the spheres at once, Joey decided to try using his powers. Not knowing how to separate telekinesis from his pyrokinesis, he extended his hand, closed his eyes, and imagined a blast exploding forth from his fingers. He felt heat flow from his pocket and through his arms, heard a deafening explosion, then flew backwards, slamming into the walls. He might have sustained serious injuries, were it not for the soft padding. Joey heard a groan, and opened his eyes hesitantly. As he opened them, and they adjusted to the light, he also smelled burning rubber. He saw that Avery had been blasted backwards, and was now sitting up against a wall, stunned. Lucas was splayed out on the floor, and Bailey was struggling to her feet. The disgusting smell of charred material permeated the room. Avery shook her head to clear the ringing from her ears.

      I did NOT expect that," she said, then laughed as she stamped out a small fire. "Guess I need to work with you one-on-one about how to tell your powers apart." Joey nodded, embarrassed.

      "I'm gonna go upstairs, call me when you're ready to work with me," said Joey. He walked up the stairs to go procrastinate on his homework some more.

      After a while, and a few bruises, Bailey managed to throw up a force field. It materialized in front of her and Lucas, shimmering with blue energy. They were invisible for the duration of the field. When the playground balls hit the blue light, they were repelled, rocketing back toward Avery. Avery crossed her arms over her face and jumped, using her telekinesis to propel her into the air. She did a flip, then caught the spheres with telekinesis, landing nimbly on her feet. The force field had disappeared when Avery looked at Lucas and Bailey, who were stunned.

      "I just like showing off," explained Avery. "There are a lot of easier ways to do that." Lucas laughed and Bailey shook her head in awe.

      "I don't think that will ever stop being amazing," said Bailey. Avery shrugged, then instructed Bailey to try to show Lucas how she put up the field. They walked to the far corner of the room, and Lucas pulled out his phone.

      "How old are you?" questioned Bailey.

      "Eight," replied Lucas, his eyes on his phone. Bailey looked outraged.

      "I didn't get my first phone until I was twelve! Even then, it was a flip phone! Lucas shrugged.

      "It's 2015, Bailey!" he explained, smiling.

      Avery walked over to the stairs and called for Joey, who came racing down. He stood up against a wall, drumming a rhythm against the foam padding.

      "So how do I tell my powers apart?" he asked, quickly adding, "Not that I couldn't figure it out on my own, I just figure it'll be faster if you show me." Avery thought for a moment.

      "Well, when you call upon each power, you get a different feeling. For example, when I call upon my telekinesis, a cold feeling run from my Shard to my hands. I don't know if it will be the same for you," she explained. Joey nodded.

      "What do your other powers feel like?" he questioned. Avery apparently needed a refresher on what her super speed felt like, because she zipped around the room once, before stopping in front of Joey.

      "When I activate it, it's like every part of me starts vibrating on a molecular level. Maybe even atomic, I'm not sure I would know which one," she answered. "And phasing... that one feels like whatever I'm phasing, my arm or my entire body, is being ripped apart and burned. At the same time. It only lasts while I'm moving through something though."

      "That sounds..." Joey tried to come up with a word. He finally settled on one. "Unpleasant." Avery nodded.

      "Anyway, what did it feel like before the blast?" she asked, turning the subject back to Joey's powers.

      "Heat running down my arms, mostly," he replied. "It started from the pocket I keep my Shard in."

      "Oh! That reminds me, I need to give you guys something before you go home," exclaimed Avery. "Don't let me forget."

      "What do you need to give..." he was cut off by Avery.

      "You'll see. Now, I assume you've played some kind of fantasy video game? With magic spells that you can toggle?"

      "Of course," he answered.

      "Good. Now, close your eyes and imagine that you have a wheel, displaying the icons of your spells. One is a campfire, and the other is a red lightbulb." Joey nodded slowly.

      "I want you to pretend that you've just clicked on the lightbulb. Energy is now flowing from your Shard, into your hands." Joey's right jacket pocket light up, and the light traveled through his arms, collecting at his fingertips.

      "Good! Does it feel cold?" Joey nodded again, slower this time. He appeared to be completely caught up in this visual, and Avery absentmindedly noted that she would be a great hypnotist.

      "Looks like you've got a blast ready, so let it go!" Avery jumped out of the way as a wave of energy crashed into the wall, pulsing with crimson light. Joey snapped out of his trance and cheered.
       "Nice! Now that you can do that, do it a few more times. Start trying to get faster at calling it." Joey closed his eyes again as Avery walked over to Lucas and Bailey.
      "Did you...oof!" The air was knocked out of Avery as a force field appeared in front of her, and she ran right into it. When she was able to breathe again, she looked up to see Lucas grinning at her.
      "Good job," gasped Avery.
      "Thanks," he replied.
      "Well now that you can do that, I guess it's time for you all to go home for the day!" Lucas' eyes widened, and he dropped the force field and put his hands behind his back.
      "Aw man, I guess I couldn't hold it up! I'd better stay for a while and work on it some more!" he lied. Avery laughed.
      "Good try. But you gotta get home to your mom before she realizes that you're gone." Lucas made a face, then disappeared. Avery looked around the room, and saw that he had appeared behind her. She praised him on his skills.
      "Before you all go," said Avery, after she called Joey over. "I need to give you something." Then she disappeared, reappearing with three pieces of cloth in her hand.
      "I made everyone an armband! It's Velcro, so you can adjust it." Bailey rolled up her sleeve and fit the band onto it. She saw that there was a hole in the front, just big enough to fit her Shard into, which she did. The boys followed suit. The armbands were designed to hold the Shard against the skin of their arms, and keep it from getting lost.
      "These are awesome!" exclaimed Joey, examining it.
      "The Shards work better when they're touching your skin directly," explained Avery. "As long as they aren't more than four feet away from you, the powers will still work. Never try to use your powers if your Shard is that far away," she cautioned.
      "Why?" asked Bailey. Avery shrugged.
      "No idea. I tried it once, though, and passed out. I'm guessing the farther it is from you, the more calling your powers will take out of you." Avery thanked everyone for coming, and told Lucas to head home. Since the others were less proficient at teleportation, she helped them and made sure nothing got left behind when they left.
      After everyone was home, Avery sat down to do her homework, but she couldn't focus on it fully. She was too worried about whether or not the other kids would be ready when Pullman became a threat.