The Great Powers Outage by William Boniface

it’s the most important—” Tadpole started to say before catching himself. He glanced at me guiltily.
    â€œLook, no one knows better than I do what it’s like having no power.”
    â€œLobster Boy is going to get a chance to find out,” Tadpole said in a way I think he meant to sound supportive but didn’t.
    â€œYeah,” asked Stench, “what could have caused such an effect?”
    â€œExactly!” I said as I seized on what he had said. “Cause and effect. Nothing happens without something causing it to happen.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Plasma Girl questioned me suspiciously.
    â€œTake flowers for instance,” I replied. “No one would say they’re not special. But they exist because the rain falls and the sun shines on them. Take either away, and you’d have no flowers.”
    I could tell by the expressions on their faces that they were beginning to get my point.
    â€œOr just look at the ocean’s tides,” I said. “The waves look like they’re just happening on their own, but they’re really not. The gravity of the moon is tugging at the sea and causing the waves to wash back and forth. Without the moon, the ocean would sit practically still.”
    â€œI think I see what you mean.” Plasma Girl nodded.
    â€œSomething causes everything! Your power is no different,” I added, coming back to my original point. “That doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly special and important to who you are.”
    â€œI guess that’s true,” Halogen Boy agreed as he brightened considerably.
    â€œAnd even without a power, you’re pretty special, too,” Plasma Girl said as she placed a hand on my shoulder.
    I blushed beet red, just as Tadpole and Stench’s howling laughter echoed through the empty hallway.
    â€œYou are special, O Boy!” Tadpole mocked in a bad imitation of Plasma Girl as even Hal joined in the laughter.
    â€œShut up,” Plasma Girl said as she punched Tadpole in the arm.
    That just set them laughing harder, and I slumped my shoulders in embarrassment.
    â€œWhat is wrong with boys, anyway?” she huffed as she stalked ahead of us and pushed open the school’s front door. My friends’ laughter quickly faded as we noticed the rest of our classmates standing outside as still as statues. At first I thought Miss Marble had returned and used her power on them. Then I noticed what had them so transfixed.
    â€œOh, my gosh!” Plasma Girl exclaimed. “What is going on out here?!”
    There were animals everywhere. There were grizzlies slashing our school bus’s tires; snakes slithering up the flagpole; and, yes, even monkeys on the monkey bars. At first I thought they were fighting with each other. But then I realized they were actually locked in battle with—
    â€œIt’s the League of Ultimate Goodness!” Tadpole blurted out in amazement.
    It was true! The entire league was spread out across our school yard, engaged in a titanic struggle with hordes of zoo creatures.
    â€œThese animals ambushed us,” the Crimson Creampuff hollered as he came running straight for us. “Get to safety, kids!”
    Apparently he was trying to follow his own advice. But before he could find a place to hide, a rhinoceros that was barreling after him hoisted him into the air and began spinning the spongy superhero on the tip of his horn like a giant basketball.

    There were LUGs everywhere, but they seemed to be exceeding even their high standards of incompetence. Featherweight was drifting back and forth between two playful mountain lions, who were intrigued by his feathery, birdlike costume. Moleman was buried in the ground to his waist while a family of squirrels used their tails like slingshots to pelt him with nuts. And then I spotted Cap’n Blowhole, who was facing off against a polar bear.
    â€œArrrgghh, matey!” he gloated as a plume