Free No ordinary hero (Keepers of justice # 1) by Dee J. Stone

basketball court along with the triplets and Furball . As I get closer, Stretch sneezes on Furball, who glares at him and steps away. He rubs his nose.
    “Sup,” I say.
    “Yo, Kale,” Stretch says. He spins the ball on his long fingers. “Come play. Girls vs. Boys.” He sneezes again and the ball thumps Furball on the head. She growls and flashes her sharp teeth. He slinks back.
    We get into position and start playing. I forget about Mom and Dad and Lindsay , and focus on the game, adrenaline pumping inside me. I’m not the greatest player, heck I’m not even mediocre, but it’s still fun. We’re tied with the girls, only because they suck more.
    One more shot and the guys win.
    As I’m about to dunk the ball into the basket, I feel my throat constrict. It’s like someone’s wrapping his hands around my neck and squeezing tight. I fall to the ground, grabbing my neck and gasping for air.
    “Hey!” Stretch yells. “No powers.”
    “Can’t...” I gasp. “Breathe.”
    “Quit that right now,” X says, taking on his usual freaky, dark tone. The invisible hand lets go and I take in huge gulps of air.
    Furball makes the shot. The triplets giggle and jump up and down, squealing. “What,” I breathe, “was that about? You wanna kill me, Air?”
    She’s bad, that one. More so than her sisters . All three of them are similar-looking, but they have different color hair. And different personalities. Earth Goddess is the quiet one. H 2 O can be nice, as long as you don’t piss her off, which I do a lot. Air is just plain mean.
    “We couldn’t let you win,” Air says, shrugging like it’s no big deal that she almost killed me. She rests her back against the fence surrounding the court and folds her arms.
    X moves closer to her and slams his hands on either side of her. “That was smart,” he growls. “Killing the guy who’s the only one that can save Earth.”
    “Back off, pervert,” she says, narrowing her eyes. She’s using her powers on him . X starts to choke, but he doesn’t back down.
    “You’re... going to...” he breathes. “Kill me like...killed your...parents.” He fists his hand like he’s about to punch her.
    It gets so quiet, other than X’s wheezing. The triplets exchange glances.
    “Don’t you dare mention that ever again!” H 2 O yells. “That was an accident .” Earth Goddess stares at the ground, her eyes tearing up a bit. I don’t know how it happened, but the triplets have been living here since they were nine. Dad promised the government that he’d be responsible for them and teach them to control their abilities so they wouldn’t have to be contained in one of their facilities.
    X coughs. His face is really red now. I jump forward and try to pry them apart.
    “X, it’s okay, man. No harm done,” I say. “Relax.”
    He doesn’t move. His hand creeps toward her neck. The other two triplets use their powers to get him off her. H 2 O makes a water twister while Earth Goddess hurls lumps of dirt on him. Furball transforms into a tiger and leaps on him, knocking him to the ground. She raises her paw to strike.
    “ Quit it!” I yell and try to yank the tiger off my bud. It doesn’t work, so I pull her tail. She leaps off X and growls at me before returning to her human form.
    “Did you just pull my tail?”
    “Do you guys want my dad to find out about this? ” I say. “Are you crazy?” X’s body convulses. “Air! Let him go.”
    “ Like hell,” she mutters.
    I grab her arm and yank her close to me. “I’m serious. Let. Him. Go.” She gives me a huge smile and blinks. X starts gasping for air. I bend down to him. “You okay?”
    He gets to his feet and heads inside, slamming the door after him.
    The court’s a mess, filled with mud and water. “Clean this up,” I tell the girls. “Come on, Stretch. We’re going.”
    “Where? You said to clean up.”
    “I meant them.” I eye the triplets. “You’re lucky to get away with this. I’m not going to