This was bad, very bad. I can't afford to use my powers in here. Plus if he fights anything like Leo he'll probably burn half the student body by accident.
He cocked his head to the side and stared into my eyes. I felt a shiver run down my spine, it was like staring at a wild animal.
I only managed to beat Leo because I used my full arsenal. Not to mention I'm not naturally flame resistant….
I glanced over at Leo who was peeling off the wall, and then back to the panicking crowd. I bet someone's called the cops already too.
BBBRIIING! BBBBRRRIING!
Then I heard my saving grace, the fire alarm!
"Are you people stupid! Run! Some kid let off some explosives in here! Ya wanna get roasted!?" I heard Zack announce from the speakers.
Thank god, back up...
That was the call that really got people running. This seemed to catch the Leo clones attention. I was gonna use that as my way into a sucker punch. But all I could see was a dazzling explosion of fire crashing into the lookalike like a meteorite. He was sent flying and smacked into the DJs set.
"Leo!" I called.
As the dust settled, the flares of red and blue illuminated Leo's face. And the only thing I could see in his eyes was hate. His sharp teeth were bare and he looked like a rabid dog. I called him again and again. But he didn't hear a word.
He just leaped forward, using a fireball to propel himself at the lookalike. Then a flash of blue sparked and rocketed at Leo like a shooting star. They collided, and I watched in l amazement. Sparks of red and blue bathed the dance floor, sending embers around like confetti. Lighting the way as they barraged each other.
"The hells going on!?" I heard Zack yell from beside me.
"I think Leo's dad launched an attack. And if I follow that logic the guy who looks like Leo is probably his twin."
Zack whistled. "Damn, this is some star wars ish. Anyways, what's the plan?"
"The cops and fire department should be here soon. I suggest we fall back and reassess the situation."
"Sounds great, mind telling me how you're gonna separate the wonder twins over there?"
I turned to look back at them, and I was speechless. Leo had him by the arm and was swinging him around. Using the fire from his mouth to increase his speed. Till he stopped and slammed his brother into the wall. Who immediately jumped and shot fire at the wall. Propelling himself backward and kicking Leo in the face. Then they went right back to clocking each other.
Are those two even human...
"I'll take care of them. Did Bean get all the cameras? And is everyone gone?"
"The cameras are all handled, as for people I have no idea. The cafeterias pretty empty though."
Right, I should be cautious. No summoning then.
"Okay, get Bean here and ready. I'll get Leo to leave, and once you get him out. Send Bean to take my place with the lookalike. And I'll follow suit."
"While you do that I'll tell Bean to grab some footage. See if we can spot this freak coming in." Zack said as he held up his hand to me.
I nodded and clapped his hand, and then he took off.
"Let's go!" I yelled and concentrated my strength.
I only added a little bit so my mist wouldn't be too noticeable. Luckily for me, the blue embers didn't make it stand out as much.
I activated my eyes and watched the two, waiting for an opening. Once it arrived, I launched myself at the lookalike, and I buried my fist into his face and sent him flying into the wall.
"Let's jump him!" Leo immediately cheered.
I tripped over my words a bit. I really didn't expect to hear that.
"N-no, we gotta go!" I yelled.
"What!? He's right here!"
"Leo! This isn't the right environment! The police will be here soon. And something tells me he isn't gonna go down easy. Plus your dad is an unknown variable. We need to leave!"
He opened his mouth to talk, but he stopped midway and just stared wide-eyed past me. I turned around and saw the lookalike darting at me with his claws held out to attack me. I immediately darted forward at him and rammed my head into his. He yelped and immediately grabbed his face as he stumbled back.
I could feel the cold trail of blood sliding down my face. And it felt like someone was bashing my head in still, but I just ignored it and turned back to Leo.
"I said go! Now!" I demanded.
His eyes got wide, and he looked like he wanted to argue. But he just turned around and started running. For a moment there, I felt a wave of relief.
Then that was quickly shattered as I felt something scaly ram into my cheek. I caught myself and spun around with a right hook. As I turned I could see his new face. His hands and skin were covered in shiny indigo scales. He held his ground and immediately came back with another punch to my face.
We went back and forth, trading blow after blow. It was difficult to keep up with him. He was just as fast as Leo, so my eyes were barely keeping me on par with him.
As I went to jump back, I slipped on something wet and fell back. I looked ahead and saw my doom. I immediately went to summon armor over me. If someone happened to see I'd just have to deal with it!
But before I could get the armor on, I felt a gust of wind sweep over me. And then a black figure swooped in and kicking my assailant in the face.
Leo's lookalike dropped to the floor and started to roll back.
"My eyes!" He roared as he curled into a ball and held his face.
I felt my confidence rise as my hero landed in front of me. Brandishing a very familiar dark green hoodie. It was Icarus!
He didn't say a word. He moved his hand to his lower back and seemed to grab something. Then he threw whatever he had at Leo's lookalike. It looked like a little yellow ball, and as soon as it made contact with the floor, it exploded! Letting this yellow dust fill the whole cafeteria. The wind picked up and spread it around. And Leo's lookalike screamed in horror, spazzing on the ground like a dying bug.
But I seemed to be just fine for some reason.
The hooded man kneeled down to me and whispered.
"Don't talk, and follow my lead." He picked me up and slung me over his shoulder.
I didn't question it. I just accepted it and let him carry me out. Which was really trippy! The area around seemed really wavy, like there was a glitch in the system. We were going fast, like my boosted speed fast! And we were going without a sound. However, I noticed that I couldn't breathe at all!
Luckily, it didn't take us long before we arrived at the gymnasium. He headed straight to the broken back door and suddenly I could breathe again.
He set me down and I started to gasp for air. He seemed like he was breathing hard, but he kept moving forward like this was nothing.
As we walked outside, I nearly leaped out of my skin. Lux, Zack, and Leo seemed to just materialize out of thin air! Which didn't help my already faint breathing. Bean stood behind them and changed and kneeled down, prepared for us to get on.
"I'm aware that Thadius can't make himself completely blind to other senses while invisible and flying. So I'll make us silent in the sky if you can just block off physical perception." Icarus said between breaths.
Bean nodded and lowered himself, then we all hurried on.
"Zack, are the girls safe?" I asked as we climbed on.
"Yeah Val got Alexis out whenever the fire alarm went off. She helped guide a safe path out for the students."
I sighed with relief and sat back as Bean took off. Icarus sat near the edge with his hands held out. It seemed like the wind was cooling around him. Making his hoodie shift as he concentrated.
"So, what exactly is going on chicken little?" Zack spoke up.
"Once we land I'll be able to give you full disclosure. For now, I need to focus." He grumbled back in a strained voice.
He really seemed like he was spending himself right now. I wonder if he was doing a lot before he got me.
"Lux, not like I didn't want to see you. But why exactly are you here?"
"He thinks Leo's father would use me as a hostage to get Leo. So he came and got me."
"What about dad?"
"Well, I didn't think about him…" She admitted.
"I sent him a fake email about winning the lottery. Last I checked he's about an hour out from here. But can you all be quiet till we get to safety? Muffling sounds isn't as easy as you'd like to think." He groaned.
"You act like he can hear us way up here!" Zack complained.
"Can you say for certain he doesn't have a gift that lets him do that? Or that he hasn't sent out someone who can?" Icarus snapped back.
Zack went to open his mouth but didn't say a word. He just folded his arms and sat back.
"Whatever.." He mumbled.
I looked away from the two and focused down on the city below. And I noticed something odd. All the lights that would illuminate the streets like a starry night, were gone.
I wonder who turned out the lights…
….
We flew for a bit, eventually landing in the middle of some woods. As he descended, I could see a gigantic old mansion below us. And it looked like something from a horror movie...
The place was at least two stories tall and was made of bricks. As we landed, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I stared into the void of the curtainless windows on the second floor. And it felt like the house was glaring at me.
Without a word, Icarus leaped off Bean with a gust of wind and landed in front of a first-story window. He placed his hand on it, then I felt a breeze start to come in. The trees swayed and the cold air wrapped itself around me.
It was a good few minutes before he moved his hand from the glass and the wind stopped.
"Alright, the coast is clear." He pointed up to the second story window."That's the way inside. I advise letting Bean fly you up."
It was weird, he was far away from us. Yet I could hear him like he was talking next to me. Did he know how to throw his voice or something? No that's gotta be the wind somehow. I ignored the thought and just focused on my surroundings as Bean flew us over to the window.
Icarus did a big jump and landed on the windowsill gracefully. I could see the wind coiling around him like a gentle tornado as he maneuvered down and opened the window. Then he quickly climbed inside.
Bean flew closer and we all carefully climbed through the window.
"Follow me, we're heading to the basement," Icarus said and quickly left the room.
I looked around as I walked, and it seemed like this place was frozen in time. We were coming through what looked like a little girl's bedroom. I didn't dwell on it though. Mainly because I caught a glimpse of a doll in the corner. Even with the powers to level a city, those things still made me uneasy.
The floors creaked and moaned as he followed Icarus down the steps and the halls. Every place seemed furnished, almost like they left out in a hurry. There was even a ball of yarn and needles lying in a chair. I wonder what happened here.
Soon we walked through the kitchen and went through a door in there, which led downstairs. As we came down the steps, I became speechless. The basement was huge and fully furnished, it seemed like some old guy's bachelor pad! Couches, mounted guns, a pool table. They even had a huge fish tank built into the wall. However, the water was murky and dark, and seemed like it was hiding something sinister. I know it wasn't possible for a sea monster to be in there. But I couldn't help but think about the Kraken shooting its tentacles out from the tank at us.
And knowing our goddesses, they just might do it for funsies…
As we all came down, Icarus faced us. He reached up and slowly removed his hood. His snake-like dreads fell down and laid on his shoulders, and hung in his eyes. He quickly looked away and made a strong effort to avoid eye contact. Yet I could still see his shining jade eyes. He reached up and scratched the back of his head.
"Well, for starters. I'm Rushon Atlas. It's nice to officially meet you all."