Mr. Virzi stomped through the hall, the wood around him creaking as he went past. The door was right in front of him, but as he went to grab the handle, it melted through his fingers, dripping onto the floor. He kicked the door open, busting the frame off the inside.
"Ignatius! What are you-"
"Arnold! You fucking weasel."
"Calm down. Calm down. What's wrong? What happened?"
"You damn well know what happened!"
The air in the room was visibly shimmering as it kept heating up. "I'm afraid I don't know what your talking about. Has something happened to Rose? And would you please calm down, I don't think I can stand it if you let your power loose like that."
Mr. Virzi scowled as the shimmering stopped. "There was an intruder in my class. They abducted a student."
"Oh? Do you have any details of this person? I'll pass on the info to the IMB." He pulled a phone from his pocket.
"No. No details I'd like to contribute."
"That's okay, we all are unobservant sometimes. I promise you with help from the IMB we'll get him back."
"Him?" The heat around Ignatius burst into active flame. His dark red hair flaring upward as it danced with the heat.
"The student. Whoever they are."
A column of fire erupted from Ignatius' hand, flying past Arnold's head and blasting against the window, shattering it instantly. The flames that were licking the walls caught on, leaving a smoldering mess. The books on the shelves started to wilt, turning black with orange specks.
"If you touch my students again. I'm roasting you. Slowly."
"I had nothing to do with this!"
Ignatius looked back over his shoulder as he turned toward the door. "My official statement is that the abduction was orchestrated by Arnold Chestfield. Send any IMB agents to my office to discuss the incident."
He walked off, just as angry as he had arrived.
Arnold's face shifted into a drooping scowl. "Great, now I have to have my office fixed. Prick."
***
Mr. Virzi knocked at the door, slowly letting out a deep breath. The door swung open, with the short girl staring back up at him.
"Honey, what are you doing here?"
His eyes were tearing up. "Rose, something happened. One of my students was kidnapped and I-"
"Slow down. Stay calm. It's okay. You know you have to stay calm."
He stopped his huffing, letting out another deep breath. "Yeah..."
"Now what happened? From the beginning. Come sit down."
He followed her into her office, sitting down in the chair as she walked around the pink room. The stacks of paper that were normal had been diminished since the last time he was here. She sat down into her chair, and pumped it back up to it's normal height.
"Someone came into the class today, a boy, claiming to be a transfer. He tried to grab a student, but another one stopped him, and then they both disappeared. There was purple light, so I think they were teleported."
"Teleported?"
"Yeah. I think Arnold had something to do with it. He's been nothing but trouble ever since he got here."
"Who got taken?"
"Maria Watanabe. She wasn't the target so I hope nothing happens to her before she gets rescued."
"You said they tried to grab a student, but were stopped? Where's the student they tried to grab?"
"Huh? Oh. Oh shit. I need to go!"
"Stop! Remember who you are talking to."
"I can't let you do that. You know what that risk is."
"Please, If I couldn't do this much I wouldn't be worth anything. Who was it? The one from the Masuda family?"
"No. It was Nero Satou."
"The powerless one? What do they want with him? Let me look up his address." She pulled a tablet out from under a stack of papers, carefully letting them slip back onto the desk. She flicked around on it, tapping in Nero's name. "Huh. It's not here."
"What? What do you mean it's not there?"
She held up the tablet, showing it to him.
"That's impossible. The school is supposed to have record on everyone. What's the edit history say?"
"It's been wiped."
"Fuck."
"You should go talk to Arnold. Like it or not he's the dean of students, so security is his job."
"I already did."
"When you were like that? Is he okay?"
"I may have trashed his office, but he's alive."
Rose let out a sigh, reaching into a filing cabinet behind her to pull out another paper.
"You're mad," Ignatius said, looking up at her jerk a pen across the page.
"I'm not mad, just disappointed. You're lucky I'm a founding member. "
"Indeed I am."
She handed the page over to him, along with a pen. "Write out what the damages are so I can get a quote for repairs. I'm going to go call Nero." She dropped out of her chair, walking out of the small room as she pulled her phone from her pocket.
***
Nero picked up his phone on the fourth ring. He pulled it up to his head as he panted out, pushing his legs to move faster as they cramped under him.
"Nero? Are you there?"
"Yeah... I'm here."
"You're breathing heavy, are you alright?"
"Yeah... I'm just... on a run."
"I just got told about the incident in the school. Are you okay? Where are you?"
Nero slowed to a stop, his feet loudly clacking against the concrete. "I'm right outside the southwest shuttle station. I'm fine. Why?"
The phone made a soft beep before cutting out.
"Hello?" he asked. Not getting a response, he pulled the phone down, glaring down at the glowing screen.
"I'm right here Nero," he heard from behind.
"How did you get here?"
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to bring you somewhere safe now. Just take my hand." She held out her slender palm.
He turned away. "Sorry, I've got to get back home. It's urgent."
"People are after you Nero."
"I know, but my friend could be getting hurt right now. I have to do something."
"What?"
"Whatever I can do." He started walking off again, right towards the staircase to the shuttle.
"Don't do anything reckless Nero. You can't save her."
Nero kept walking away, tensing his fist.
"I'll stop you by force if I have to Nero. You don't have a power to save her."
Nero turned back around. "How could you say that to me?!" He stormed off, picking up his pace. He nearly tripped over himself heading up the stairs. "Don't follow me!"
"Nero!" She ran up to him, trying to grab at him.
He marched onward, ignoring her.
Rose turned back towards the campus with a scowl on her face as tears started swelling in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Nero. I shouldn't have said that," she muttered. Nero had already disappeared into the clusters of people at the top of the stairs. "Forgive me for this."
In a moment, she was in a dark room, staring at her reflection in a mirror, lit only by the faint purple sparking off her small body. She fumbled her hand into a plastic bin on a shelf, pulling out a small bit of electronics, it vanished from her fingers, and she appeared right in front of her office.
"You're back!" Ignatius nearly jumped out of his seat seeing her appear.
She weakly smiled at him as tears rolled down her face.
"I made a mistake this time."
"What do you mean? Why are you crying? Is Nero okay?"
Rose's words were interrupted with hiccups. "He's fine. I just- said some things I shouldn't have. I ended up- putting a tracker on him, just in case, but- I think I'm losing my touch."