"Didn't expect to see me did you?!" Solomon bellowed, his hideous face shot out a beaming smile that was even more sinister than his voice.
"What the hell are you?!" exclaimed the cowardly doctor which immediately drew Solomon's attention.
"Incompetent fool, you couldn't even terminate a pest," Solomon snarled as his expression changed and he shot an icicle at the doctor's heart.
Time seemed to move in slow motion as Robert watched the icicle speed towards the doctor.
"I can't let this happen," he thought to himself. "If I transform into an elemental, Miss Greene will freak out!" But then Poison's voice cut through his thoughts. "That man is going to die if we don't do something!" he said, urgency in his voice.
As the icicle drew closer, Robert knew he had to act fast. He had to make a decision - transform and save the doctor, or stay hidden and watch him die.
With a gust of wind, he appeared a few meters away from the doctor, the icicle clutched in his hand. Before anyone could react, he flung the icicle away. Then he looked at Miss Greene, his face serene, before turning his gaze to Solomon.
Slowly, deliberately, Robert transformed into an earth elemental. Miss Greene's eyes widened in shock as she placed a trembling hand over her mouth. She had never seen anything like this before.
Solomon turned and smiled at her. a ball of ice materialized in his hand and without warning, he hurled it towards her. Before it could hit her, Poison zoomed in front of her and caught the ball with his bare hand. Then, without a word, he grabbed Miss Greene and the doctor and sped off towards the hospital lawn.
"I'll be fine, Miss Greene," he said, his voice tinged with guilt. "Go and get the police."
Miss Greene looked at him, her face unreadable. "Now I know where that metallic earth knife came from," she said, her voice calm. In reply, Poison gave off the same peculiar smile and disappeared with the wind trailing him.
Solomon's face broke into a wicked grin as Poison returned to the ward with astonishing speed. But there was no joy in his smile, only resentment and malice.
"You still haven't gotten over the corpse-burning incident, have you Solomon?" Poison asked with a grin splashed across his sandy face.
"You have no idea how much I hate you, Gabor," Solomon said with a voice full of anger and hatred, and a long icicle materialized in his hands.
"Seems the frost icicle is still your best magic spell, eyy?" Poison asked, as if he was chatting with a good friend. His relaxed stance was in stark contrast to Solomon's rage.
"Actually, I currently prefer, elemental morphing," Solomon answered and without waiting for a reply, he disappeared into thin air.
"Robert, this is what a battle between legendary wizards look like," Poison said telepathically.
"Wizards? you guys were wizards, like real wizards? I've always wanted to be one. Anyway, goodluck. I'll be happy to watch as long as I'm not the one getting hurt," Robert said in his (Poison) head but almost immediately, Poison felt a cold sensation run through him and at the same time, a long icicle exited his chest.
"That's right! A true battle between legendary wizards," Solomon iterated as Poison collapsed on the ground to reveal his figure standing behind him.
Poison struggled to his feet, but before he could react a terrifying kick from Solomon sent him flying backwards, crashing into x-ray machine. The x-ray machine crumpled under the impact.
"Hmm, I wonder what he's gonna thrust into your chest this time," Robert mocked from inside Poison's head.
An ice ball flew from one end of the room towards Poison but as it was about to slam into his face, Poison turned into a cloud of fine dust and evaporated before the attack could hit him.
Solomon appeared from the other side of the room, a grin on his face. "I see you still play hide and seek, Gabor. Not to worry, I'm gonna find you, like I always do."
He heaved a deep sigh and almost immediately, the ice crystals that littered the floor of the ward shuddered and hovered in the air.
"Ice bullets!" Poison whispered, his voice a mere breath of air, he was invisible.
"Ice bullets? What are those?" Robert asked inside his head, sounding a bit puzzled. He didn't seem too concerned, probably because he knew he wouldn't be the one getting hurt.
"Ice bullets are an advanced ice magic that can cause wide area damage, but they take a while to cast," Poison explained. "Once they're released, though, thousands of tiny bits of ice will shoot in all directions, perfect for mass destruction and finding invisible enemies. The bright side is that it takes 15 seconds to cast, so I've still got 8 seconds to spare, and I've got something special for him," Poison said still invisible. He waved his left hand in the air and dozens of earth daggers materialized.
As Solomon finished preparing his ice spell, he noticed several brown earth daggers hurtling towards him. He quickly crossed his arms in front of him, and a massive ice wall condensed in front of him, just in time to block the daggers. The daggers slammed into the ice wall with a deafening crash, leaving cracks all over its surface.
Solomon wasted no time in jumping to the side as a massive rock crashed into the ice wall, shattering it to pieces. He landed just in time to see another rock (smaller) coming straight at him which he easily slapped away.
But that wasn't all...
Before Solomon could react, Poison materialized in front of him and stormed him with ferocious blows. In a blink of an eye, Poison had turned the tables and forced Solomon to be on the defensive.
Solomon did his best to block the attacks, but he was quickly overwhelmed. This was the worst possible situation for him to be in. He had to think fast.
With a surge of energy, Solomon cast his elemental morph spell, evaporating into a cloud of ice dust. He materialized again a few meters away from Poison, who was still searching for him. Without hesitation, he summoned an icicle and fired it at Poison's chest. The icicle pierced Poison's sandy left shoulder and caused him to stumble.
As Solomon turned to disappear, a long rock spear stabbed into his side, causing him to roar in pain and anger. He was a powerful elemental, but his healing abilities were not nearly as strong as Poison's. It would take him a long time to recover from this wound.
He glared at Poison, who was struggling to pull the icicle out of his shoulder. He pulled out the rock spear but instead of attacking Poison, he drove the spear with all his might into the floor of the hospital and huge cracks appeared on the floor. Poison looked down to see a large fissure spreading across the floor.
Solomon had destabilized the hospital's foundation!
"Have fun saving them!" Solomon taunted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'll deal with the police myself." With that, he turned and disappeared in a gust of wind, knowing fully well that teaching Poison a lesson would have to wait.
"No!" Robert thought desperately, "You can't let him escape!"
"I know," Poison replied, his voice calm and determined. "But right now, we have to save the people in this hospital. I'll worry about Solomon later."
"But he's going to kill the police, Miss Greene, and everyone else outside!" Robert cried in his head, panic rising in his voice.
"You see that spear that Solomon plunged into the floor? it's damage is so severe that this building is gonna collapse, I have to save those inside first, and if there's still time, I'll do my best to help those outside!" Poison shouted back while trying not to panic.
He sat down on the cracking floor in the lotus position and began to meditate.
"What are you doing?" Robert demanded, his voice shaking with fear.
"I'm trying to use the earth element to fuse the building back together," Poison answered, his eyes closed in concentration. "But the damage is so severe. I'll have to save everyone in this building before it collapse."
Robert could feel the building shaking beneath his feet. "How are you going to do that?" he asked, panic rising in his voice.
"The wizard way," Poison replied calmly.
"The wizard what?"
.....ZOOM....
Poison sped off with terrific speed, and then...
As usual, there was no then.
With blurring speed, Poison ran through the hospital, leaving a trail of brown light in his wake. One by one, the people inside the building disappeared, transported to safety by Poison.
Seconds later, Robert found himself behind a bush.
"Nice work, that was amazing!" he commended Poison happily.
"Thanks," Poison said ecstatically in his head, but his tone changed when he exclaimed, "Oh crap!"
"Crap what?" Robert asked, confused.
"Solomon!"
"Solomon? where?"
Suddenly, the sound of gunfire filled the air, and a frosty wind elemental floated above the hospital grounds, his eyes scanning the people below. A large hole was visible in his abdomen - clearly, it was the wound inflicted by Poison's rock spear.
"Robert, wave your right hand," Poison commanded.
"Why?" Robert asked, his voice shaking with fear.
"You're about to cast an earth dagger," Poison replied.
Robert's hand trembled as he obeyed, waving his hand in the air.
"Now imagine an earth dagger," Poison said.
"Ok, I have... wait... whoa, I did it!" Robert jumped up happily as the earth dagger appeared before him. Previously, when he conjured it at the hospital it happened instinctively and out of impulse but now he actually did it himself.
"Now, focus on the intention to send the dagger towards Solomon with great speed." Poison said.
"Ok," Robert closed his eyes, concentrating with all his might.
"Ouch!" he yelped as the dagger stabbed him in the eye. He pulled it out and his eyes healed immediately, leaving no trace behind.
"Now try again."
___
As Solomon scanned the crowd below him, he noticed Miss Greene staring up at him with a look of intense curiosity on her face. "This should teach Poison's kid a lesson. Goodbye, teacher," he thought to himself, and an over sized ice ball condensed in his palm. But just as he was about to launch the spell, he heard a faint whistling sound in the air. Before he could react, a dagger made of earth struck the hole in his abdomen.
"Aaarrgh!!!!" He roared with pain and disappeared.
Then, Robert stepped out from behind a nearby bush, a look of triumph on his face.
"You did it, kid!" Poison exclaimed, his voice filled with pride.
"Yeah, but I still don't understand why Solomon is after me," Robert said. "You're the one who burnt his body, not me. Why is he trying to ruin my life? You two better settle this soul to soul," Robert sighed as he made his way to the school bus.
"Well, it's not only about me burning his corpse. But there's also the matter of the ancestor seal. We need to obtain it to be able to attain the power to seal our souls in the unconscious zone and there's only one of it. If any one of us gets it first the rest remains stuck here in the body of his descendants forever, that's every reason to want to eliminate your opponent. And we're also not very fond of each other so..."
"All right," Robert replied half-heartedly. "Let's get back to school".
As he walked towards Miss Greene, who was watching the hospital staff clear away the remains of the battle, he couldn't help but wonder what the future held for him and Poison. What would happen if any of his siblings got their hands on the ancestor seal first, most especially Doom.