After their talk with Gabriela, and their long stressful day to begin with, Sumin had wanted nothing more than to just go home and rest. They had thought about asking some friends to hang out as while they did enjoy their personal time, given everything that had happened recently they thought perhaps some company would be best. But Madison was sick, Travis wasn't here, and Eustace had left quickly, claiming he had something urgent to take care of. So personal time it was and they would make the most of it. They didn't start working until tomorrow anyway so they wanted to enjoy this one day off.
Of course, they were denied that opportunity.
"Sumin hey! Glad I caught up with you."
Sumin didn't roll their eyes very often, finding it to be a useless habit that accomplished nothing. But on this occasion, they decided it may have some merit as they turned to face Dredden. "Not now, Dredden," they told him.
"Why does everyone always sat that to me? Don't they know how busy I am to make time for them? They should be grateful."
Sumin had to resist rolling their eyes again.
"Anyway, I just wanted to check in with you on the debate club. I know you've dropped it for personal reasons. And while I do express my disappointment in that, I understand that at times it can't be helped. Whatever the case, I want your help in choosing your replacement."
"Gabriela is the captain, ask her."
"Yes, well…Sumin, you are perhaps my only true intellectual rival here."
Sumin simply nodded in response. Dredden had mentioned it to them on multiple occasions.
"Don't get me wrong, Fuentes is very smart, but she lets foolish hobbies and extracurricular activities stop her from reaching true success. You, on the other hand, balance everything accordingly. It's something I admire."
"How thrilling," Sumin said dryly.
"Yes, well, my point is that…in the last few days, Fuentes has been…off, to say the least. And, well, I've always had faith in her as a teammate and even as a captain at times. But I think the pressure might be too much for her. She's off her game. Which is why I've come to you. If anyone knows who should replace them for their spot on the teams, it should be-"
He didn't get to finish that sentence as there was a slight thrumming sound before one of the classrooms near them seemed to explode.
"What the hell?" Dredden shrieked and he wasn't the only one, all the students and teachers screaming and running for cover. Alarms began to blare out loudly. Sumin ducked down, eyes wide, trying to take stock of the situation. Smoke was pillowing out from the classroom and the door had been blown off. They slowly made their way, trying to see inside. But before they could get a look, there was another explosion coming from below them and then a third from above.
"Everyone out, now!" a teacher ordered, gesturing towards the stairs. "Be as quick and as organized as possible. No pushing!"
"Out of my way!" Dredden shrieked, shoving his way to the stairs.
"I said no pushing!"
Sumin followed the crowd, trying to stay calm. Still, they couldn't forget what Travis had told them. About the attackers the previous night and the power the masked man wielded. Was it too much of a coincidence to believe that he would show up here now? Possibly. But something was happening. And Sumin wasn't much of a believer in coincidences.
As they reached the stairwell, they glanced back to the destroyed classroom and frowned. There did seem to be something in the smoke. Some sort of dark shape but it was too hard to make out. Perhaps the one responsible for this.
"Keep moving!" the teacher ordered.
Sumin was about to take a step when they heard a cracking sound. Feeling a tingle down their spine, they turned to see a long crack appearing in the wall behind them. And it kept growing, forming an outline of a…human. "What?" they wondered aloud just before the outline came to life, a creature made out of the wall. They stared at it for a second before someone behind them screamed. Then it took a swing at the wall it had just popped out of, destroying part of it.
CRACK!
Sumin's breath caught as they saw more cracks appear but not just on the walls but the floors and even the ceiling. Hands began to reach out and then heads were formed as more figures emerged.
Is this the power Travis was talking about? Sumin though as they followed everyone down the stairs, ducking around the figure clawing out of one step. It didn't seem like what he had described but they didn't know what else it could be.
When they reached the ground floor they saw even more of the strange humanoid formations rampaging around. The teachers and students were racing for the exit, almost all of them screaming, but Sumin noticed that none of the figures were attacking them. Instead, they seemed more intent on attacking the school itself, punching and kicking the walls and bashing the furniture.
"What the hell are these things?"
"Everyone, outside!"
"There's no reception!" one teacher called out from the main office. "We can't call anyone!"
"Forget about it then!" the principal yelled. "Just get out! They don't seem to be attacking us but that could change. Let's get the students out of here now!"
Sumin moved to follow the crowd but stopped. It was true, the figures could begin attacking the people at any moment. And apparently no one was coming to help them. The police didn't know there was a problem. This had to be the masked man. Who else could it be? And if he was able to take out people with superpowers, albeit teenagers, then what chance did the police even have?
But they could do something, couldn't they? A rush of feelings overcame them, a desire to stay and fight and a desire to run as fast as they could. Yes, they did have the power to help but Travis had said they had almost died fighting the masked man and if hadn't even been close. So what chance did Sumin have here. The priority was getting away safely.
"Ow."
Sumin's eyes found the girl their age on the ground, a table on top of them, having been thrown at her randomly by one of the figures. For an instant, as she was lying there in pain, Sumin didn't see her face.
"Althea," they whispered.
Their vision turned indigo and they felt the power surge through like nothing they'd ever felt before. Once, as a child, they had accidentally touched an open wire and had an electric shock but this was twenty times more powerful than that except there was no pain. Just rush.
They raised their hands and multiple glowing hands appeared, lifting the table off the ground and freeing the girl. The hands then all turned on the figures, each grabbing one and throwing it to the ground. But Sumin didn't stop there, creating giant feet that hovered over the figures and stomped on them until they were nothing but rubble. There was no way they could let anyone get hurt or worse. They'd had too much of that in their own life already.
More figures kept coming though. Even the ones they had just destroyed were reforming. Sumin grimaced as they destroyed another batch, already feeling the strain. Perhaps they should have trained harder. But that didn't matter now, they just had to focus on this.
They just had to find the source. The masked man or whoever was the one creating these things somehow. They take care of him, they take care of them. The only problem was that they had no idea where this person was.
Then they would have to focus on the next thing. These things seemed to be only interested in the school, not the people. So, all they had to was get the people out. Acting fast, Sumin created a giant brush and used it shove as many figures aside as they could, allowing more people a path to the doors.
As an afterthought, they also created a sheen around themself as a disguise, not wanting to be recognized right now. The last thing they needed was a talk with their parents about this.
Seeing five more figures rise out of the ground like in those zombie flicks their dad loved, Sumin thought up a large spatula and flipped the floor-based figures right into the wall, squashing them flat. They kept that up for a few more minutes, conjuring up anything that came to mind that might help them out. They created a small bulldozer that ran over a group, a wrecking ball that accidentally destroyed an office, and a Michael Jackson impersonator who danced his way into destroying three figures. That last one had appeared due to one of the figures coming out of the wall backwards though it did prove effective.
As they fought, at times they thought they could hear the sounds of fighting from above. They hoped it was just the figures destroying stuff and not more people up there. If there were, there wasn't much Sumin could do for them right now as they had their hands full dealing with all of these ones. They rushed around, checking classrooms and offices and even the bathrooms, looking for any stragglers. Whenever they found someone, they formed an indigo hand around them and safely carried them outside either through the window or the door.
They tried to destroy as many as the figures as they could but they kept popping back up, like the world's most annoying game of whack-a-mole. And that game was infuriating enough.
Sumin could feel the ground shaking. The building wouldn't be able to take much more of this with so many cracks in the foundation.
How much longer should they do this? From what they could tell, there didn't seem to be anyone else around. Maybe that was it. Maybe their work was done now.
That's when they heard a loud shriek coming from above alongside the sound of breaking glass. "Naturally," they said aloud and rushed to the stairwell, creating a large mallet and smacking a recently emerged figure back into dust. It wouldn't last but at least kept the damn thing down, unlike that stupid mole.
However, just as Sumin reached the stairs, they both heard and felt a large thrum and saw something dark and viscous begin pouring down the stairwell. Except, when it did, it sounded like raindrops hitting the pavement, a rhythmic clattering sound. Whatever it was, this was most assuredly the substance Travis had mentioned. Dark and metallic looking but still fluid. That meant the masked man must be here somewhere. Judging from that cry, probably upstairs.
As the stuff came down, Sumin quickly formed a platform beneath them that lifted them up in the air and out of harm's way. Then they watched as the substance washed over the ground to the figures still attacking the school. However, the substance did not aid the figures. Instead, when it came upon the first one, the substance seemed to destroy the figure, swallowing it up.
No, that couldn't be right. It seemed more like it was…reabsorbing it somehow. Yes, that had to be it. But for what purpose, Sumin wasn't sure. The school had almost collapsed by now judging from the damage. So why stop now?
They heard more crashing sounds and cries from above and decided to think on the matter later. Right now, people were in danger and they had to help.
They moved the floating hand up the stairwell, grimacing a little from the strain. Maintaining these many creations at such a rapid rate was really taxing their energy. They honestly felt like they could sleep for a week right now. But they pushed past it and continued upwards, careful to not touch whatever the dark substance was.
Just as they arrived, there a loud BOOM and Sumin gasped, wondering if they were too late. They arrived at the top of the stairs to see Gabriela and another student, Luke they believed, kneeling on the floor surrounded by the substance. However, it looked like all the dark stuff had been pushed back somehow though not for long as it was reforming.
A few yards away stood the masked man himself, looking just as Travis described although Travis hadn't mentioned much other than 'big scary dude with dark clothing and a wicked mask on.' Still based on his powers and the mask itself, Sumin thought it was safe to assume that this was the man in question.
"…but ultimately useless," the man was saying as he approached Gabriela and Luke. Behind him, the substance was doing something similar to the figures below, creating creatures from itself though these looked more like wild animals or nightmarish monsters. "You have great power, but no true strength to wield it yet. Such a pity. Oh well. Time to end this."
Sumin took a deep breath and placed their palms together, joining them in the way they did when meditating. They needed a sense of calm now more than ever because if they were going to get their friend and that other guy out of here, they would need every drop of energy they had left.
"Now my army will-"
Sumin wasn't really much of a fighter but their father loved action films, especially the Mission Impossible films. And one thing they had learned from watching them with him was to always take your enemy by surprise. So as the villain was monologuing, Sumin stepped off their giant glowing hand and sent it flying directing into the man's face. To their surprise, he burst apart, crumbling into small pieces. So he had just been a construct as well, like the others.
Still, all the other creations were around so Sumin didn't believe for a second that this was over. In order to win this, they would have to give it their all. With a deep breath, they let loose as much energy as they could and brought forth a variety of their own creations, brought forth from their memories such as animals they had seen at the zoo, aliens they had seen in films, soldiers like the toy figures their dad kept back home, and even a few random characters like the robo-bunny they'd seen in a dream once.
"You have an army," Sumin said. "So do I."
"Sumin Jang," the masked man's voice came from the substance itself as a new creation came out of it, forming the man himself once more. "Another powered individual here. And there are two more just outside fighting more foes. How interesting."
Sumin couldn't help but glance out the window, as if they could see the other two fighting out there. Now that they thought about it, they could hear the sounds of combat with someone yelling stuff out. But who were they? Travis and Franklin perhaps? Or someone else entirely?
"Each of you has such a unique and powerful ability. No wonder Lord Kane is after you. It would have been so interesting to watch what you become. But I cannot let you stop my ascent. It means too much to me. So-"
Sumin didn't wait another second. They were glad the man kept talking for so long as it gave them the time they needed to focus their energy even more. But he wasn't going to stay off guard for long. They threw their hands out, directing their newly formed army right at him. Their creations charged into battle and the masked man responded in kind, his own soldiers charging right back. The two forces met in the middle of the school hallway.
It was certainly the strangest fight Sumin had ever witnessed, which was saying something considering their sister had made them attend a convention where a group of Star Wars and Star Trek fans had had an altercation, though they were glad no one was yelling 'Die you heathen scum!' this time around. Still, watching their creations made of indigo light do battle with creations made of a strange dark substance was forcing them to question the rules of reality. Or whether or not they had managed to intake marijuana at some point today.
One of Sumin's tigers landed on one of the more humanoid figures and managed to rip its head off before several dark tentacles stabbed it in the chest, shattering it. The robo-bunny took on a four-armed creation and bashed it into oblivion before taking on a bear-like creature while next to it one of Sumin's soldiers was destroyed by a figure with a pickaxe for a hand.
Every time one of Sumin's creations was attacked, they felt it in their body, as if being pricked by needles over and over, and they lost their hold on it a little. Eventually, as what was happening with the octopus donut they'd thought of from another dream, they couldn't hold it anymore and it was destroyed. And this was becoming more and more frequent. Sumin couldn't maintain their hold on all the creations and, unlike the masked man, couldn't create more. They were losing their forces rapidly while he was still going strong, continually making more and more to attack. It was only a matter of time before they lost. They needed a new plan, now.
"Sumin look out!"
Sumin turned just in time to see a wolf-like creation leap right at them. Without thinking, a pair of giant scissors appeared in front of them, snipping the creature in half. The two pieces fell on either side of them and they swiftly changed the scissors to a frying pan, batting the pieces away before they could reform.
"Why must you brats be so irritating?" the masked man asked, frustration evident in his voice. "Don't you understand how hopeless your situation is? Don't you realize how annoying you're being?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is our wanting to stay alive ruining your day?" Gabriela snapped.
"Honestly, yes. Now stop this foolishness and just-"
Sumin interrupted him again by using the scissors to snip in half too, letting his false image crumble away. He was right though. They were only really prolonging their deaths right now and they weren't sure anyone would be coming to help them. They needed to leave. Staying would be suicidal and pointless. Unfortunately, a whole swarm of dark creations stood between them and either the door or the open window, limiting their options severely. And Sumin was down to just a handful of their own creations now who were swiftly being overwhelmed. Robo-bunny was still going strong. Perhaps that dream had had a bigger impact on them than they realized.
"Sumin!" Gabriela hurried over to them. "Do you think you can carry us outside with your…I don't know what to call them. The point is, can you?"
"Yes," Sumin replied after thinking it over a second. "But not like this. The masked man…"
"Swarm," Gabriela interrupted. "Sorry, but he calls himself Swarm."
Sumin blinked. "Really? I guess that makes sense but…really? Well, I can't do anything with him on the attack. I am barely holding him back as it is." As they talked, another one of their creations was destroyed.
"Leave that to me. Just be ready and when I say the word, cover your eyes. Hey Swarm!"
Instantly, the so-called Swarm who had already formed a new body looked over, glaring through his mask. "Fuentes!" he growled.
"You ready to have your fake ass handed to you," she said, raising her fist high as it started to glow with orange and white light.
"I don't know what that means but if you think you can beat me just by making your fist glow, then you are sadly-"
"Now!" Gabriela yelled and Sumin immediately covered their eyes. They didn't see the flash of light but even with their eyes closed and covered, they felt it, the insides of their eyelids glowing brightly. Slowly, they looked up and saw Swarm tumbling about, swearing and rubbing his eyes madly.
"Ha, I'm glad that worked," Gabriela grinned. "I figured even if he was fake, he had to be seeing us through it via some camera system so he'd still be susceptible to a flashbang."
"Well done," Sumin said.
"Yes, very well done. Can we go now?" Luke asked.
"Right. Here." Sumin held out their hand and another, larger, glowing one appeared. They hopped on followed swiftly by Gabriela and Luke. Robo-bunny backed them up, kicking away any approaching dark construct with their bright metallic feet. They were like a super cyborg martial artist, just like in Sumin's dream.
With a mental push, Sumin floated the hand right out the window, narrowly avoiding a humanoid with swords for arms, and outside the school. They thought they were home free but nearly used one of their mother's favorite colorful words when they saw the scene below.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Luke muttered.
"What the hell are those?" Gabriela said after relaying some colorful Spanish vocabulary.
The entire courtyard outside the school was crowded with the other figures, the ones Sumin had fought on the ground floor. And a whole bunch of them were forming a group pile right in the middle, though it seemed they were struggling against something.
"What-"
"YAAHHHHHHHH!" They all jumped at the sudden yell coming from the pile and then it began to tremble. The figures tried to push down whatever was beneath them but it turned out to be futile as they were all thrown off a few seconds later and someone emerged from within.
"Franklin?" they all said at the same time. Before they could say anything else, they heard a rumbling sound and saw two massive looking figures march over, looking ready to pummel Franklin.
"We need to help him," Gabriela said, cocking her fist
"Right," Franklin said to the giants. "You ready? Cause I could do this all-"
"Hiyah!" Gabriela cried, sending a beam of energy down at the first giant and blowing up its head in one shot. Its hands reached up, feeling for what wasn't there, before it began to scramble around a little. Gabriela hissed and aimed her fist again, her second shot taking it through the chest. She shot off its legs next and it finally collapsed into pieces.
The other giant seemed to realize they were the enemy and turned to face them but Sumin was ready, having created another giant fist with as much power as they had left, bashing it in the head and sending it crashing to the ground.
"Hello there." Gabriela said to Franklin from their perch. "Need a hand?"
"Heh," Franklin chuckled, wiping his mouth. "Please tell me you're the cavalry?"
"Uh…" Gabriela scrunched up her face. "Wel…"
"Actually all three of us are very low on power and energy and only barely managed to escape with our lives over there," Sumin explained, gesturing to the open window. "So actually it would be better if you were the cavalry for us."
Franklin stared at them for a long few seconds, completely straight-faced. "That's great," he finally said in a dry tone. "That's just great."
"Really? I didn't think so," Sumin said, finally dropping the glowing hand they were on and stepping back onto firm ground. They still had some power left but it was very minimal at this point. Their best chance was to run but even that didn't seem viable as they could see more and more figures rising from the ground, surrounding them. It seemed that the old statement 'out of the frying pan and into the fire' suited them well here.
"Where the hell is Emily with that damn phone?" Franklin growled.
"Wait, Emily's here?" Luke asked, eyes wide. "Emily Simmons. Oh, I think I just found my second wind."
"Luke?" Franklin frowned, seeing him. "You have powers too? You know what, never mind, it doesn't matter. Yeah, Emily also has powers. She went back into the gym to find my phone. With that, we can call a friend of mine for help."
"No we can't," Sumin formed him. "The signal is down. The faculty tried earlier."
"Oh, so that's why I haven't heard any sirens yet. I was wondering." Franklin shook his head angrily. "Alright, well, I guess we'll just have to fight our way through them."
Sumin didn't like their odds there. If they were to hazard a guess based on the information they currently had, they'd give them a ten percent chance of success.
They suddenly heard the humming sound again and saw a waterfall of that strange, dark substance form from the window they'd flown out of. It dropped down to the ground and then rose up like a tidal wave, washing over the courtyard.
"Oh crap," Luke muttered. "Not good. So not good!"
"Really, cause I thought this was even better news!" Franklin snapped.
Sumin however didn't panic just yet. They had a hunch as to what was about to happen and they were right. The substance didn't go for them. It went for the other figures, washing over them and completely immersing them within itself, reabsorbing their power Sumin presumed. It did this for over a minute, moving from figure to figure until they were all consumed.
"Uh…what just happened?" Luke asked, mouth open.
"I believe Swarm is absorbing their power back to himself," Sumin explained. "At least, that is what I think."
"So he's making himself stronger," Gabriela surmised. "That's not fair. Why can't we have that option. Sumin, why don't you try that?"
Sumin turned to her in confusion. "They are not my creations. And I don't know how to do that. Also, they are all gone now."
"What about Swarm's…thingies?"
"My first two points remain valid on that front."
"Look out, here he comes," Franklin warned. Above them, the substance thickened until Swarm appeared, his coat billowing like a cloak behind him and his mask glinting in the light. The strange substance carried him down, like a new kind of elevator, until he was level with them. He regarded them slowly before looking around the courtyard.
"Impressive work," he said, looking at Franklin. "I didn't think you were capable of such a feat. Though you may lack control at the moment, it did serve as a distraction. But in the end, it was of no consequence."
"Wow, he really likes reminding us how much better he is, doesn't he?" Luke said.
"That seems to be the main component of his personality, yes," Sumin remarked.
"Now, this has dragged on for longer than I think any of us really want. Especially me. So why don't you just make it easy for us all and surrender. Otherwise we'll have to drag this out which is no fun for any of us."
"Are you going to kill us?" Gabriela asked.
"Yes," he replied quickly, as if that was obvious. "Can't let you live. You're too much of a threat to me. But I promise to make it quick, despite your annoyance today."
"Oh that makes me feel better," Franklin said.
"Why would we agree to our own deaths?"
"You're going to die no matter what," Swarm told them. "Prolonging it is just messy and a nuisance at this point. You'll fight, get even more injured and exhausted, and get overwhelmed by my power and die. There's no way around that. So just-"
For the third time, Sumin summoned a giant fist and flung it right into the man, breaking him apart yet again. "Bad guys really do like to monologue," they said. "It's very helpful."
"Yeah, well, if he wasn't mad before, he definitely is now," Luke said, watching as Swarm reformed and even if he was just another construct, his rage was evident.
"You annoying little brats!" he screeched. "I give you a fair deal and this is how you repay me? Gah, this is why I hate teaching! You never listen, just insist on doing your own thing. You're impossible to control, unruly savages who think you know better. Well guess what? You don't! I am so glad I never had kids because they would be a nightmare to control."
"…Is he having a temper tantrum right now?" Franklin wondered.
"I think he is," Gabriela nodded.
"Think we can escape while he's ranting?"
"Now, I will end this once and for all!" Swarm roared and the substance rose up behind him, forming into an enormous wave ready to engulf them at a second's notice. Sumin gritted their teeth, prepping as much energy as they could but they were scooping up dregs at this point and they were pretty sure the others were the same. This was it.
"Come on Emily," they heard Franklin say. "Where the hell's that backup?"