Interstellar Academy
25: Fight
"A year and a half, people, she has been roaming your hallways, attending your classes, pretending she was completely normal. Oh, how she has fooled you."
"And you're so much better," Nova spat, glaring up at him.
"It's evident I'm worse. It always has been." Roger flew down toward her then, reaching for her.
She flung herself away, hovering above her classmates.
"Well, don't just stand there!" called out Jennifer, the gelatinous creature who supposedly hated Charlotte. "We gotta help the girl!"
The other students cheered in agreement. Nova settled herself beside them, her hands now glowing. "Thank you."
Jim stood next to Nova, a gleaming smile crossing his face. "And you thought everyone in this school was a poacher or something."
The students swarmed toward Roger, believing he was alone.
He shocked them all; with the snap of his fingers, clones of himself appeared, their eyes glowing bright red, their hair black, but the same horns stuck out of their hair, though turned upside down.
"Are you serious right now?" Charlotte breathed.
"It's going to be OK. Think of Helena-" Nova paused, then searched the area for a familiar head of red hair. "I'll be back!"
Jim followed behind her, shoving passed his classmates. She flew down to help him out, setting him down just outside the cafeteria.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm finding that stupid girl. I know Roger is the mastermind, but she fooled my best friend, got my other one in jail. I can't let her get away."
Jim grabbed hold of her hand, rain pelting down on them, though neither noticed. He pulled her close, his eyes gazing into hers. "You're not alone."
Nova's heart wanted to beat out of her chest, and she tried her best to remember how to breathe. "I know."
He leaned over, as if to kiss her, though a loud, screeching laugh made him halt. He slowly faced his ex-girlfriend, his eyes narrow.
"You two are seriously pathetic." Leslie crossed her arms. She scanned Nova up and down. "You really think you can defeat me, little girl?"
Nova didn't appear phased by the insult, but looked more steamed by it. Pushing the girl was probably unwise, but Jim knew it fueled her.
She hated being belittled.
"I sure will try." She glanced over at Jim long enough to signal him to leave, then stood her ground- so to speak- against her enemy. "Alright, Leslie."
Leslie was definitely a friend of Roger's; she took a cheap shot using some sort of yellow light force the girl materialized from her very hands, barely giving Nova enough time to fly out of the way. The sunmaid landed to the right, looking around for a vanished Leslie.
"What is your real name?" she called, her eyes pushing passed the smoke to the best of their ability. "Who are you, really?"
"I'm supposed to be first!" Another shot in Nova's blind spot, hitting her square in the back. "You took that from me."
Nova shook off the pain and flew upwards again, hovering above the smoke. When she saw the yellow light reflect against the dust, it gave her cover to move out the crossfire.
"And you think I want to be?" Nova dove down into the debris, tackling Leslie to the ground and pinning her down. "You can have the title, I don't want it!" Her hands were glowing, warm stars surging on the boiling hot pressed against the "human's" wrist.
"How could you have everything, and then want to give it up!" Leslie's eyes filled with tears, and she used her own powers to blast Nova away.
"You had my everything!" The sunmaid stayed on the ground, looking up at Leslie with sad, dejected eyes. Then she pushed herself up quickly and fired at the girl with as much force as she could control.
This was it; this was the girl's power that Roger consistently bragged about as if it were his own. Her parents named her appropriately. When the blast died down, the building behind Leslie- empty, to Nova's relief- was completely gone.
No trace of it, not even the foundation untouched.
Leslie stepped back, tripping over herself, landing in a deep puddle.
"Leslie, I don't want to fight…" Nova kept her distance, her hands up in surrender. "I don't have much fight in me. But I'll keep on fighting, if it means…"
"If it means he's safe and happy?" Leslie and Nova stared each other down, something inside them clicking.
They were fighting for the same purpose. They each held someone close to their hearts, and it both kept them going as well as tore them up inside.
The clouds began to disperse, the girls looking up at the blinding sun peaking through.
They must have defeated Roger.
"No…" Leslie clumsily stood up and ran to the cafeteria. She threw open the door, shoving everyone out of her way.
Roger, on his knees, hands tied behind his back, looked up at his companion, his partner in crime.
And smiled.
A genuinely sad, yet happy, smile.
Someone came up behind her and began tying her hands, but she wasn't having that. She wasn't going to be locked up, far away, from her love. She fired her yellow light at her captor and ran over to Roger. She dared anyone with her eyes to get near them. She ripped the ropes off Roger and helped him up.
"They won't take you," she promised.
"They won't take us."
Nova, dry thanks to Stav, stood in front of her. They gazed into each other's eyes, reading the other girl's thoughts. Then Leslie seemed to be consumed by a bright golden light, and in a millisecond they had disappeared.
No one said anything.
No one seemed to want to stop them.
After a few short moments, the crowd shuffled out into the courtyard. The day's classes were cancelled, and the faculty, according to Rayn wanted to hold off for the next week.
In the courtyard a couple days later, Charlotte came running toward her friends, a bright smile on her face.
"They're releasing Helena! The Academy reported Leslie's and Roger's confession, and they're letting her go! I'm so excited." She hugged Nova vigorously. "WE'RE GETTING OUR ROOMMATE BACK."
"Can't. Breathe." Even so, Nova felt just as relieved and glad as her friend. Charlotte loosened her hug on Nova, then looked down at her, worried. "What?"
"Everyone KNOWS. You haven't said anything. Actually… no one has."
"Oh, yes, they have." Nova sighed, lowering her head. "They're also talking to my parents. Someone has to pay for that building I destroyed." The girl leaned away from Charlotte and stared at her hands. "I don't even remember thinking when I did it. I was hardly myself. And I could barely control it."
"But you did," Jim reassured her, smiling sweetly. "You didn't even hurt Leslie. Because you didn't want to."
"No. I didn't. Something… I don't know, we looked at each other, and it was like… we were fighting for the same thing."
After a brief conversation of what they would do for Helena's return- Charlotte was insisting on a party, though her friends found that highly inappropriate- Stav and the twins left, leaving Jim and Nova alone.
Nova bit her lip, then asked nervously. "Do… do I scare you?"
This question shocked the boy, his eyes wide, confused. "Scare me how?"
"I'm destructive, if I'm not in control. Does that scare you?"
Jim's mouth was agape, unsure if she was being serious. Her eyes confirmed she was. "Nova, no. No, you never scare me. Should I be?"
"Yes. Absolutely."
He shook his head, disbelieving this entire subject. "Nova, why do you think I should be scared of you? You harness a lot of power, but you've lived sixteen- almost seventeen- years keeping yourself in check. That's not frightening."
She processed this, saying, "But I could lose control. I could hurt you. Something could happen to you, and it would be my fault-"
He interrupted her.
With a kiss.
They hadn't kissed in months, and the familiar warmth of his lips sent her heart aflutter. She melted into him, though, as always, she pulled away to breathe.
"You still love me."
"Of course I do. I never stopped."
A/N: D'. Anyway. Sorry about all the delaying. I'm working 6 days this next week, and switching to another job. So my weeks are about to pile up. I'll keep trying though. Right now, I'm listening to Perfect by Hedley; it describes Jim so well, it helps to inspire my writing. OH I'm doing a chapter revolving around the fight with Roger! I think it would be exciting to see how that went down, don't you! So if you were anticipating that, just stayed tuned it's coming!