Henry's POV
I hate my life.
But that doesn't mean I hate living, which was why (even after saying in front of Roxanne that I would do it) I was more than a little reluctant to carry out my part of Jacob's master plan. I mean seriously, why couldn't he do this part? I'm sure it would impress Alex…or Rae...or whichever one it is this week, I don't pretend to keep track.
But any, I'm getting distracted. That's ADHD for you, you try to focus and suddenly every little thing catches your mind. Like one time, when I was playing soccer— DANG IT NOT AGAIN!
Right. Focus. Like a laser. In a magnifying glass…oh! I bet you could set some ants on fire with that— ARGH!
ANYWAY! I was waiting on the sidewalk, next to a nearby fire hydrant, thinking to myself over and over ! But outwardly, I was calm, cool, and collected. I exhaled as the helicopters drew closer, making their big guns look even bigger (I didn't think that was possible.) and making me wonder if a girl was worth this.
They passed by, continuing to camp. Here was my one shot…
I pulled the switchblade out of my pocket, but when I hit the button to eject the blade, instead the whole thing grew and expanded into my trident. It felt good to have the weapon back in my hands, ready to kick names and take butt. Wait, I mean— argh nevermind.
I looked at the fire hydrant, trying to focus on the water it was keeping back. It started to rumble, but stopped when I briefly lost my focus thinking about dogs taking leaks on fire hydrants. I smacked myself, and the fire hydrant resumed shaking violently. It burst open, and the water shot out, directed by my will.
It hit the rear helicopter hard enough, and for a long enough period of time to get their attention. It, and its companions turned around to face me. Several of the big guns began to spin, and I felt the inside of my pants get a little…warmer.
"You want the kid?" I shouted, waving my trident to make it as obvious as possible I was a demigod. "Come and get him!"
And then I ran.
Bullets were chasing me, and when I looked back I saw all four of the five helicopters pursuing me with guns blazing. Hot lead chased me as I ran as fast as my pathetic legs would carry me back into town, screaming all the way.
The other remaining helicopter continued its flight toward camp. One heli would definitely not be enough to give the defenders trouble, but four chasing after little old me? We had a problem in the form of my horrible allergy to death.
I kept screaming, and kept running, leading them away from camp and toward New York City. Finally the car I'd been waiting for happened to be passing by, and I jumped on. The helicopters stopped firing , but continued to follow.
"That's right suckers!" I taunted, waving my trident around like a madman. "Come and get me!"
In the city now, people were running away and screaming. The helicopter had some sort of speakers on them, and they were shouting out of them. I think they were telling everyone to evacuate the area or something. It didn't matter. I'd reached my stop and was moving on with step two of the plan.
I tapped the hood of the car in gratitude, and from inside Will gave me a thumbs up. I jumped off of her stolen car and took off running down a alley, bullets once again trying to kill me. Then, a rocket flew from one of the helicopters.
"This isn't part of the plan!" I complained to Jacob, even though he was still a ways off.
I jumped up and grabbed the ladder of a fire escape. The rocket soared under my dangling feet and exploded harmlessly underneath me. I laughed victoriously, dropped down, and kept running.
"That all you guys got?" I taunted, and a burst of gunfire knocked my trident out of my hand. "Styx!"
One helicopter flew in front of me and dropped lines of rope down. From them, a group of troops dropped down shouting and coming after me. "Styx, styx, styx!"
I tried to pick up my trident, and bullets danced around it and I was forced away. "What the Styx?"
I was dead. I knew I had to be. I still wasn't where Jacob had said to lure them, and now I was going to—
—die?
Water spouted off a nearby rooftop, hitting the rotors and several helicopters. The water flash froze, jamming the rotors and causing the helicopters to plummet. Unimaginably strong winds roared in with so much force I was thrown into a face plant on the street. Looking up, I watched as the helicopters were gently guided down to the ground by cushions of air.
Jacob jumped off the rooftop he'd frozen the helicopter rotors from, landing fist first. I figured that would hurt, and it probably did, but he must've thrown in a bit of earthquake power or something, because the whole ground shook when he landed.
Alex glided in, riding a cushion of air that swirled and whistled. She touched down gently on the street, a smirk on her face. Some of the guns the soldiers carried switched over to point at her, but if she cared she didn't show it.
A car screeched forward, and all guns pointed at it. Brakes squealed and it skidded to a halt, bruning rubber and leaving smoke and black lines in its wake. The door opened up, and Will stepped out, tall and proud.
"Nice entrances," I noted. "How come I didn't get one?"
"Oh, you running in and screaming 'Styx!' wasn't your entrance?" Alex taunted. I groaned.
Then it occurred to me through observation. Alex had touched down west of the four helicopters and their troops, Will had pulled up east of them. Jacob had landed north of them, and there I was standing to the south of them. We actually had them surrounded!
"Gentlemen," Jacob said confidently, "I'm telling you the truth when I say we mean you know harm. The boy you're looking for is safe, and we can take you to him. That is, if you would be so kind as to apologize for trying to shoot my dear friend Henry, lower your weapons, call of that last chopper, and get me in touch with whoever sent you."
"A lot of demands from a kid with only three people for backup," one of them said. None of them lowered their guns.
Jacob snapped his fingers, and the ice on one of the rotors turned back into water. I don't know how, but the water actually compressed, crushing the rotor blades and causing the sound of crunching metal to echo through the streets.
Alex waved her hand, and in sync with her motions a gust of wind blew the weapons free of the soldiers' hands.
"Now, let's try that again…" Jacob said. For some reason, the soldiers were more compliant. While I liked the direction things were going, this hadn't been part of the plan…or had it? Had Jacob actually thought all of this out? I mean, those entrances were pretty well choreographed…
The rockets, me going off course, me losing my trident and getting stuck in the right place at the right time, the entrances perfectly positioned to surround the enemy…could Jacob really account for all of that? ….nah.
And that is a little look inside the mind of Henry, plus another one of Jacob's plans working out. Wait! This just in! We're receiving a message from another universe!
Playing Now:
Jacob: Henry, yes. I can. And I did.
