Chapter 35—Bad News

Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update, I had a mix of writer's block and a busy schedule. Contains some OOC for Leo, sorry Create-gunner1209.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"I was recently contacted by the Shadow Clan," she told us. "A few days ago, the Darkbane attacked the prison that was holding Dr. Blakk. The guards didn't stand a chance, and Blakk was freed from his cell."

"I thought nobody could find the prison he was held in," Leo said.

"That's what they thought as well," she explained. "The Darkbane must have discovered a way to find him, though."

"What do you need us to do?" I asked her.

"Nothing," she told us. "Focus on your studies, and leave it to us. I told you this because you deserved to know after putting him away. I'm going to increase the security around the University so that he can't take over the University like he tried last time."

Leo looked like he was about to argue, but the look Mom gave us quieted us all.

"Thanks for telling us," I told her, choosing the least dangerous response. She nodded and walked away, leaving us to return to our rooms.

"What should we do?" Leo asked me when we got back to her room.

"Nothing," I replied. "We just need to be patient and wait until Blakk does something that we can use to our advantage."

He frowned but said nothing.

"Leo, my mother knows what she's talking about," I told him. "Trust her."

He frowned again, but sighed and nodded. "Sure," he replied. I nodded and changed into my pajamas before climbing into bed.

"Good night," I told him before falling asleep, my slugs scattered around my side of the room.

The next morning was a Monday, and we went through our day as we usually do, although Leo seemed upset about something.

"Leo, are you okay?" I asked him at dinner. "You're acting like something's bothering you. Is it Blakk's breakout?"

"Of course it is!" he snapped loudly. I gestured for him to quiet down. "The man that murdered my parents is walking free again, of course it's bothering me!" he hissed.

"I wouldn't expect you to care, they weren't your parents," he mumbled afterwards as we walked out and were returning to our room.

I turned around and punched him, launching him back ten feet. I knew he didn't mean it, just saying it because he was angry, but that is the one thing to say that really pushes past my limit for self-control.

"Jacob! What are you doing?" Luke demanded, charging between us. He looked at Leo, but he darted around Luke and jumped at me. I didn't even have to think, I shifted and used his momentum to throw him over my shoulder and into the dirt behind me.

"Don't EVER say that to me again," I growled at him. Save chirped something in his ear.

"What's he saying?" I asked Speedy, who has really good hearing.

"He's telling Leo to calm down," Speedy said. "Speaking of which, you really need to calm down, Jake," he told me. I was barely keeping my anger under control as it was, so I barely heard him.

"No, I won't calm down," Leo told Save, getting up. "Jake always acts like he's the best, someone has to put him in his place." He loaded his blaster and aimed it at me. "I challenge you to a duel," he snapped at me.

"Challenge accepted," I replied, drawing my blaster. I had calmed down more by then, so I knew I could win. One of the things Mom taught me a while ago when I got mad and challenged her to a duel was that anger tends to make your emotions predictable. I still let my anger get the better of me sometimes, but not too much.

He scowled at me and launched a fusion shot of his Hop Rock and Rammstone at me. I batted it aside with my staff and launched River at him, surrounding him in mist. I launched Yang after that, mixing his dark smoke in with River's mist. Leo just got rid of it with his Tormato and sent his Flatulorhinkus at me, followed by his Virtum slug, which works as a virus, controlling anything electronic. I took down the Flatulorhinkus with Suds and the Virtum with Tesla in SuperMorph.

"Both of you stop it!" Mom screamed, charging between us before I had a chance to launch Speedy.

"He started it!" I began, but she cut me off with a glare.

"I don't care who started it, I'm finishing it!" she snapped. "You two should know better than this!"

I took a deep breath and nodded as I calmed down, but Leo just stormed off.

"Don't," Mom told me when I started after him. "He needs to calm down. He's upset that Blakk escaped, and he needs to cope by himself."

"Um, how?" I asked her. "I kinda share a room with him," I told her.

"I'll have him stay with me at the Hideout until he can calm down," she explained. "For now, you should all just work on your studies. Don't forget, there's a practical test tomorrow for one of my classes that you're in," she reminded us. We nodded and walked to the Arena. The quiz was about the strategic uses of Floppers in battle, and for the test we have to fight her using only Floppers and one of our own slugs that we choose. Oh, and she also gets to use all of her slugs.

To practice, we went to a section where Mom set out several barrels of Floppers, and we each got a full bandolier of them before dueling one another without any of our own slugs. I brutally crushed Mark, and Emma barely beat Luke.

"How are you so good with Floppers?" Mark asked me when I beat him. I first jammed his blaster, then blocked his vision with Flopper slime, then launched a Flopper with enough speed that the impact along was enough to cause him to trip.

"When I was very young and got my first blaster, Eli would only let me launch Floppers after I launched Burpy once and almost burned off his hair, at least until I got Speedy and became a better slinger," I explained.

"Cool," Mark groaned as I helped him up. We practiced some more before returning to our dorms. Leo was gone, but Save was still on his bed, and the little dude looked upset.

"What's wrong, Save?" I asked, picking him up.

"Leo left," he told me sadly.

"Yeah, he's gonna be staying the night at the Hideout for a few days," I replied.

"That's not it," he said. "Leo said something about not standing by and doing nothing before running out, leaving me behind," he explained.

I froze. "He. Did. WHAT?" I hissed. He nodded and I set him down so that I wouldn't crush him in anger.

"I tried to talk him out of it, but he didn't even hear me," Save told me.

I nodded and pet his head. "It's not your fault," I told him. "The trick, though, will be finding him and stopping him. I have no idea where he went.

"Isn't it kinda obvious?" he asked, jumping onto my shoulder.

I thought about it, and it clicked. "Blakk's fortress," I said.

"Uh, duh!" Save commented. I nodded and grabbed mods and my Shadow Walker before walking back out. I jumped on Stryder and took off before anyone knew what was happening. Speedy and Save jumped into slug tubes as I converted Stryder to sport bike mode, increasing my speed as I went.

Once I left Bullseye Cavern, I loaded the Shadow Walker with energy and teleported us to the forest outside Blakk's fortress, where Leo was already attacking it.