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Chapter 54: We're weak

Flashbacks to the events surrounding "The Squid"

Sasha

I've never done drugs, but the rush the lacrima gave me was kind of what I expected cocaine to be like.

Gajeel's idea to give us more power seemed like a good idea, from afar maybe. But it didn't change the fact that we were only beginners. Our control over our abilities remained the same.

I squeezed Sam's hand and then let go. There was a loud thud, the floor cracked. Kubo, inside his machine, was getting closer. It was big enough to scrape along the roof, making small pieces of stone fall down.

'What do we do now?' asked Sam. Kubo made six of the tentacles turn and twitch, faster and faster, as if he was about to drill in on us.

'Scatter!' shouted Gajeel, and he jumped away. I kind of hesitated a second too long, but was able to dash away in time. Two tentacles slammed into the school floor, dragging a pillar along with it.

There was a hand on my shoulder. 'Stay close to me.'

I looked Sam in the eye. 'Yeah right. More like you stay close to me.'

With only a flick of the wrist my hands were filled with glue. As the tentacles were being pulled back, I moved in. The rush this new magic gave me pushed down all fears I had and I found myself running on top of the iron tentacle, towards the main body and the capsule where Kubo sat.

'Don't be reckless!' shouted Gajeel, but it was too late. I reached the cockpit-looking capsule and was about to launch my attack, but got pushed away at the last second. I don't know what it was that pushed me.

I landed in one of the nets made by the twins.

'You OK?' asked Floyd.

I didn't answer, because there was a bear. A literal bear. It wasn't until I saw Caroline running next to it that I realised the bear was actually Ibisan. Before he was only able to transform a hand. Instead of running on top of the tentacles, they went underneath.

'There!' shouted Caroline, and she pointed at one of the tentacles. Of course, she could see through the metal. Ibisan ran faster, and smashed his shoulder against the tentacle. There was a loud bang and several pieces of machinery flew around and for a second it seemed the entire squid would fall backwards, but it didn't.

'Regroup!' shouted Gajeel. I took a look around. I saw Rose, Tilly and Martin crouched behind some bushes, looking very pale.

'Oh, I don't think so!' said Kubo through the speakers. He was looking in the same direction as I was, and I realized he would attack them next.

'Shit!' said Gajeel. 'Sasha, with me!'

I climbed out of the net and followed him. The twins, Sam, Caroline and Ibisan went around the other way, trying to get Kubo's attention away from our classmates who were struck by fear. I had no idea where Ary was. I supposed she stayed back to take care of us if we got injured, but I wasn't sure.

'Get them out of here!' said Gajeel over his shoulder. I stopped running to create a rope. Gajeel jumped and I swear it looked almost as if he was flying. While he went through the air, the skin on his arms started to change. In a matter of a seconds, there were shiny scales all over. When his fist hit the cockpit of the machine, there was a 'clang' kind of sound, as if an iron bar was smashed into the roof of a car.

I quickly continued rescuing my classmates, wrapping my glue strings around them and pulling them away from the fighting. As soon as they were safe, I led them away from the courtyard, back into the school. I glanced over my shoulder once to see that Gajeel had actually made a hole in the roof of the cockpit. He moved back and met up with the other, including Samdy. I hoped they'd be alright.

'Guys!' I said, as soon as I thought we were far enough. 'What the hell happened back there?'

Martin gestured something, turned around and threw up. Rose silently rubbed his back. I turned to Tilly, who's cheeks went see through. 'Well?'

She shook her head. 'I...I don't...I can't do it. I mean, we're the weakest.'

'We're all weak,' said Martin, wiping the corners of his mouth. 'Have you seen that thing? We can't just...we can't!'

'And you just ran up to him like it was nothing!' added Rose. I was baffled for a few seconds.

'Yeah, so?' I said. 'I thought we were all fired up. This was the time we could finish it all. The time we fight.'

'You maybe,' said Tilly, 'but not us. I don't have any attacks. I'm the invisible girl, remember. I have no clue what Rose does, and Martin...poor Martin.'

'Seriously?' I heard myself mumble, but there was a tiny voice in my head that kind of understood their fear. Why did I run towards the machine? Just, out of nowhere? I could've died and that never even crossed my mind as I did it. People were already dead. It couldn't have been just the rush of the magic. I wanted to knock Kubo out of his stupid machine.

'Don't be reckless!' Gajeel had shouted after me. It was reckless. We were only seriously learning about our magic for roughly two months or so. Why did we ever think facing an adult mage was a good idea?

'You know,' said Martin then, 'when we were still inside the dream, I fought. And I won. You'd think I'd be stocked to fight again, but I'm not. When I saw that beast of a machine, I knew there was no way. Gajeel is insane, Kubo is insane, and I just can't go along with that.'

Rose nodded, and Tilly was disappearing more by the second. And this was bumming me out as well.

There were footsteps behind us. Ary came over, very calm. 'Everyone alright here?'

She sounded like a teacher.

'Yeah,' I said, 'where were you?'

She hesitated to answer. 'I went looking for Jake. No-' An explosion interrupted, dust rained down from the ceiling. Gajeel shouted a name of an attack. Nerves jumped around in my stomach. I wanted to go back, and help.

'I just happened to overhear,' Ary said, 'and I just wish to say one thing: Gajeel is not a good teacher. He never was and he probably never will be. All he has taught us is how to breathe. But in the long run, that was all we needed to know.' She stretched out her hand, palm facing upwards. A small light appeared. 'These magical abilities are ours. It's not really teaching if you get taught the answer. We have to figure that out ourselves.'

'By fighting a giant robot?' said Martin. Another shudder went through the building. These boosts of magic Gajeel gave us would not last long. I was getting anxious.

'I do not agree with that as well,' answered Ary, putting her hand away, 'but developing a skill also means practicing and gaining experience. It is by far the most effective way to learn.'

'You're so smart,' mumbled Tilly. Ary shrugged.

'It is the basics of didactics.' All of a sudden, she looked at me. And something changed. 'If you want to fight, go. When they are ready, I will send them too.'

Then she nodded, and I realised she somehow was so much older than any of us was. She was not a combat mage, but she understood it very well. And maybe Rose, Tilly and Martin were not fighters in their nature, and trying to change that was useless. But it would've made sense for them to come to the battle, because this was about us.

When I returned to the courtyard, almost all buildings surrounding it were about to collapse. The squid machine had three tentacles left and was swinging from side to side. Gajeel had blood streaming down his face, one of the twins was unconcious, and one of the tentacles was about to crush Samdy.

And I started to move without thinking. The magic was fleeting, but I managed to go in for a final attack; glueing the remaining legs together. I did it before and it probably wouldn't hold for long. Only enough for me to get Samdy out of there.

'Come on!' I said, as the glue was wrapping around the tentacles at the back. One of Sam's eyes was swollen shut and there was blood on his chin. He stumbled, but managed to stand up long enough to get away.

Kubo was still sitting in the cockpit, but with one black eye. He turned around. 'That trick again?'

'Not entirely,' I said, but I was lying. I had no idea what to do next, but I started producing more glue. And I moved around, and eventually thought it was a good idea to just launch it directly at his face.

So that's what I did.

The tentacles weren't flexible enough to protect Kubo and he had nowhere to hide, so the substance covered his face. He screamed.

I ran off, towards Samdy. 'What the hell happened to you?'

He grinned, his normal looking eye was tearing. 'He's beating the shit out of us.'

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Ary. The others were not with her. I called her and pointed in the direction of the twins.

'Where is that stupid teacher?' I asked Sam. As if I spelled his name, Gajeel appeared, still in his scaly form. I felt as terrified as the first day in class.

His eyes were dark. Just two seeping holes in his face. And the air felt strange. Gajeel was very dangerous right now.

Before he could slam into the robot again, Kubo had freed one tentacle and smashed him in the opposite direction.

'This isn't working,' Samdy mumbled. 'We need a plan!'

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed my hand and dragged me with him. We met up with those who could still stand: Caroline and Ibisan. They only had some scratches, but looked tired.

'It's just us, then?' I said. Caroline nodded, and although she looked terrified, she stayed. Ibisan was still in his bear form, but looked smaller now. We barely had any magic left.

'I think I have something,' Samdy said, and he did not sound sure at all. But no one objected. Samdy was an asshole, but he was smart. Well, sometimes.

A minute later, we moved in. Caroline stayed behind and took care of communication, but also projected what she could see of the insides of the machine into our brains. I could see every thread, every gear, every rod in the machine.

'Guys!' said Samdy then. 'You see that glowing ball in the middle?'

Samdy was moving right, I left and Ibisan went for the middle, but we could all see the glowing ball.

'Yeah, what is it?' I asked. Gajeel was keeping Kubo busy for the time being, he paid no attention to us.

'I'm not sure,' responded Samdy, 'but I know it's important. Martin, Greg and I found a similar thing inside the dream-place, and we got rid of it. I think we should do the same now.'

Gajeel was thrown off again and slammed into the ground, his body leaving a mark in the dirt.

'I agree,' said Caroline. 'I just need to get Gajeel in on the call.'

'Don't,' a grunt sounded all of the sudden. Gajeel wiped his bleeding mouth with the back of his gloved fist. His scaled skin was almost back to normal, but his eyes weren't. 'I got the plan. I keep him busy, you get the thing.'

'But we can-' Samdy started, but was interrupted when Kubo moved in on him. Gajeel quickly jumped and went straight for Kubo, his left arm turning into an iron rod.

'Just do as he says!' I screamed, and Ibisan growled in agreement. Apparently his bear form couldn't speak. And Samdy didn't complain.

As Gajeel was beating Kubo any way he could, Samdy and I met up with Ibisan. We were standing underneath the machine now, so Gajeel couldn't fight too harsh, otherwise we would be crushed.

I scanned the underbelly of the machine. There were a lot of wires and other stuff surrounding the glowing core.

'Pry it open!' said Caroline.

'It's not that easy-' started Samdy, but Ibisan had already jumped up. With two claws he dug into the metal and pulled a plate back. For a second I was scared Kubo might notice, but nothing changed.

'Sasha,' Caroline said then, 'I think it's best if you grab it. Just glue it to yourself, or something.'

'Because that's how my power works,' I grumbled. The squid started moving around, we ran along. The underbelly of the machine was too far off the ground for me to reach inside.

'Climb on Ibisan,' Samdy suggested. The bear nodded at me. I quickly grabbed on to his fur and pulled myself onto his back. Kubo was moving the machine back towards the school.

There was a sound which was all too familiar to us; Gajeel's dragon roar. I couldn't help but to cover my ears.

'Jeez!' said Caroline.

'Get the thing!' shouted Samdy, who was struggling to keep standing. Ibisan started running, trying to keep up with the machine, which was now moving into the school, breaking down the buildings as he passed. Chunks of walls and roof were flying around. Our home was being broken.

I looked up. If I reached, I could get one hand into the hole, but it wasn't far enough.

'I have to climb inside,' I said.

'No!' shouted Samdy over the com. Ibisan growled in response, and after that Sam was silent.

I grabbed the edges and tried pulling myself up. At that moment, Gajeel launched an attack which pushed the entire machine back into the courtyard. It was only a few feet backwards, but so sudden that I let go of what I was holding onto. Ibisan also did not expect the counter move and continued to run forward, while I fell backwards.

I slammed into the ground, knocking the air out of my lungs.

'Sasha!' screamed Sam. I had no idea where he was. Caroline also screamed my name, but I felt too dizzy to realize what else she was saying.

Ibisan turned around and ran back to me. Gajeel flew jumped over him, and I could swear I saw wings sprouting from his shoulders.

And at this moment, I started to think Martin might be right. We couldn't win. We had already lost. Lily and Layton were dead. We were weak.

I felt as if I couldn't breathe, almost like an allergic reaction. Why the hell did we ever think this was going to end well? Why did I think I could jump out and fight?

Me, the girl who was hated the moment she was born. Yes, it is these moments that my dad pops into my head.

Ibisan bumped his snout against my face, urging me to get up. I realized I was crying.

'Sasha!' Samdy shouted over the com. 'Get it together!'

I felt weak. I could barely move my head. Ibisan looked over to where Gajeel and Kubo were fighting. And it seemed as if he was listening. Perhaps Caroline was talking to him, and cut Sam and me off for a second.

Ibisan then moved his head against my face and took the collar of my shirt between his teeth. He did it carefully, so I wouldn't be strangled.

Then he started to run. The tears flew off my face and my legs dragged across the ground, but Ibisan wouldn't stop. He was ruthless and determined to end this.

He ran straight for the machine. All of a sudden I noticed we passed Samdy. His eyes widened as he saw me hanging from Ibisan's jaws and for a second he seemed angry, but he recomposed himself. He fastened his pace and joined Gajeel in the fight against Kubo.

Ibisan managed to get us back to the underbelly of the Squid. When he stopped running, I felt I had the strength to climb back on the bear's back.

'I'm sorry,' I whispered, to whoever could hear it. Ibisan didn't make a sound. His paws were trembling. He couldn't continue in this state for long.

I reached for the hole again, quicker now. Ibisan gave me a slight push and I was inside the machine. I wrapped my fingers around a pipe to prevent myself from falling. Gajeel and Samdy were still beating in on the squid and the impact kept me on my toes.

I took a breath and gathered my glue. I threw it upward, towards the still glowing core of the machine. I did it quickly. There was no time left.

It was stuck. The dents Gajeel's fists had mad in the upper plates of the machine pushed the tubes and gears surrounding the glowing core into a narrow corner. I had to move closer, but there was no room.

I closed my eyes and started to pull. At the same time, I had to reinforce my glue string to prevent it from snapping.

There was a roar outside. Ibisan had joined the fight, which meant it was getting bad out there.

'Sasha!' said Caroline over coms. She was panting, clearly running. 'I have to disconnect. Please, get that thing out of there.'

Before I could answer, I felt her presents fleeting. Even Caroline, my best friend, had thrown herself into the chaos.

I pulled harder, clenching my jaws so hard that it hurt. 'Come...on!'

My arms felt sore. My back hurt from when I fell just now. And my cheeks were covered in salt, from both sweat and tears. But I didn't feel like crying anymore. I was getting angry. So, so angry.

It just wasn't fair.

And then there was a pop. I opened my eyes and saw the glowing core coming straight at my face. There was nowhere to move to, but I managed to not get hit in the head. Instead, it slammed into my stomach, slamming me against the metal wall.