Kian 8: Hero Class goes wrong
The next day, 7AM.
"Mum, Dad. Do you know the policy that this council has put in?"
The three of us were in the living room, ready to start our day. My brother and sister were watching TV in the living room leaving just the three of us. While I ate spoonfuls out from my bowl of Coco-Pops, the golden morning sunlight shone through the windows setting up a wonderful morning.
"What?" Mum was midway through eating a sandwich. "Kina, what did you say?"
"The policy that only those who have a relative who is already a superhero can join?"
"Oh," Mum chuckled nervously. "That one. I see."
"Did you learn about this in school, Kina?" Dad asked me
I nodded.
"And what do you think about it?"
"It's unfair! Just because someone doesn't have a superhero relative, it doesn't mean they're weak. Everyone deserves a chance to be a superhero!"
Dad exchanged a quick glance with mum before looking back at me. "You are right. However, what the council implemented, even though I don't agree with it, it has...some benefits." Dad explained.
"How?! How can something so unfair be good?!"
Dad took a sip of his coffee. "For starters, all the recent graduates of Eden are really popular with the people of Locus and especially Acochester. It helps in being a hero, if people like you, then they feel safe if you're on the scene."
I sat up. "That makes sense."
"A reason why they're so popular? they're good and strong. If strong heroes are roaming the city and the planet, then they feel safer with them." Dad explained.
"But, can't people who don't have a superhero relative also be strong?!" I asked them. "There has to be one, right?!"
Mum sighed. "Back in the old days, everyone could join." She put her sandwich down to caress my face like she would everytime she would do to make me feel better. "Not everyone is born with a strong evolutionary ability like you and I. Sometimes, even hard work isn't enough. That's how it is for a lot of people."
"That's unfair!"
"It is." Mum said smiling sadly. "But no one can choose what they end up with do they? We have to work with what we have."
Even though I disagreed hard with that statement, I had a feeling that she was right. It was like football or me. Not every person who played ended up like Messi or Ronaldo, scoring goals and making the opposite team look silly when they went up against them.
I guess it was the same with Eden Academy, not every person who came through its doors for the first time would end up as superheroes. I couldn't help but feel afraid slightly at my chances, would I graduate and become a superhero like my parents?
Yes, I was.
I wasn't going to give up on my dream because of how unfair it was. It was everything I wanted to be, a hero just like my parents and I suffered because of it. I wasn't going to let that suffering be for nothing.
Another thought flashed through my head. Turning to my parents. I wagged a spoon at them. "Weren't you superheroes too? Couldn't you have changed that stupid rule, they had to listen to you, righ?"
Mum and Dad exchanged looks, having a conversation in less then a second before they glanced back at me. "It's...complicated." Mum pat my hand. "Just do your best and be a strong here, okay? That way, when you're older, you might be able to change it."
I could tell that they didn't want to talk about that so I decided to not push it. "Okay, if you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to."
I finished up my bowl of Coco Pops and grabbed my school bag, making sure I had everything for the school day ahead. But as I waved goodbye and tried to step through the door, Dad called out to me.
"Kian. Don't forget your hero suit!" Dad threw the duffel bag and I managed to catch it. "I made it just for you!" he said proudly
"Thanks, Dad!" I smiled at him. "I'll do my best!"
A few minutes later, on the Streets of Locus.
"So what do you think we're going to do today?" Harry asked me. "Why would we need our hero suits?"
Harry was gently tugging a cart with him, which if he was to be believed carried his hero suit. To contrast with him, Violet and I simply carried another bag.
"I don't really know," Violet adjusted her grip on the second bag. "It could be anything really."
"I wonder if that Phoenix guy's going to have us training again!" Harry said proudly. "I just want to fight people!"
"Harry!" Violet said sternly. "You know what happened last time!"
"Oh, you mean Kian and that red haired girl having a deathmatch. That was awesome!" he said excitedly.
Violet pulled on Harry's ear. "Next time something like that happens, I'll let Kian take your place. Maybe you'll like getting beat up."
"Ow!" Harry rubbed his ear. "Come on Violet" I was only kidding. Besides, I wouldn't step anywhere near her! Red haired girls are crazy!"
"Well, as long as that demon doesn't end up fighting us, I think we're good." Violet said. "What do you think, Kian?"
"Do you guys really think she's a demon?" I was surprised at Violet's hard words about her.
"And you don't?" Harry replied. "She was going to kill you, Kian!"
"What he said." Violet said.
"You guys might be surprised to hear that she apologised about trying to kill me."
The duo stared at me. "She did what?!" Violet asked me. She grabbed my shoulders and looked at me, my purple eyes meeting her blue ones. "Are you sure?!"
"Did you pay her to do it?" Harry asked me
"No," I chuckled and moved Violet's hands off my shoulders. "Nothing like that. Rennan thought since we were going to be classmates we should try and get along, so he made us apologise to each other."
"Wait, what did you apologize for?" Harry asked me. "Did you beat her too hard?"
"Harry!" Violet scolded him.
"What? She deserves it!"
"No, it wasn't that. She said I was weak and I...I insulted her mum." I explained. "She lost her temper and I did too. That was it."
"Oh, I feel bad now." Harry awkwardly rubbed his hair. "So, are you two cool now or something?"
"Yeah…" I said remembering how she would 'tolerate' me. "She won't try and beat me up anytime soon."
"Good," Violet said happily. "I don't want to see you getting hurt again."
"What about me?" Harry complained. "I'm still here!"
"You too." Violet smiled. "I don't want to see either of you getting hurt."
I smiled and felt at ease with the two of them. In fact, knowing them and going with them from kindergarten all the way to secondary school made it that much better.
Deciding to change the subject, I turned to them and spoke. "Whatever we need our costumes for, I can't wait!"
The three of us talked further and I can't remember exactly what we said as we made our way to Eden Academy. Despite having stepped on the planet a few times, it already felt like home and the aliens made no difference to that homey feeling either.
"Hey, what happened there?"
"What?" I turned to where Harry had pointed and saw a scene of destruction in the middle of the street. Part of the building in the middle of the street had exploded and two people were being consoled for the destruction. With how sad they looked, I figured out that they were the owners of the broken building.
Who was responsible?
A person was flat on the ground and his arms were behind him, soon being locked up in pulsating blue handcuffs by the local police. He struggled to get out but it was not getting him anywhere unfortunately
"What do you think happened here?" Violet asked me.
"We should probably ask him!" Harry pointed at something.
What he did point at was a crowd-well more exactly the man in the middle of the crowd. He was signing autographs and posing for pictures all for his fans. The man in question was Noriel, the same man I had met a few months ago and from what happened, I guess he was responsible for stopping the person.
"You know," Harry said. "I wish I could be as famous as Noriel one day. Imagine me signing autographs."
"Not when you're in a rush. I'm sure they don't want scribbles as autographs!" Violet replied.
Harry chuckled at her remark. "Just don't be jealous if I get famous before you. I'll remember to mention your name every time they point the cameras on me."
Violet pouted at the comment and was about to speak before I glanced at my wristwatch. "Guys, we've got to go! We're going to be late!"
Class A-25
After getting to class, we took our seats and began the school day. Unfortunately for me, the class that we wore our hero costumes happened later on in the day so everything until that felt boring and frankly, not interesting at all.
Our first period was history and even though I liked learning about how it was in the past, I wasn't at all listening. My 12-year-old ADHD brain was not taking in the information.
"Kian, can you tell me why the Vorakians and Evians have a less than stellar reputation?"
"W-What was that?!" I sat up sharply when Rennan asked me that question. I scanned around and saw everyone's faces turned on my like satellite dishes. "C-can you repeat the question?"
Rennan sighed, already used to my distracted attitude. "Why do the species known as the Vorakians and Evians have less than stellar reputation? Why are they disliked by the races across the universe?"
"Uh," I began. "They were bad?"
Rennan thought to himself. "You aren't far off but that's not the answer I want. Try and pay attention, Kian. It's not hard."
I tried to hide the embarrassment on my face as I sat up. "Sorry, I'll try to pay attention."
Rennan smirked at me and turned to face the rest of the class. "Since Kian couldn't answer my question, can someone else tell me what the answer is?"
"I know," Harry answered. "They constantly waged war against each other, right? And that constant war ended up hurting others so they aren't liked for that reason. Am I correct, Rennan?"
"Yes you are." Rennan replied. "We don't know how long the Evians and Vorakians fought each other but the conflict between them has taken many lives, from both sides and from others."
"Um, Rennan?" I asked my teacher. "What happened to them?"
Rennan's gaze seemed to hold on me or a few seconds before he answered. "Both sides of the conflict drove each side extinct due to constant warfare. Unfortunately there was no happy ending for either side."
"I feel bad for them now." Harry complained.
"Do you?"
Chris spoke up this time. "There were so many lives lost in the Evian-Vorakian War, in the billions actually. In my opinion, if they died then it saved more lives."
"But couldn't they stop fighting?" Harry asked. "Wars are normally stopped by the two sides coming up with a peace treaty."
Rennan coughed, earning both of their attention. "If there's something you can take away from this lesson, it should be that conflict always leads to consequences no matter how big or small, it's something we should always avoid."
The Bell rang as he finished his sentence.
"Well, I guess that's the end of the lesson. I'll see you later in the afternoon for your Hero training class." Rennan said with a smile.
"Yes!" Marcel cheered. "I'll show you what I can do!"
"Is Kian and Jazmine going to be against each other again?" a female voice said. "I don't want to end up in the middle of a deathmatch again!"I didn't remember what her name was at the time but I knew it was the one with the sonic voice.
"I'm well aware of that, Sakura. Class dismissed." Rennan announced.
While everyone started packing up and getting ready to go to the next class, I glanced towards Mia who looked uncomfortable to be here actually. She grabbed her bag and put it close to her chest and her eyes darted around the room.
Once she set her sights on her brother, she hurried over to him and as she did, I remembered what Chris had told me yesterday.
Deciding to help her make her feel comfortable. I decided to say hello. "Hey," I said. "Are you feeling okay?"
Her pale face turned red and she hid behind Chris. He looked disappointed almost but he smiled at me anyway. "Hey, what's up, Kian?"
"Hey." waved politely. "Do you remember what you told me about yesterday?"
"Sure I do. Why what's up?"
"W-well," I shuffled in place, trying to force myself to remember the torment I had gone through when I was a child. "Back on Earth, during when I went through primary school, I made the mistake of saying I wanted to be a superhero. Because of that, everyone decided to torment me throughout the last few years of my school and with me diagnosed with ADHD, I was an even easier target."
"Sounds tough," Chris winced
"It is. What I'm saying is that." I turned to Mia who was now peeking at me from behind her brother's back. "I know what it's like to live with a disability and I know what it is like to not make friends easily. If Violet and Harry had left during primary school, then I would really be alone."
I made sure Mia was directly looking at me. "Look, Mia. If you need someone apart from your brother to talk to, then I'm here. I'm familiar with what you went through and I hope that won't happen here."
Her eyes seemed to tear up slightly. "A-are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am. As long as I'm here, you don't need to be scared of anyone."
She stepped out from her brother's back and managed a small smile at me. "T-Thanks, Kian. That means a lot."
Chris chuckled and patted my shoulder. "Thank you! You have no idea how tiring having someone tail you 24/7 is!"
"No problem man!" I laughed
They packed their bags and watched them leave, Mia waved me goodbye and I couldn't help but smile to myself, I made someone well feel comfortable.
I didn't get to revel in that for too long as someone spoke up
"Look at you playing the hero. Must feel nice."
I turned to see Jazmine standing by her desk, arms crossed towards me like the last time we had met her. Her auburn red hair was loose and across her shoulders and her gold plated lightning bolt earrings peeked from behind her hair.
"It does," I replied. "Why, are you jealous? If you want to make friends, you can start by talking to them instead of hitting them."
She ignored that comment. "How do you keep this up?"
"Keep what up?" I raised an eyebrow. "Jokes, usually I say the first thing that comes to mind-"
"No, not that," she rolled her green eyes. "I'm talking about...this-" she gestured around me. "-What you went through sounds traumatic, so how are you still smiling like a little kid?"
"Well," I replied. "I got the chance to be a superhero and they aren't here anymore. Despite them telling me what I couldn't do, I did it anyway. Does that answer your question?"
She murmured to herself and it didn't change her deadpan expression. "You better show why you deserve to be here during our hero training class, can't have you crying like a little baby because you can't beat me."
I scoffed. "That was a tie and if you had run at me, I would have won," I said smugly. "I can show you how I would beat you later today actually."
"Sure you will." Jazmine scoffed this time and started packing her bag. "For your sake, you better hope I'm not fighting you. I'll win."
"Kian!" Harry called from out of the door. "Come on, we're going to be late!"
"Coming," I shouted back and rushed over, not sparing Jazmine a single glance.
Approx 3 PM Earth Time, Hero Training Class.
The time had come.
I stood with the rest of my classmates but now, however, I had changed into my hero costume and now stood proudly as I waited for Rennan to show up.
"Nice suit, Superman."
"Who said that?!" I snapped at my classmates but they shook their heads and instead pointed elsewhere.
Following their finger, I turned to see Jazmine looking at me smugly. Her costume was a full-body green suit with black accents, a utility belt and heavy black boots. Her red hair was tied back in a ponytail and she wore a v style visor over her eyes
I grit my teeth at her remark. "I thought you were supposed to wear a proper costume, not your pyjamas!"
"This is my hero costume!" Jazmine defended herself. "Who made yours?!"
I crossed my arms. "Why should I tell you?"
"Guys," Leopold massaged his temples. "Can you not argue, it's only been two days. You're giving us a headache!"
"Fine!" Jazmine replied after the entire class had decided to not stick around the two of us. So, instead of pestering me, she decided to mind her business for the next few minutes.
"Who did make your costume?" she asked me but instead of looking at me directly, she instead stared ahead with her arms crossed.
"Are you going to make any comments?"
"Not if you make any."
"Well," I started. "My dad was the one who made it." I stared ahead not wanting to look at her either. "I would ask you if your mum made yours but that's in bad taste."
"That would be very wise. Probably the wisest choice you've ever made today." She turned and grinned at me.
"Hey!" I snapped. "I thought you said you weren't going to make any comments!"
"You misunderstand me, Kian. I'm complimenting you. You didn't pay attention during history, and you didn't pay attention during maths. It's good to see you paying attention now." Jazmine explained. "See, compliment."
"I don't know, Jazmine," I said through my clenched teeth. "Your 'compliments' sound a lot like insults."
"Well I'm just stating the obvious. Are you going to pay attention during this lesson or are you going to be distracted again?" She asked me.
"Oh don't worry," I said confidently. "I'll make sure I do pay attention!"
I heard footsteps and turned to see Rennan walking in, carrying a box big enough that he needed both his hands to hold it. "Good evening class!" he said cheerily. "Now you might be wondering why I've asked you to come to the woods, right?"
Just before we had changed into our costumes in the changing rooms, Rennan had explained to all of us to meet us in the forest just behind the school for the Hero training class.
The forest stretched out for as long as I could see, trees and greenery all took up my site and with the golden sunlight, it just made it that much better to look at. Even though I didn't know it at the time, every time I came to practise here as I got older, the image of this scene stuck in my mind even now.
"Not really," Sakura popped her bubblegum. "But like, I don't want dirt on my clothes."
"I wonder if we're going to be cutting down trees." Karin, the short Asian kid with black hair said. He was dressed in a white shirt and wore a tie underneath his sleeveless straightjacket. The gauntlets on his arms whirred and clinked with electricity.
"We're not cutting down trees, Karin. Getting dirty? Well that depends on what happens in the field," Rennan answered their questions. "Your task is to capture a flag somewhere in the forest. You can use your abilities as much or as little as you like. All of you have a time limit of 30 minutes to either get the flag or defend it. If each team fails their task they lose the task, is that simple enough?"
The class and I nodded, clenching my glove covered hands wanting to do my best and show everyone what I can do.
"Two teams of 2 are going to be taking part in the challenge and here, I've got the names of everyone here." Rennan shaked the box to demonstrate. "6 teams of two. I'll start the first draw."
Rennan drew some names out of the box and made some teams up on the spot and while that was going on, I glanced towards Harry.
With the armour that he had created for himself, he now stood taller and he looked cooler. He had his helmet in his hands since he wanted to put it on when it was time for the action. Unlike mine, his suit granted him superhuman abilities thanks to the mechanical power it could generate.
He'll probably get mad at me for not saying this so I'll put a little comment here.
Harry didn't suit up like the others. Instead, he simply pressed the button on his cart and the large container mechanically opened up to reveal an electromechanical suit loaded up with all the tech he had made with Tony Stark.
So he just simply put his hands up and the suit opened up and swallowed him up, wrapping him up in black and blue gold titanium alloy.
Everyone there including Marcel was pretty impressed with the costume he had brought to wear and even though I felt happy for him, I felt a teensy bit jealous of how they flocked to him. But like a good friend, I was going to ruin it for him and was going to show off how cool I was in this class here.
"I hope I'm with you or Harry," Violet said. "I want to work with my friends more than someone I just met."
"Yeah!" I agreed. "If I'm with Harry or you, then I can kick Jazmine's butt!"
"Team 5: Harry and Marcel!" Rennan announced out of nowhere.
Without even wasting a second, Marcel rushed over to Harry and put his arm over him in a friendly manner. "We're going to beat anyone that's been drawn against us!"
Harry laughed and I waited for Rennan to draw me and Violet together. I glanced back at Violet and observed her costume. Unlike mine, it wasn't suited for combat but it had its features. Her costume was mainly dark blue and along her waist, there was a bigger utility belt around it. Like Jazmine and the other girls here, Violet had her long hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Finally, Team 6-" he drew out two names and I wished it was Violet and me.
I didn't remember or care about the others, I just wanted to be partnered with her, my friend. With her, I felt like I could do anything. Including teaching a girl called Jazmine a lesson.
Rennan read the strips of paper and he re-read them again. "This is...interesting." he chuckled. "Team 6: Kian Taylor and-"
"Violet Schwartz!" I thought he would say.
But I was very much surprised at the words that came out of his mouth
"-Jazmine Garcia!" Rennan announced
"What?!"
"That has to be a mistake!" Jazmine protested. "Maybe you misread the names?!"
"Pretty sure I didn't," Rennan showed her the strips of paper that indeed were our names. "And how can I misread them?"
Jazmine stuttered and looked at me with disgust. "I refuse to work with him, he's an imbecile!"
"Imbecile?!" I said angrily. "Hey, if you weren't paying attention, you're not much of a team player either!"
"Do not insult Kian!" Violet stepped in to defend me. "You have no right to talk to him that way!"
"What?" she asked Violet. "What are you going to do?!"
Violet went to speak again but Rennan stopped us from going further. "Kian, Jazmine," he began. "When you're in the field, you don't know who or what's going to happen. You might be forced to work with heroes you don't know and this class is designed to simulate that."
Jazmine grit her teeth as she glanced at me. She turned back to Rennan. "Can't you give me someone else? Someone more competent?"
As she finished that sentence, I was about to resume our deathmatch and show everyone that I would have won but Violet stopped me going any further knowing that if I did attack her, I would end up in trouble
"Yeah, when a hero is involved in a life and death situation, they can pick and choose who to work with because that's realistic isn't it?" Rennan said bluntly. "Do what I told you."
She grit her teeth and crossed her arms so tight she could have broken her ribs. "I refuse. I refuse to take part with him on my team!"
"Oh well," Rennan winced. "I guess I have to mark you down as failed, I'm sure your dad would like that won't he? Suck it up and do the task I assigned you, Jazmine. You came here to be a hero didn't you, that starts with doing what I tell you. Am I clear?"
Jazmine grumbled at Rennan's words and then glanced back at me with her seething emerald green eyes. "Do what I tell you to do because you have no hope of passing on your own. Why did it have to be you?!" She made sure I heard her as she bumped her shoulder against mine.
I smirked to myself. "Yeah, as if I need your help!"
Rennan wasn't concerned with us and drew out another set of strips. This time, ones that were going to decide which team was facing against each other.
"For the first match, Team 6 is against Team 5. Team 5 is defending, Team 6 is attacking. Let's go!"
In the woods
"We're a team, we're supposed to work together!"
I followed Jazmine as we walked through the woods. Golden sunlight peered through the gaps in between the trees and little glances of it dimly lit up the place so I had to be on my toes to make sure no one was going to surprise me.
Jazmine walked ahead of me, kneeling to the floor every now and then which really confused me and to add insult to injury, she decided to take a vow of silence against me.
She really knew how to work in a team, didn't she?
"Kian…" she said without looking at me. "What can Harry do?"
"What was that?" I looked around. "Did a ghost just speak? Whoever you are, please speak your name?"
"Kian!.." Jazmine growled.
"That can't be right," I said. "I'm Kian!"
Jazmine had enough and stepped in front of my eye line, her hands on her hips as she scowled at me. "I'm talking to you!"
"Oh, now you want to talk to me huh?" I quipped. "We've been here for 10 minutes and now you decide to speak? Instead of maybe working together and coming up with a plan, you decide to waste time just strolling about like this was a walk in the park? You do surprise me, Jazmine"
"I was making a plan." Jazmine grit her teeth. "Now tell me what Harry can do!"
I had to suppress a chuckle but I did anyway. No way was I going to let her know what Harry could do if she treated me like this
"No, I don't think I will."
Jazmine's green eyes widened and blinked at my statement. "What did you say?!"
"I said no." I crossed my arms proudly. "You don't tell me, I won't tell you."
She grit her teeth and marched over to me prodding at my chest. "Tell me Harry's abilities or else I swear-"
"You'll do what?!" I retorted. "Fight me, the last time I checked I almost beat you up!"
Jazmine stamped on the ground a few times and screamed out in frustration. "This is why I didn't want you on my team! Marcel would be so much better!"
"Look, Jazmine!" I defended myself. "If you want to know what Harry can do, first tell me what you're doing! We're supposed to be working as a team, not you doing whatever you want and me just following you." I explained.
Do you have a plan against Harry?" Jazmine asked me. "Do you know what he can do?"
"Of course."
"Tell me?!"
"Not telling you."
She stamped on the ground a few more times and screamed out in frustration again for good measure. "Fine! but only because I want to win, not because I like you or anything. Why couldn't I have been against you instead of working with you?"
"Look, I don't want to work with you either but here we are," I said. "Now, do you want to tell me what you were doing for the last 10 minutes or do you want to throw another temper tantrum =.
She grumbled and complained to herself as she said some not so nice things about me. She wiped a loose strand of red hair out of her face and turned to face ,e "This is going to sound strange but I know what's going on across all the forest."
"What do you mean?" I asked her.
She kept her glance on the floor. "When I concentrate, I can hear what's going on across the woods, the plants, they give me the ability to know what's going on " She moved her eyes towards the ground and between me.
"Huh, that's cool!" I replied. "I can reinforce my body and when I concentrate too, I can make blue spheres."
She glanced back at me again, her green eyes waiting for me to say something. "That's it? No snarky quips, no further comments?"
"Why?" I said grinning slightly. "Do you want me to make one?"
I could have sworn she almost smiled at my quip but it could easily just have been a twitch."Go ahead and make a comment. I'll hide and make sure they won't find you. 'Oh no, what happened to Kian?' 'I lost him' 'Oh well'."
"I'll be nicer than working with you." I quipped. I turned back to her. "Do you know where Marcel and Harry are? And how far are we from the flag?"
"Give me a second." she kneeled down and put a hand on a tree. She concentrated and even though her eyes were closed, I could sense it moving under her eyelids. "The flag is 500m away so it shouldn't take too long to get there. Though I doubt you have the stamina for it."
"I thought you didn't want me to make silly comments about you?"
"You can't, I can." she quipped. "You go and distract them and I'll take the flag, understand?"
"Woah Woah," I protested. "Why am I the distraction?"
She took her hand from the tree and opened her eyes. "You go and distract Marcel and Harry, while they beat you up, I'll go in and take the flag, understand?"
"No!" I said. "I'm not going to be the training dummy!"
"It's that or you tell me what Harry can do with that electromechanical suit of his. So come on, either tell me or do my plan, it's your choice."
I was getting frustrated with Jazmine. Here she was bossing me around wanting to use my as a distraction while she simply walks over and gets her hands on the flag. She probably planned on laughing at me while I was getting beat up by Harry and Marcel for her. That would be on the cherry on top for me having the audacity of being drawn with her.
"Look, Jazmine, I'm not going to be your meat shield!" I said angrily
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!
She would have said something but we were interrupted by a series of explosions from somewhere deep in the woods. Jazmine's eyes seemed to know exactly who this and she snapped her head upwards
Deciding to follow her sightline, I saw a figure fly towards me with an excited smile on his face. Marcel was dressed in an all-black and red bodysuit with the symbol of the planet Mars right in the middle.
As he landed, the ground below him exploded into dust forcing Jazmine and me to close our eyes. Marcel, however, shared none of our concerns and as the dust cleared, he could only smile at us.
"Hey, guys, what's up?"
"Marcel?!" Jazmine asked with wide eyes. "H-How did you get here? How did you find us, I was sure that we were far away enough?!"
"Yeah, I just listened to you guys arguing," Marcel chuckled. "Harry was going to use some complicated tracking method but guess what, you were noisy enough!"
Jazmine growled at me for a second before facing down Marcel. "So what's your plan, surely you can't expect to face me all by yourself?"
"Hey!" I protested. "I'm here too!"
"Shut up Kian!" Jazmine yelled at me. "You made so much noise that we lost the element of surprise!"
"Me?!" I said in disbelief. "We both made noise, it's your fault too!"
Jazmine ended up calling me a few words that I can't repeat here so I'll just skip a few moments ahead.
Marcel having gotten fed up with the two of us decided to attack us. While Jazmine and I were in an argument, he brought his hand back and threw something at us.
I noticed it out from the corner of my eye and grabbed her hand to pull her away from whatever he threw. And it was good that I did. Where Jazmine stood was an inch deep black crater and I heard a faint ringing in my ears.
"Who said you could touch me?!" Jazmine yanked her hand away from mine.
"Your welcome." I deadpanned. "Next time, I'll make sure you eat one of them to the face."
"You guys should really stop arguing." Marcel deadpanned as he opened up his left palm, readying up more of those explosive orbs to throw.
Jazmine grit her teeth and charged towards her, surrounded by a cloud of orange sparks. She was angry and just wanted to get Marcel out of the way like she did to me yesterday in our sparring match.
Marcel somehow saw this coming and as Jazmine charged at him, he backed off. With a smirk on his face, he brought his left arm back.
"SCATTERSHOT BARRAGE!"
He exploded all 5 orbs he had and sent Jazmine flying into a tree with a chorus of explosions so loud I had to close my ears. I glanced at her to see that her costume was smoking and her visor had shattered.
Marcel put his left hand down and he faltered in his breaths slightly. "You can't just keep charging towards your enemy and hope to ram them out of the way, it gets too predictable!"
Jazmine didn't reply as she seemed to have been focusing on trying to get up. Marcel just kept his gaze on her and thinking this was an ample opportunity, I charged in but not as fast as Jazmine did.
I was expecting Marcel to shoot out more of those orbs towards me but to my surprise, I caught him by surprise instead.
With my right hand, I punched him right in the cheek sending him stumbling backwards. He gazed at his bruised cheek and then looked at me with a smirk. "Very clever, use that as an opportunity to hit me. I wouldn't expect anything less from my rival."
I didn't add any comments and decided to attack instead. I started a series of punches and hooks with an occasional kick thrown in there to keep him on his toes. Marcel dodged a few of them and deflected the roundhouse kick to his face with his left arm leaving him open to a punch with my right hand.
I dug deep and reinforced my left hand to punch him as hard as possible and maybe come up with a better strategy against Marcel but however I was caught by surprise.
As I inched closer to his chest, his left hand opened up and I could still see 3 explosive orbs still left. Marcel smirked and thrust his free hand towards my face intending to blow me up then and there.
Through the sudden amount of fear that went through my, the body reinforcement stopped and I twisted to my right instead, hoping to dodge the explosions.
Marcel apparently planned for this. In one sharp movement, he roundhouse kicked me in the chest winding me in the process and released the explosions on his left arm and sent my flying into a tree, like he had done with Jazmine
My head felt dizzy, my ears rang and my back hurt. What else could I say after I was blown up at point-blank range? I desperately gasped for air and coughed loudly at the pain I felt in my stomach.
I could make out a figure who I assumed was Marcel. "You did a lot better than her, Kian. I am very honoured that you are my rival. We've got 20 mins left so why don't call it a day and stop? I'm sure Jazmine would agree, right?"
BOOOOOOOM
I clamped my hands over my ears at the sonic boom and Marcel did too, he turned around sharply trying to see what caused it and he did find the answer for it.
Jazmine appeared from where the sonic boom came from and punched Marcel in the stomach with enough force to send him flying like he was launched like a rocket towards and into a tree. She did it so hard that the tree behind him ended up cracking in two.
Before I could comment on what happened, Jazmine grabbed my hand and dragged me away somewhere else.
XxX
She didn't realise I was sitting down when she decided to drag me away so my butt ended up being dragged throughout the forest which l didn't appreciate at all. She could have made sure I was at least stood up first.
Anyway, after a few seconds of being carried away at superspeed, Jazmine let go of my hand and as she let go, I rolled along the forest floor and only stopped as I hit a tree. I got up and after wiping the pile of leaves from my face turned angrily to face her
"Hey!" I cleaned up the rest of my costume. "What was that about?!"
Jazmine took deep breath after deep breath, leaning on a tree for support. Her red hair was wilder and at the angle the sun hit it, it looked like fire. She sighed deeply and put her back against a tree. It was like she had run a marathon in a second. Her left arm came across her forehead and wiped the beads of sweat across it. Her costume was filled with soot and dirt but she didn't seem to care about it, rather she was just concerned with how
Her tired green eyes glanced towards me. "Give me a minute. I've-" she took a deep breath and exhaled. "Never run that hard before!"
"Why?" I asked her.
"My speed dash is like a muscle….if I overuse it...it ends up breaking," she said while taking breaths every now and then.
"Oh," I understood what she meant. "You've never run that fast before?"
She shook her tired head slowly. "I could only go as fast as 200 m/s. I never thought I could run that fast."
"Why did you help me?" I asked her, confused why she didn't just leave me at Marcel's mercy. "You could have made a run for the flag."
She took a moment to answer. "I couldn't leave you like that. You saved me from his explosions so I had to repay the favour."
"I'm sorry, what was that?" I said. "Are you being thankful?!"
She pouted. "I only did it so you couldn't call me out on it. We're even."
"Oh," I sighed. "I see. We have 18 minutes left, what's our plan now. Plan A failed spectacularly!"
"You don't think I know that!" Jazmine snapped at me. She hugged her knees. "Look at me, my dad's going to be so disappointed in me."
I sat opposite her, using a rock to place my spine against. "I don't think your dad would be disappointed in you. Now come on, tell me what are we going to do?"
She refused to meet my eyes but after a while of not talking she met my eyes. "If we hadn't argued then Marcel wouldn't have come here and gotten the drop on us. So I need your help if we're going to win. I understand if you don't want to work with me, I can be...difficult to get along with."
She sounded genuine, she wanted my help now. Instead of the sarcastic and snarky girl that took every opportunity to make a remark about me, was now a girl who was somehow friendlier. The earlier fight with Marcel had rattled her gameplan and thrown it out of the window.
Her green eyes wanted me to help her and some part of me wanted to help her too even though she was indeed very difficult to get along with.
"Fine," I sighed. "I'll help you. But there's one condition."
"What is it?"
"For the remainder of this task, you don't make fun of me and you listen to what I have to say? Understood?
"Aw," she said."Making fun of you is the best part!"
"I can just walk out and forfeit," I quipped
"Fine, fine!" she said quickly. "I won't make fun of you and I promise to listen to what you're going to say. I'm sorry for what I said too, I didn't really mean it." she played with her fingers and glanced down at the floor
Right. Well, Marcel's a problem." I explained. "I'll tell you what Harry can do if you tell me what Marcel can do is that a deal?"
She smiled for a split second and nodded. "Deal. Pay attention, okay? Marcel's ability is classified as an activation type evolutionary ability."
I blinked. "Active what?"
"You-" she straightened herself. "Okay, so superpowers come in three categories. Activation, Transformation and Permanent Transformation."
"And they mean what exactly?"
"Activation type abilities are something you can turn on and off, like me with my speed dash ability or you with that body reinforcement ability. Activation type superpowers make up 70% of all abilities on Locus. Transformation types are where activating a superpower changes the body." Jazmine explained. "Like someone can gain the properties of rock or metal."
"And Permanent Transformation is A Transformation type power but it's activate all the time?" I asked her
"Yes, it is," Jazmine nodded. "Karin's has his metal arm gauntlets on his arm which store electrical energy. It's called Lightning Gauntlets. It's a natural part of him and he has to live with them. He can't turn it off."
"I guess Harry on his own doesn't classify for any of them," I said. "With his suit though I think he shares all three of them."
"They're Technology only," Jazmine explained. "Those types of heroes gain a lot of respect, it's not hard coming up with something that mimics superhuman abilities."
"Jazmine," I began. "Can you explain how Marcel's power works?"
"Well when he activates his superpower, he creates orbs of energy which when he wants, expands and creates...well...explosions. I'm sure you figured out that, right?" Jazmine asked me
I nodded. "Remind me not to get hit by that again!"
"When I used to practise with Marcel, he was only able to create 3 of them, I don't remember it being so painful." Jazmine rubbed her back and shoulders. "It hurts a lot!"
I chuckled. "Yeah it does, doesn't it-" An idea flashed through my head
I remember Lucas telling me that when I used my reinforcement ability, I would end up tired because my body was producing energy for more than one person. And after what I observed with Marcel and Jazmine, I started to figure out a strategy.
"I think 5 orbs is all he can do at once."
"What do you mean?"
"You told me that using your power is like a muscle right? That applies to Marcel too, he can't go over 5 and he needs some time to rest after using all 5!" I explained
"How do you know this?"
I proceeded to explain what I saw with Marcel and used me and her as an example.
She smirked to herself. "Well well, I actually might take back what I said about you. You are a lot smarter than you look when you do decide to pay attention."
"Hey, I'm smart all the time," I replied. "And you aren't so bad either when you don't decide to make fun of me."
"Hmm," she thought to herself. "So what can Harry do?"
"Well, Harry built that suit with the help of a family friend of ours. It's loaded up with hydraulics and that gives him superhuman strength and durability. He's also got some other tech in it too like these hand lasers-repulsors actually." I explained.
"I see. Well, I have one strategy in my mind," she explained. "We're going to need to fight them together. We're 300m away from the flag and I know Marcel has returned to help his teammate. Are you going to help me?" she put her hand out
"Yeah," I smiled and shook it. "I will help you and hopefully win."
5 minutes later…
"How much time do we have?"
"13 minutes."
Jazmine sucked on her teeth as we made our way through the forest. This time we didn't argue and had a plan in place, also because we didn't want to be on the end of Marcel's explosive orbs.
Jazmine walked ahead of me and I trusted her to lead. She turned back to me with a curious look on my face. "Kian, did you father design your costume with Superman in mind?"
"How do you know about him?" I asked curiously. "Sorry, I assume you weren't from Earth."
"I lived there for a bit." Jazmine replied. "I've been living on Locus since I was 6 but I still keep in touch with what's going with the planet I was born on."
"Cool!" I replied. "I was born there too!"
"Answer my question, Kian. Why does your hero costume look like Superman."
"When I was a kid, I used to love reading Superman comics, I loved watching him too so it's only natural I wanted it to look like him a little."
My suit was indeed red and blue but I did not wear red underpants on the outside and to be honest and no one needed the visual image of a kid in red underpants. So instead of that, it was just red accents along my hips and replacing the S was a pair of red bird wings.
"Hmm, that makes sense." Jazmine kept walking forward forcing me to jog faster and catch up with her
"What about you?" I asked her. "Any superheroes you liked?"
"Real or fictional?"
"What do you mean real?"
"Well," Jazmine began. "My Dad's a superhero so was my Mum. I only came here so I can be just like them."
I had to let that detail sink in for a moment
"Seriously?!" I asked her. "That's why I wanted to be a superhero too! My parents used to tell me his previous adventures as bedtime stories to get me to sleep. It's the very reason I'm here actually!"
Jazmine didn't reply to that and kept on walking. "I used to read a lot of Wonder Woman and Flash comics."
"Because you could run fast?"
She nodded. "Plus, seeing a girl being written as a superheroine just sat right with me. I'm not going through 6 years of this to just be a sidekick am I?"
I chuckled. "Nope, I wouldn't either. Oh and one more thing."
"What is it Kian?"
"Don't hit Harry too hard okay. He's kind of scared of girls with red hair."
"Really?" she asked me. "I thought boys loved girls with red hair?"
"Well, not him." I laughed. "Not him."
"If I do meet him, I'll apologise for beating you up," Jazmine said. "That's probably why he's scared of me."
I nodded and we spent the next few minutes walking to where Jazmine said the flag was. Looking at my watch, it was now around 3:50 PM at least relative to Earth time. Usually, school was over by 3 PM but for today, it was extended slightly, due to the lesson possibly overrunning. I didn't mind it that much but I didn't want to go home too late because I would miss an episode of Scooby-Doo!
The two of us turned a corner and there were Harry and Marcel, ready to stand guard if we ever the flag was taken away from them. The flag itself was a red cloth on a 2ft metal pole
"If one of us gets a hand on that flag, we win," Jazmine stated. "Do you need to go over the plan again?"
"No, I got it," I replied. "Remember the signal okay?"
She nodded and gave me a thumbs up to me. "Good Luck Kian."
As she vanished from my sight, I noticed she had said my name warmly, lacking the coldness she had earlier. It just could have been because she didn't want the plan to fail so she decided to not argue with me ever second we spent.
But even then, I could have sworn she was becoming friendlier.
Deciding to put those thoughts aside, I announced my presence to Harry and Marcel by hitting a tree towards my left.
"Wha-Kian?!" Harry aimed his left hand towards me, charging up a repulsor blast. Marcel followed suit.
"Kian!" Marcel yelled and aimed a hand at me. "Where's Jaz?"
I shrugged. "I don't know really. Just came to say hello."
Marcel didn't look convinced and as I expected him to, he thrust his arms out and 5 orbs started to manifest in each finger.
"Now! I yelled and charged towards Marcel
A flash of shock and surprise washed over his face before being replaced with confidence and he moved his hands in front of him, ready to launch all 5 of them against my face.
But it did not go like he had planned
Instead just as he was about to launch it at my face, a streak of orange light appeared from deep in the trees and rammed into him, upsetting his balance and concentration in one fell swoop.
The 5 orbs he created dissipated as soon as it appeared and Marcel looked at me shocked. "W-what just happened?!"
"Kian, do your part!" Jazmine yelled.
"R-right!" I replied.
While Marcel was trying to figure out what happened. I reinforced my body and charged ahead, kicking my opponent n the stomach and sending him skidding far away from the flag. I knew this was a game so I didn't kick him too hard, besides, Marcel was one of the people that were actually pretty nice to me. Some part of me wanted Jazmine to be here instead of Marcel.
Marcel recovered from the kick and looked at me. "So, you and Jaz have decided to work together?"
"Yeah, why?"
He chuckled and wiped the dirt on his face. "Harry told me about what you could do and I told him what Jaz could do too. We both decided that if you worked together you could be a problem."
"Ha!" I said laughing. "We got you then!"
Marcel chuckled. "You haven't got us yet. You've got to stop me from helping your mate over there."
"He'll be fine. I told Jazmine to not beat him too hard. He's scared of her."
He nodded. "I know right."
A moment passed before us before Marcel decided that he had wasted enough time chit shatting. He thrust his arms out and created 5 orbs. I went on alert and brought my arm back too however, unlike him, I was not planning on throwing explosions.
Marcel brought his hands back and threw a couple of orbs and this time I was ready, I concentrated on the projectiles and with a swish of my arms, I sent it flying away and they exploded harmlessly elsewhere
"Wait, telekinesis?" Marcel asked me
"Yeah, why?"
"Hmm, strange. Jaz has that too. Did she tell you?"
"Um, no." I said surprised. "What do you mean she has telekinesis?"
He shook his head. "It doesn't matter to be honest. Prepare to lose!" he charged up 2 extra orbs and threw them at me.
I would have used my telekinesis to deflect them but I was starting to get a headache so I decided to reinforce my body and charge ahead again. It proved useful as the explosions didn't hurt at all against my now tougher body and the charge meant I got up in Marcel's guard.
I threw punches, kicks and jans, not intending to kill him of course but to entice him into a fighting match.
It did its job and Marcel soon countered my attacks with his own. I ducked underneath a cross and just about managed to sidestep a kick.
"Who taught you how to fight?!" Marcel asked as he punched with his left hand. I raised my right hand to guard and launched a cross of my own.
"My dad taught me!" I replied
Marcel ducked underneath my cross and roundhoused kicked me in the chest but with how reinforced my body was, it didn't hurt that bad. Marcel winced at the contact and used a series of explosions to follow through with his kick and send me skidding back a few feet
"See," Marcel began breathing heavily. "My dad taught me how to fight too."
"Oh, did you want to be a hero like him too?"
"Yeah!" Marcel's crimson red eyes lit up brightly. "Why?"
"It was for me too," I replied. "I want to be a hero just like my parents."
"Well, they taught you how to fight well. And if there's one thing I like, it's fighting!" Marcel stated.
He created more orbs this time but only limited to 3 this time on his arm. Deciding to try a new method, I decided to run away and never looked back.
Okay, that was a lie. I did look behind me but it was to make sure Marcel was following me and I was proven right when he constantly threw explosive orbs towards me.
He panted and kept up with my mad dash. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead and the side of his pale skin. The number of orbs shrank slowly, from 3, 2 and then to 1. Before long he had slowed down and could only throw small scale explosives
After he had thrown his last explosion, I charged back in and reinforcing with just my right arm punched him softly in the stomach. He crumpled to the floor as you expected
"Good, game," Marcel complained while on the ground. "But it's not over-"
"Team 6 wins!" the tannoy said. "Jazmine has touched the flag."
I chuckled. "You were saying?"
Marcel just sighed. "I should have let Harry go first. Do me a solid and help me up, I can't walk properly."
XxX
I propped Marcel on my shoulder and took him where the flag was. As I had expected, Jazmine had her hand on the flag and looked proud of herself.
She glanced between Marcel and me. "It worked. I can't believe your plan worked."
"What plan?" Marcel asked
"Jazmine told me how everyone has some sort of recoil when they use their abilities," I explained. "You can make 5 explosive orbs at max and the more you use it, the faster you run out of steam."
"Harry was right, you two are dangerous when you work together." Marcel summarised. "Speaking of which, where is he?"
I glanced around and indeed, Harry wasn't here. I looked towards Jazmine for answers. "Jazmine, where is Harry?"
She went to speak but I heard mechanical clinking and turned to see Harry walking towards us. His blue helmet opened up mechanically. "Did we just lose?" he asked Marcel
Marcel nodded tiredly. Uh-huh."
Harry stamped the ground in frustration. "That's the last time I'm following your orders. I was on a wild goose chase and I came back here to find you with the flag!"
"Your welcome," Jazmine said smugly.
"We should be heading back," Harry said, taking his helmet off. "We're done for today."
That was what we all wanted to do. Go home after a hard day's work in training. I would go home, watch Scooby-Doo and maybe look forward to seeing the next episode of Naruto on Saturday, maybe Match of the Day if my Dad let me stay up late on Saturday.
However, it did not go as well any of us would have expected.
The air dipped below freezing and the light around us dimmed to the point where I thought it was nighttime. "Does Locus have sudden nighttimes?"
Everyone with me shook their heads.
To add tension to the situation, the tannoy seemed to malfunction. "Kian, Jazmine, Marcel….get out...there! ….Grave…"
Rennan said in a mad panic as his voice faded from the speakers.
"What's going on?" Harry asked as he looked around. "Guys?! What's going on?!"
I felt a cold shiver run up my spine and I glanced to see if Jazmine and Marcel were with me too. Was this a part of the class or something else?
My question was answered sooner than you think.
"...Hold your ground, Kaliel. I will always protect you..."
Hunt them down!
I snapped my head to see 3...shadows. They all had 3 glowing red dots in the middle of their faces and they all spoke together like a creepy choir.
Upon looking at them, I felt a sense of terror flow through my veins. I backed up and so did the people with me. I automatically knew this wasn't part of the class and I glanced to see the same looks of confusion and shock on their faces
"What are they?!" Harry aimed his hands towards them. "Some kind of woodland life?"
We are just simple servants. You shouldn't exist, your birth is a walking abomination.
The three of them said again. Their voices were like a mix between a person and an animal and I could barely understand what they said.
"Hey!" Marcel protested. "My parents always told me that I was the best thing to happen to them!"
Without warning, a streak of darkness surged from one of the clouds and wrapped itself around Marcel's neck. He tried to get it off him but he was hit hard against a tree and he didn't seem to get up again.
"Marcel!" Harry and Jazmine shouted.
Half Breeds like you shouldn't exist. Nephilms like you shouldn't exist
The dark clouds said that together again. I had no idea why these things were calling us half breeds or Nephilims and I couldn't care less. They had just thrown one of my classmates against the roof and I wasn't having any of it.
Before I could do something against them, Jazmine tried to charge at them but for some unknown reason to me, she couldn't run at super speed again. Her eyes darted around the place but again like what had happened to Marcel, she was too sent against a wall and from the impact noise, I could tell she had hit her head.
I was at a total loss at what to do now.
Marcel and Jazmine both were incapacitated leaving just me and Harry to deal with whatever just attacked them.
"How are we going to beat them?!" Harry asked me.
You can't. Leave now human, we do not need to kill you.
"Ha!" Harry retorted. "You think I'm going to let you kill them? What kind of person do you think I am?!"
He aimed his hands at the holes in his hands lit up to a chorus of high pitched noises as he let free multiple repulsor blasts. The ground beneath those cloud things exploded into dust and Harry put his arms down, satisfied with what he had done
"Yeah!" he cheered. "That'll teach you to mess around with me.!"
"...Dodge Kaliel…"
Unfortunately, I didn't understand it in time.
As that voice inside my head finished, a stream of lack streaks surged towards my face intending on turning me to shish kebabs.
That didn't happen. Harry reacted faster than I and was sent back into a tree, black needles sticking out of his armour. He tried to move but it felt like he suddenly weighed a tonne.
I didn't get to appreciate his actions as I was suddenly hit in the stomach and my back hit a tree winding me for the second time today. A black arm went around my throat and started squeezing the life out of me.
All Nephilms must be killed
The three shadows started to move towards Jazmine and Marcel very much intending to kill them
Some part of me wanted to let them kill Jazmine but I knew it was wrong. She may have been a brat but she didn't deserve to die, nor did Marcel. I attempted to move from the vice-like grip on my throat but it was all for nought. For a cloud, it had a lot of strength and it tightened its grip.
This was one of the many times I almost died so I struggled hard, flinging my arms and legs about like a bull in a china shop but again, it did nothing but just hurt me.
My vision was starting to blur as I looked at my friends. A cloud stood before Jazmine and it looked like he was readying up a final attack, very likely to kill her.
~"P-promise me y-you'll protect her, Kian!"~
A woman with scarlet red hair and emerald green eyes suddenly flashed into my mind. I don't remember how but she was crying and she caressed my face in a very loving manner like she knew me.
I didn't know who this woman was but for some reason, I felt like I had to protect Jazmine with everything I had.
"...Concentrate, Kaliel. Do not struggle and concentrate like last time…"
That voice, again!
It was the same one that told me how to use Mum's powers!
Deciding to listen to it. I did in fact concentrate and put one arm in front of me. Choosing a shape of sphere again, I kept on thinking of the image and doing my best to keep that in my head again.
Suddenly, a calming warm enveloped my body and I opened my eyes to see a bright blue sphere in front of me, blue lines across my hand to signal that I was using my Mum's powers. When I created the sphere, that feeling of terror and coldness was replaced with peace and warmth instead.
As I held the bright blue sphere, the cloud in front of me let go of it's grip suddenly. The arm that was holding me just dissolved into thin air and as it backed off, it seemed to scream at the loss of its arm.
"What's the matter?" I coughed. "Afraid of some light?"
The black cloud backed off and from the middle surged out black needles intending to shish kebab me again. Reflexively, I put my hand out in an attempt to defend myself. As the needles edged closer, all of them vanished the moment it came just a few feet away from the blue sphere.
This sphere was their weakness, Mum's powers were their kryptonite and I was going to teach them a lesson after they hurt my friends!
I charged ahead and put that sphere through the middle of the monster, dissolving it into thin air all to a chorus of screams.
The other two now sharply turned to me and charged to kill me. This was good news and bad news.
Good news: Marcel and Jazmine were safe
Bad news: Both of them were trying to kill me and with our lives on the line, the blue sphere on my hand fluctuated in power.
Harry had taken a set of black spikes intending on killing me and I was going to make sure that what he did would be paid back in full!
I breathed in and out again, trying to keep my focus on destroying those shadows and saving my friends at the same time. This wasn't like the same fight back in the alleyway, where that man in orange was trying to just get Violet's card back, this was different.
The Nephilim wields his heavenly side. Destroy him now, save our Master.
"I won't let you hurt me like you did my friends!" I protested. "I will kill you!"
I charged towards them and they suddenly backed off, afraid of me killing them which, to be honest, I would be too if I was on the receiving end of the sphere. They were just a few feet in front of me and if I tried to charge at one of them, I was sure that the other would attack.
I needed to get rid of them at once.
An idea came into my head sooner than I thought and I remembered what had happened when I used it for the first time when I threw it against the man in the orange suit.
The Black Shadows seemed to get ready to attack again, I could tell somehow that they were trying to send out those black tentacles so I had no time to waste
With the last of my concentration, I slammed the blue sphere on the ground like I had landed the biggest touchdown of my life. It worked as I had anticipated. The sphere exploded with bright light and the shadows screamed their last words, removing any presence of them in the woodlands and brightening up the small forest.
As the sky started to tun back into normal, I rushed over to Harry wanting to make sure if he was okay.
"Harry!" I shouted. "Are you okay?!"
"Uh y-yeah." Harry sat on his back. Turns out, I shouldn't have been worried. The black needles hadn't even touched his skin let alone drawn any blood. What was strange was that those black needles vanished. "What were they?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. You're okay right?"
"Y-yeah." Harry nodded. "Can you go check on Jazmine? I'll go and check on Marcel."
I nodded sharply and rushed over to Jazmine. She had her back against a tree and there was a trace of blood down one side of her head and her hair had light traces of her blood as it was sent sprawling behind her back.
I tried my best to help so I picked up a piece of cloth from one of her belt pouches and wiped the blood away from her head and I did the same with her hair too.
That wasn't the strangest thing about today. As I ran my fingers across the cut, it seemed to heal on its own with a yellow glow.
Jazmine's eyes fluttered open. "W-what happened?"
"Don't you remember?"
"Erm, shadows and then I was sent flying," Jazmine replied. "What are you doing?"
"You have a pretty bad cut," I explained. "I was just cleaning it."
"Oh." her face seemed to blush but I deduced she was just embarrassed. "T-thanks, Kian. That's twice you saved me now."
"Don't worry about it." I grinned. "Those things aren't there anymore."
"What happened to them?"
"I defeated them!" I said proudly. "I did what a hero would do!"
"Wait," she tried to get up but instantly went back against the tree. "What about Marcel?"
"Harry's with him," I replied. I turned to where Harry was and Jazmine followed my glance. Both of us saw that Harry had set up Marcel against a tree and was trying her best
But before any of us could think of what to do next, I heard rushing footsteps and turned to see Rennan and Violet running in.
Rennan's eyes seemed to be in a state of shock and worry but as soon as they fell on me, they relaxed and he ran over to me, crouching to my height and wrapped his arms around me. "Oh my lord, I'm so glad you're safe! Are you okay, Kian. What happened to you?!""
Violet ran over to help Marcel with Harry so I decided to explain what happened
Rennan wiped something from his eyes and then he got back up to his full height. "Jazmine, Kian, Marcel. I think it's time I-we tell you what those things were."
"Those shadows?"
Rennan nodded and I felt like he didn't want to talk about it. But as he was about to maybe turn around, a blue and red glow fell on his face and he arched his neck above me.
"What?" I asked him. "What are you looking at?"
"Kian." Harry stared behind me. "Y-you have...wings?!"
"Wings?!" I turned around, thinking that what Harry told me was just him trying to mess around with me but I was surprised when he was right.
Along my left shoulder was a bird wing made out of scarlet red light and along my right shoulder was a white/bright blue wing both bringing light to the dim forest.
I turned around to see the others and my brain asked a million more questions when I saw that Marcel and Jazmine both had wings like mine.
Jazmine's was emerald green on her right side and sunset orange on her left side while Marcel had a dark purple wing on his right and a crimson red wing on his left. Both of them looked perplexed at the sudden appearance of their wings.
"What's going on?!" Violet stepped back and looked between me, Marcel and Jazmine before she turned to Rennan. "Why do they have wings?!"
Rennan sighed. "Come with me, all of you. I think it's about time that you learn what you truly are."
