Fourteen
Shade's head shot up from her notebook the minute Jack entered. He was breathless, as though he had been running all over the school looking for her and had suddenly remembered their first class was together.
Which was basically the summary of his morning.
Misprint glanced up in confusion as Shade shot from her seat and ran towards him.
"Jack." She breathed.
"Shade."
"You wanna find somewhere?"
"Uh huh."
"Let's go." She grabbed his hand and, in a moment, the two of them had vanished into the hallway, just as Mrs. Orrello arrived, ready to start the days work.
Misprint blinked. If getting a guy was that easy…
+
Gemini sat slowly at her desk, sketching a doodle. It started as a line. And then another. And then another. Soon the entire school was depicted, brick for brick, out of the cheap blue ink.
Next, she drew a bevy of crocodiles attacking.
Mondie leaned over and raised an eyebrow. Mme. Ormand hadn't arrived yet, so the girls had precious little time to talk about trivial things.
"Whassat?" She questioned. Gemini smirked.
"Crocodiles are attacking the school." She said simply.
+
Mush sighed and stared down the empty hallway. Blink was taking an especially long time to get ready, and they'd be late for French if he didn't hurry up. He wouldn't have usually minded at all, Mme. Ormand wasn't the most pleasant of people.
But Mondie was in that class.
He fiddled with something incessantly in his pocket. He had other reasons to be early that day.
"Blink!" He said impatiently, pounding on the door. "Comon! Let's go!"
"One sec!" Blink called, his voice unusually high. "I'm…I'm just having a little trouble with this zipper."
A zipper? Mush furrowed his eyebrows and stepped back from the door. Maybe his friend was having more, to put it lightly, serious issues than he thought. A few minutes passed. Mush could have jumped up and down with anxiety.
"Blink!" He called. "If you don't hurry up, I'm going to…"
"I'm comin', I'm comin'!" Blink exclaimed, pulling the door open, his fingers tight on the handle. "Jeez. You don't have any heart, do you, Mush?"
"I got plenty a' heart, now move." He said, as Blink tried to close the door with his hand still on the knob. Mush raised an eyebrow. "Hand off the knob, Blink." He reminded him gently.
"Right. Right…" Blink said distractedly. He wrenched his hand away and slammed the door. Then he had to yank his other hand from the outside knob. The finally, he joined Mush and the two of them bolted down the hallway for dear life.
+
Specs, too, was on quite the mission as he checked in to the Washington air port. Throughout means of which he could never discuss with anyone, he had already reserved a ticket on the next plane to New York, which would be arriving at two thirty, and he knew, for a veritable fact, he wouldn't get bumped.
The slayers council was always efficient in such matters.
He sat in the terminal, his suitcase under his seat. He was dressed very simply in a grey blouse and suit pants, knowing that they wouldn't let him on the plane if he was in his regular attire. He was the youngest on the council, but he was probably one of the most intelligent, so he made up for his age.
He didn't know why Jack hadn't reported to him immediately. This would only make things worse. He hoped he wouldn't get there too late…
+
Jack and Shade were practically sprinting marathon paced when they ran into Mush and Blink. Literally. Four screams echoed in the hallways as both parties fell backwards, with the exception of Blink who fell forwards onto Shade, his hand tight on her kilt pin. She flushed and kicked at his elbow, and with a cry of pain, he pulled away.
"Sorry." Mush was saying breathlessly, gathering his books, which had fallen, and shoving them messily into his bag. "But we're late."
"What about you two?" Blink asked quickly.
"Uh…" Shade began. Jack helped her to her feet, and they exchanged a look.
"Getting supplies…" he started.
"For Ms. Ormand. Slave labour. Y'know…" Shade finished.
"Bummer." Mush said sympathetically. Blink nodded, leaning slightly towards the lockers. Shade gave him a strange look, but Jack's hand was already around hers and pulling slightly. She nodded.
"We gotta go." She said quickly.
"Us too." Mush and Blink replied just as fast.
"Bye." All four of them said simultaneously. Then in a few seconds, they were gone.
"Hurry up, Blink!" Mush yelled over his shoulder at the boy, who was staggering a little more than running. "I wanna have time to talk with Mondie!"
"You go!" Blink said, sounding strained. "I'll catch up later on."
"What's the matter with you?" Mush asked suddenly, seeing his friend jerk violently to the left, towards a row of lockers.
"I guess I'm just tired…" He replied, but in truth of truths, he was wide awake. And pretty confused. The metal of the backpack was still stuck fast to his thigh, and he was getting this strange pull from both sides.
It could be quite dangerous.
"A'right." Mush put on a final burst of speed and rounded the corner. In front of him was the French class. And down the hall, Mme. Ormand was coming towards him, with a stack of papers.
There's still time! He thought desperately. Maybe he could edge in a word or two. He dashed into the class room and skidded to a halt in front of Mondie.
"Hiya Mush…" She said in apprehension, but he glanced nervously up at the classroom door before jamming his hand into his pocket, pulling out a fake plastic ring with a huge, gaudy, plastic purple diamond on the top and placing it painstakingly neatly in the center of her desk.
"Heya Mondie. Sleep well? Marry me?"
+
Shade and Jack, hands still clasped, ran past Kloppman, who didn't give them a second look, up two flights of stairs, down the hall, and both nearly collapsed in front of his dorm room.
He fumbled in his pocket for the key, while Shade tapped her foot against the ground. He finally was able to successfully unlock the door, grab Shade, dash inside, and slam it behind him.
Before either one could say a word, they were stapled together, his hands on her hips, and hers wrapped around his shoulder blades. It wasn't a sudden, violent attraction. It was more a sense of duty. That they had too.
Besides, the attraction was there all along.
+
Misprint was pretty sure she was losing her senses as she glanced out the window. But a second look only confirmed the first. She rubbed her eyes, then, ignoring Mrs. Orrello's burst of protests, stood and rushed to the window.
"Faith…" Mrs. Orrello droned. "If you would kindly take your seat…"
"What is it?" A few students asked, contradicting the teachers statement. Misprint's eyes were wide in her pale face.
"Crocodiles." She replied.
+
Blink managed to struggle a few more feet after Mush had left, before suddenly and violently flying, back first, straight into a row of lockers.
His head clanged against the doors with a sickening ringing sound, and his ankles and wrists shot towards the metal and stayed there, as though tied. He was stuck, suspended in a star fish position, a few feet off the ground.
"What the hell is going on?" He yelled, to no one particularly. There was no one around to hear his protests. He leaned forwards, trying to pry himself off the lockers (a really ridiculous predicament, when he thought back on it). He struggled valiantly, hearing the lockers ring out as they fought to keep him there.
His backpack had long since fallen off, but the metal bits were sticking straight up in his direction, as though he was magnetic.
"That's ridiculous." He muttered to himself, fighting a little harder to free himself. But it certainly seemed like the only logical situation. Well, as logical as unicorns or "angel" tank tops.
"C'mon…" He muttered, leaning forwards, his stomach clenching in fear, afraid he was going to suddenly fall flat on his face. "C'mon! Unstick! I command you!"
But, unfortunately for the poor magnetic boy, he hadn't done this, so there was no way for him to undo it.
Then, just to make things perfect, her heard loud screams from down the hall. He groaned and would have hung his head, but there was no way. The back of his skull was as adherent as the rest of his body. Great, just what I need. He thought bitterly. A bunch of my classmates watching me try to free myself from the lockers…
But what he saw next was the farthest he could imagine from teenagers.
He blinked, in confusion, then looked down at himself, then back up at the advancing army of reptiles.
Crocodiles?
+
"Wow, Mush." Mondie breathed, hardly daring to touch the newly acquired Cracker Jacks ring. "I don't know what to say." She added truthfully. They heard footsteps, and Mush grabbed her hands and closed her fingers around the ring, before sprinting to his seat.
"You can have time to think about it!" He yelled over his shoulder, just as Mme. Ormand entered the room with a hefty: "Bonjour la classe!"
"Bonjour Madame Ormand." Everyone drawled, except for Mondie, who was staring at the ring, fighting down the urge to laugh. Mush had always been a practical joker, but this was too much. The ring was cute. In the three year old kind of way. She wouldn't be surprised if it bore the Barbie emblem in the center. She shoved it onto her fourth finger and flashed it at Gemini, with a mock debonair grin. Gemini smiled back and bit her lip to stop from giggling. Mush was looking hopefully between the both of them.
"Today we are learning the irregular verbs, no?" The teacher ruffled through her notes. Madame Ormand was unique, to say the least. With yellow blonde hair, dark black thin eyebrows, a huge Italian nose, and a mass that could put an elephant to shame, she was quite the sight.
"We learned those last year, Madame." Someone giggled. She snapped the book shut.
"Oh…of course." She was infamous for her oblivion to her lessons. She only cared that the students learnt what she was teaching, regardless of what she was teaching. This made for very hacked up lessons, but it wasn't a problem to her. "Then we start on…on weather, no?"
"Madame, that's grade eight."
"What were we learning last class?"
"Mathematics in French, Madame."
"Of course, oui." She said, the smile returning to her face once more as she opened her books. A couple of screams echoed down the hallway, followed by a snapping sound, like a giant jaw being closed. Madame blinked, as though this threw her off her lesson plan.
"I'll start with attendance." She decided, closing her book again, as indecisive as all get out, and picked up her attendance sheet. "Amanda Roberts…"
"Ici, Madame." Amanda drawled from the back.
"Kelly Dimmet."
"Ici Madame."
"Oh my god!" a girl was screaming. "Get it away! Get it the hell away!"
"What's goin' on?" Mondie whispered to Gemini out of the corner of her mouth. Madame Ormand could be deadly if she caught her students talking.
"Maybe crocodiles are attacking the school." Gemini giggled. "In waves down the hallways."
"Sure." Mondie rolled her eyes.
"Or someone just stuck a mouse down the back of Amy's shirt." Gemini shrugged. A high pitched scream erupted from the next room.
"Oh my god!" A tuned voice screeched. A few more high pitched screams, like a siren. "Oh my god! There's a mouse down my shirt!"
Mondie raised her eyebrows at Gemini, who shrugged.
"She's a total bitch. It was bound to happen." The next room erupted in screams and odd noises, as though there was some deadly epidemic sweeping down the hall.
"Really." Madame snorted, her great chest heaving with irritation. "What is going on?"
"HOLY FUCK!" Gemini yelled, jumping up onto her seat as the first crocodile dragged itself into the room. "CROCODILES!"
The room erupted in total pandemonium. Every single student, with a great chorus of banging and thumps, scrambled up to the top of their desks, while the teacher screamed, grabbed her chair, and darted towards the crocodile as though she planned to knock it out. As though sensing the danger, it swung around, it's tail lashing out dangerously. Mme. Ormand dropped the chair with a screech and climb up on her desk.
"Gemini! It's your drawing!" Mondie yelled over the chaos.
"I know." Gemini screamed back, fighting over the surges of screams as two more crocodiles made their dramatic entrance.
"What did you do?"
"I don't know!" A sudden thought struck her. "Where's Blink?"
"Wasn't he with Mush?" Mondie asked, glancing back at Blinks desk. But, indeed, it was empty. Gemini went pale.
"Wheah is he? Mush! Where's Blink? What happened to him?"
"He was sick or something!" Mush yelled. "He was…Oh my God, he's in the hallway!"
"Great…" Gemini moaned, burying her face in her hands.
"Blink ain't stupid enough to hang around! He'll find some way to WHOA!" Mondie stumbled as a tail hit the leg of her desk, causing it to warble slightly off balance.
"Mondie!"
"I'm alright, just a little…gah!" She yanked her hand away as a jaw snapped dangerously close to it.
"Crocodiles?" Mush was whispering, blinking down at the floor, as though his vision was deceiving him. "Cro…no…crocodiles?"
"Get them out of my class room!" Madame Ormand was screeching.
+
"Down!" Blink was yelling in what he thought was an authoritative voice. "Down…crocodile…no!" There were three or four poised beneath him, staring up at him with what looked suspiciously like hunger. He gulped. He was still splayed against the lockers, his attempts in escaping turning out futile.
And now he wasn't sure he wanted to escape.
The leader of the pack raised its nose and tested a snap at Blink's shoe.
"No!" Blink yelled. "Get away! Arrrr…" He growled.
He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but the reptiles seemed to be giving him a sceptical look.
+
"Shhh…" Shade regretfully pushed Jack away. His hair was messed around his forehead, and her cheeks were flushed with the freshness of escaping from classes to go make out in ones dorm. She was sitting on his lap, his hands around her waist, thumbs hooked in the waist band of her kilt. Her arms were circled around the back of his neck, her breath coming out in short pants. In the distance, they could hear screaming. "You hear that?"
"Uh huh." he said regretfully. He dove in and nibbled at a pulse on her neck. She threw her head back, and tried to concentrate, but his antics weren't making it any easier. "Does it sound like we should go check it out?"
"Yeah." He admitted, pushing her down onto the bed and crawling on top of her, his lips covering hers.
+
"Somebody do something!" Misprint was yelling. But most of her class was too intent on running and screaming, some out the door, some onto the counters that surrounded the room, and some just on their desks. Misprint, herself, was up on the counter by the window, balling her hands into fists. Worry about Shade was driving her insane, not to mention the sheer crazyness of suddenly being attacked by crocodiles.
In New York!
"Hello?" She yelled at her frenzied class mates. "Hello!" She groaned as they only screamed louder. She hoped at least Shade and Jack were having a good time. And they had made it to a dorm instead of let it overpower them in the hallway. She could hear barking from another class room and furrowed her brows, utterly confused.
"Oh God!" Someone was screaming. "Crocodiles!"
No shit. She felt her anger curl up inside of her and she could have turned around and kicked in the wall. "SHUT UP!" She yelled. No one answered. If potentially possible, their screams became even more blaring.
"By God you people make me sick!" She screamed.
+
Specs got off at the New York air port and hailed a taxi driving down the street.
"Saint Mary's Catholic School." He said. "Step on it."
The taxi driver needed no further instruction. Of course, he was a busy man, with no time to stop at red lights. For once, Specs was thankful. He missed New York, he had once thought it was the only city in the world for him. Then he had received the official summon from Washington and that had been it for him anyways.
He sighed and felt his senses tingling. Something was drastically wrong. And he had a feeling it would take a long time to set it right.
+
Noon time found a frantic Blink still magnetised to the lockers, a glum Misprint sitting on the desk, waiting in vain for some help to arrive, trying to condone the screams of her classmates, a hysterical, mourning Gemini, a love struck Mush, a desperate Mondie, and a very oblivious Shade and Jack.
"Mondie!" Mush yelled from his desk. "Have you thought about it?"
"About what?"
"Marrying me!"
"Mush, this ain't the time!" She said, yelping as a crocodile threatened Gemini, who was clutching her face in horror.
"I never pictured it like this!" He grinned nervously. She gave him a look.
"Believe me. Neither did I." She said, raising a brow.
Misprint sighed, her head propped up in her hands, staring glumly at the ceiling. She didn't know how long it was going to be until the crocodiles eventually moved on, as she hoped they would. She glanced at her watch. It was noon already.
Her head jerked up slightly when she first felt it. A low rumbling. The students were oblivious, most of the girls long since reduced to tears. The desk shook slightly. She placed her hands on the wood, trying to feel the vibrations through them, and could definitely sense the shivers.
"Oh God…" She groaned, shutting her eyes. "Not now. Of all the times, why now?"
"What's that?" One boy with spiky hair was asking suspiciously. The desks were shaking now, causing their refugees to scream and clutch them with pale fingers.
"Earth quake!" Some girl screamed. A huge crash suddenly sounded, triggering an outbreak of shrieks that even Misprint joined, as every student in the school balled up as tight as they could and snapped their hands over their heads. Misprint did the same, and shut her eyes tightly, waiting for a beam of cement to snap her neck or for the desk to collapse from underneath her.
But strangely enough, that was all of it. The noise echoed through the hallways, and across the black top. A silence thickened in the class, as most of the students peeked out from their fingers or slowly straightened.
"What was that?" someone asked in a shaky voice.
"What the hell is going on taday?"
"The gym!" Someone moaned suddenly, pointing out the window. "Look at the gym!"
There was no gym to look at.
Misprint furrowed her brows. This was getting just a little too weird for her. She had dealt with strange occurrences, but none as odd as this.
"'Scuse me!" She yelled, jumping off the desk and sprinting out into the hall, jumping over a few crocodiles on the way that snapped at her ankles with hungry jaws. She felt her heart speed up as she dashed into the hall and ran as fast as she could, dodging the reptiles as though they were logs in a forest. She rounded the corner and almost ran head first into Dutchy, who was looking especially harassed that morning. A crocodile growled at him, but he kicked it's side, sending it spinning across the hall.
"Dutchy!" Misprint demanded, stepping aside as a crocodile slithered past. "What's going on?"
"Does it look like I know?" he snapped.
"Where's Bumlets an' Chaos?"
"Up on the third floor. They have Shop." He explained, running a hand through his hair. Misprint glanced down at the slithering reptiles, and back up at his form. "I hate to impose on you, but…you are the slayer…" She said slowly, a slight grin on her face. He rolled his eyes heavenwards, picked her up, and swung her around to his back, then piggy-backed her up the stairs and onto the second floor.
+
"When are they gonna go away?" Gemini demanded to Mondie. Mondie's eyes widened in disbelief.
"How the hell should I know ?"
"Why ah they here in the first place?"
"I repeat, how the hell should I know?"
"How are we gonna get outta here?"
"Gemini!" Mondie groaned, burying her face in her hands. Gemini stared down at the army of reptiles slowly slithering around the class. Mondie was desperately trying to calm herself down. Mush was still looking stunned, as though someone had swung a bowling ball into his face, and half heart broken that Mondie was so ardently refusing to answer his proposal.
"Well…we need to get through them to the phone to call the police." Gemini was murmuring desperately. "I…we…we need a sledge hammer or something…" She screamed when the said object suddenly appeared right in her hands. "How the hell…"
"Gemini, it's what you say!" Mondie screeched suddenly. They had gained most of the classes attention. Mondie glared at them. "Do you mind?" Her angry outburst did nothing for their curiousity. She groaned and turned back to Gemini. But the girl was already piecing it together.
"Mush…marrying you…an' Blink becoming magnetic…"
A loud pitched barking sounded as a small brown dog bounded into the class room and jumped up onto the nearest chair, whimpering as the crocodiles gazed at it. Mondie raised her eyebrows.
"What's the dog doing here?" She asked, but Gemini had already figured it out. Her mouth set into a grim line.
"Amy the bitch." She said resignedly.
+
"Bumlets!" Misprint screamed, weaving through the huge, frantic crowd the minute she saw him.
"Mis! Dutchy! What the hell is going on down there?" He questioned as soon as the pair caught up to him.
"'Cause it can't be what they're saying." Chaos added, her eyebrows shooting up as Misprint made no move to contradict that statement.
"We're overrun by crocodiles." Misprint stated glumly.
"Well…" Chaos paused, at a loss for words. Finally, she shrugged. "That's a first."
"Listen. Jack and Shade aren't in French. You're the only slayers in the building."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dutchy said, clapping a hand on Misprint's shoulder. "We're meant to deal with vampires. Isn't this more of a job for Steve Erwin?"
"All jokes aside, if you guys have super strength…" Misprint continued, as though she had never been interrupted. "Maybe you could wipe out a couple?"
"I don't think so." Bumlets replied, crossing his arms. Misprint groaned.
"Then at least come down with me so we can help the others."
"Fine." Chaos replied. The two of them turned to the stairs.
+
"A'right, you overgrown salamanders." Gemini said, standing on her desk with her hands on her hips. New powers. Might as well try them out. Maybe use them to do some good, for a change. "I command you. Get outta here."
There was a slight pause as every crocodile in the room froze, as though they were listening. Then, in a flurry of lashing tails and green skin, they were all making for the door, knocking each other onto their sides in their haste to escape. Gemini smiled in relief. Before she could get to comfortable with the situation, though, they turned around and slithered back in, just as they had at the beginning of the attack.
"What?" Mondie furrowed her brow.
"Mondie? How 'bout now? You've decided now?" Mush called hopefully. Mondie could have torn her hair out.
"Mush, can we discuss this some other time?" She replied, as condescending as she could manage when under attack from reptiles. "When we're not all under Gemini's spell?"
"We're what?" Mush furrowed his brow.
"Never mind. Talk to you later, love." She promised. Then she turned back to Gemini. The crocodiles were going crazy, spinning around and making for the door, then turning back as though they had just entered.
"I don't get it." Gemini said, slapping a hand to her forehead. "What did I do?"
"You confused them. Now they're supposed to be attacking and leaving at the same time."
"Well I didn't mean that."
"They're spell-struck crocodiles. They don't know that!" Mondie returned. She groaned and ran a hand through her hair, stopping just before she bumped the hair band. Now would not be a good time to reveal any more abnormalities. And she knew they weren't going to disappear any time soon.
"How do we get them to stop this?" Gemini whispered, watching the beasts turn one way and then the next, the over load of orders in their brains putting them slightly on edge.
"Am I the witch?" Mondie scowled.
+
Specs stepped out in front of the school and could hear screams. Just as he had suspected. No Wicca was able to hold off powers for a long time. He couldn't believe he had not been there before.
But it was obvious he had work to do.
He paid the taxi driver and then, as quick as possible, ran towards the school doors.
+
"A'right…" Gemini began. Mondie watched her carefully. Whatever she said could mean life or death for any one in the room. She just hoped her friend would think about the words that were coming out of her mouth. "Crocodiles! Look at me!"
This they did, and some how managed to be consistent as they turned this way and that.
"I want you to leave. Right now. Forget what I said before." She commanded. There was a slight pause. Then, much to both the girls amusement and horror, they started obeying all three orders, if possible. Their tails were lashing out and hitting the desks, causing their occupants to drop and grab onto the sides, trying not to fall off, which would mean certain, extremely gory death.
"Good going, Gem." Mondie snapped. Gemini flushed.
"What? You try being in my position!"
"If I were in your position, the earth would be caving in right now!" Mondie yelled angrily. There was a slight pause. Then, the rumbling started.
Gemini was quite sure it wasn't the gym.
+
"Wait!" Misprint murmured, stopping the lot of slayers as they reached the stairs. The railings were shaking slightly, and she could hear murmurs of fear from the class rooms. "What's that?"
"Sounds like the building's collapsing…" Chaos murmured, raising an eyebrow.
+
Blink felt the vibrations long before anyone else. It's hard not to, when your magnetised to a locker. The doors were rattling on their hinges, and Blink was rattling on the doors.
"What is it with today?" He pleaded. He got no answer.
+
Shade and Jack didn't hear a thing.
+
"Shit!" Gemini suddenly yelled. "Mondie!"
"Oh no…" Mondie shut her eyes tightly. "Gem! Make it stop!"
"Stop!" Gemini pleaded. But it was no use. The foundations were shaking now, and she could hear some horrible sounding cracks from the walls. The class was back to its clamorous uproar as many fought for a safe, earth quake approved location. "You hear me? Stop! Don't fall!"
The side wall buckled, as though about to cave in on them. Shelves were falling from the walls like leaves from the trees, and the glass on the windows simultaneously shattered, causing an eruption of screams as it showered onto the class, like icy rain.
Gemini crumpled into a ball on her desks and felt the tears squeeze from in between her eyes. What today had been was almost a game, when she thought about it. If she had known what the extent of her words could do to every one else in the morning, she would have monitored what she had said. Wouldn't have given Mondie her powers. Wouldn't have let it happen…
It's me own fault, she realised with a pang of guilt. I'm the one that's going to be responsible for the end of the world!
Mondie turned to Mush. If she was going to die, she might as well do the thing properly.
"I'll marry you, Mush!" She promised. Mush's face, hidden beneath his hands, lit with a glow when heard these words.
"You just made me the happiest man alive!" He yelled back, as a few lamps fell to the ground and shattered. Mondie gave him one last smile, before burying her head under her hands and waiting for the crash that was starting.
"Stop." A new voice said, in a normal tone. So normal, if it wasn't for the sudden lack of noise, she wouldn't have heard it at all. She was waiting for the huge chunk of cement, but instead, she found nothing. Nothing at all. Only the raspy breathing of her fellow class mates, and the patter of the crocodiles feet who, lord above, were still trying to decide whether to go or whether to stay.
Gemini slowly raised her head, bits of dust and cement stuck in her burnt red curls, and peering through the curtain of dishevelled hair, saw a tall, dark boy with glasses, dressed in a pair of dress pants and a soft blouse, standing, quite casually, in the middle of the room. The indifferent observer would have recognised him as a regular teenage boy dressed up for something, looking bored and slightly amused.
"Gemini." He said, crossing the room. She shifted backwards slightly. The day had been strange enough. She didn't need any more oddities. But she found she couldn't move. His hand reached out and pressed itself on her head, flattening the curls.
Gemini suddenly experienced the strangest thing she had ever felt. It was as though throughout the day, there was a ball of energy in her head, and everything that went wrong, there was a crack that formed in it. The boys hand was healing the cracks over, fixing her. Fixing the day? She didn't know. Her eyes were closed. The amount of energy coming off of him was incredible, and tantalising.
She took a deep breath as the ball of energy was completely formed, and she could open her eyes again.
The crocodiles were gone.
The walls were no longer caving in.
Mush's face was bright red with embarrassment whenever he looked at Mondie, who enjoyed returning these glances with devilish grins.
And instead of a frightened looking dog, Amy was sitting on the ground, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, tongue lolling over her bottom lip.
+
"AGH!" Without warning, Blink slammed forwards and did a belly flop onto the tile, feeling his head make a sickening cracking sound against it as his forehead hit. He groaned and watched the stars burst in front of his eyes, and the strange ringing in his ears grow louder.
Well, at least he wasn't on the locker any more.
He looked up fearfully, expecting the crocodiles to do what any meat hungry reptile would. Go for the neck. But to his astonishment, they were no where. He blinked a couple times, as though his eyes might be deceiving him. Maybe they had been. Maybe there were no crocodiles.
"Blink!" A voice called. He looked up to see Misprint running towards him, Chaos, Bumlets, and Dutchy in tow. "What the hell are you doing down there?"
"I dunno what I've been doing." He replied vaguely, letting his head drop onto the floor again. He was extremely dizzy. "Or, maybe I should say, what I've been drinkin'…"
"You're a mess." Misprint groaned as she tried to lift the boy from the tile, but Blink wasn't co-operating. Bumlets couldn't blame him. If he had taken such a crack to the head, he wouldn't exactly be in the mood to get up and go.
"What the hell just happened to me?" He groaned, finally struggling up into a sitting position. "I was magnetized! And a meat display!" He buried his face in his hands. An ugly bruise was already forming on his forehead, and Misprint felt a slight sympathy for the boy. She was surprised he could even think straight.
"A'right…" Bumlets was looking around. "So. Mis. Where are your crocodiles?"
"They were here! Ask anyone!" She bristled, her face turning slightly pinker. Dutchy, however, was obviously supporting her.
"S'true Bumlets. And I think if we suddenly get a heard of crocodiles attacking..." He raised his eyebrows. "Anything can happen."
As they spoke most of the students were streaming out into the halls, staring around them, and checking underfoot, to see what happened to their invaders. But, much to their amazement, they were reptile free. This merited, obviously, a lot of discussion. Misprint could barely hear herself think over the noise.
"Comon." She yelled to Dutchy. "Let's go find the others and try to sort this out."
+
"Who are you?" Gemini whispered, the second the boys hands left her head. He sighed and glanced around. Most of the students were talking in loud, amazed voices, but most were staring at Gemini and the boy. Mondie was frozen on her desk, while Mush was staring at his feet. A lot of the students were grouped around Amy, who was shrieking and claiming she had been a dog.
"Not here." He said quickly, catching the eager, curious gazes of the class. "Is there someplace we can talk?"
"Let's go to Jack's dorm." Mondie suggested. "We can get the others on the way.."
"Guys!" Gemini and Mondie looked over to see Misprint, Dutchy, stride in, followed by Chaos and Bumlets who were supporting the half dazed Blink.
"Blink!" Gemini yelled, scrambling off her desk and running across the room. Blink tensed himself for an impact, but instead, got a gentle embrace as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You're okay!"
"Uh…kinda…" Blink grinned. He wanted to hug her back, but Chaos and Bumlets had his arms in a tight grasp. He felt rather vulnerable as Gemini planted a huge kiss on his cheek.
"Man, look at that bruise!" Mondie offered, just behind Gemini. Blink winced and smirked slightly. Specs was looking a bit more hassled as more and more people began to stare at the whole group of them.
"Gemini…this is kinda serious…"
"A'right, a'right. Jack's dorm. Let's go." Gemini said, giving Blink one last hug. The group of them quickly escaped the prying eyes into the hall, where they had to fight through about fifty or so crowds of hysterical students and teachers trying to get their attention out the front door.
+
Shade moaned as Jack's hand slid under her shirt, and his fingers drew soft circles on her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair, caught in this veritable web of emotion, both of them resigned.
Shade and Jack's eyes opened simultaneously.
"Oh shit." Shade hissed, wriggling out from underneath him. Jack fell backwards, shoving his hair out of his face. The two of them stared at each other, wide eyed, their shallow panting filling the room. Shade gulped, and flicked her hair nervously over her shoulder. Her top was undone, she realised with discomfiture, and quickly fumbled around the buttons, trying to do it back up.
"What was that?" Jack asked in a whisper. Shade shrugged, her fingers shaking as she tried in vain to do up her top.
"Don't look at me." She mumbled, closing the last button, but not raising her eyes as she stood and grabbed a brush. She ran it through her hair a couple times, then started braiding it.
"Shade…we just…"
"I don't know!" She snapped. There was a silence as he watched her fasten the elastic around the end of her braid, and smooth out the wrinkles in her blouse. A slow smirk came onto his face.
"It wasn't half bad, was it?" He grinned. She gave him a look, and opened her mouth to reply, just as the door burst open.
The whole crew stormed in.
Gemini had a piece of duct tape over her mouth.
"Hey Shade." Misprint said, wiggling her fingers in a little wave. Shade blinked as she stared at the strange ensemble.
"Why does Gem have tape over her mouth, why is Blink looking like he was run over by a steam roller, and who are you?" She asked all in one breath. Misprint sat down on the bed next to her, as they sat Blink down on the bean bag chair, and the rest of the slayers took a seat wherever there was space. Gemini was leaning against the wall, her scowl apparent, even under the duct tape. "Blink fell off of the lockers and hit his head, an' Gemini…well…we had to tape her mouth shut, because on the way up the stairs, she almost killed Mush, almost turned Blink into a newt, an' almost caused a huge earth quake in upper Mongolia."
"Well that helps." Shade said lightly. Misprint shook her head and closed her eyes. But Jack was looking at the boy.
"Specs!" He smirked. "What brings you to New York?" Specs ignored him, and glanced pointedly at Gemini.
"You were harbouring a fully blown witch and didn't tell anyone?"
"A what?" Jack demanded.
"Mmm mmph?" Gemini demanded. Jack was looking just as dazed as Gemini. Mondie and Mush were simultaneously looking from Gemini to Specs, while Misprint and Shade exchanged a confused glance. Chaos was looking nondescript, but it was rare for Chaos to show her confusion. She, Dutchy, and Bumlets exchanged an ominous glance.
"Yeah. Could feel it. Even in Washington." He remarked. This brought about a chorus of murmurs of confusion for everyone present.
"We had no idea, Specs." Dutchy finally said. "Otherwise we would have reported it."
"Gemini's a witch?" Shade asked, raising her eyebrows. Specs turned to her, and she fell silent under his stern look.
"So that's why everything was happening today." Misprint breathed. She raised an eyebrow at Gemini. "You willed the earth to cave in on itself?"
"Uh…" Mondie smiled guiltily. "Heh heh heh…"
"We ain't pointing fingers at anyone, she didn't do it on purpose." Specs said, trying to calm this rush of realisation and sullen amusement.
"Mmmph mmmmm mm mmmmmmph mmph mmm." Gemini added. Specs turned to her and sighed.
"No, we'll un-tape you when we have this figured out." He dug into his bag, searching for something. There was a silence as every one watched his movements. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a swear word under his breath, then pulled out a thick, nondescript looking green book that said "Mathematics 11" on the cover.
Mush raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again as Specs opened it. The pages were covered in an ancient looking writing, with symbols and diagrams littering the paper. Specs murmured as he flipped through it, his dark eyes flicking over the paper behind his glasses.
"Math?" Mush finally asked.
"What?" Specs glanced up. "You think I'd walk around with a book that said "Wicca For Dummies" on the cover?"
"Well…no…" Mush admitted, but he was cut off by Specs.
"Here we go. Man, this is gonna take a lot." He turned to Gemini, who looked pale and scared as he reached out and placed a hand over her curls. He closed his eyes and muttered something.
Misprint jumped and shuffled backwards as a burst of light erupted from his fingers, and Gemini dropped lifelessly to the floor, like a sack of potatoes.
"Gemini!" Mondie and Blink exclaimed, jumping up. The two of them rushed towards her, almost bowling Specs over. Mush, Misprint, and Shade followed. Only the slayers remained where they were, calm as ever.
"It's a'right, you guys!" Chaos grumbled, rolling her eyes. "She ain't dead."
"No. Just a little drained." Specs said slowly, closing the book. He himself looked suddenly exhausted. "I had to lessen her powers. You can take the tape off now, if you want."
They managed to dump her onto Jack's bed. She looked peaceful, as though she was only sleeping. The patch around her mouth was slightly redder from where the tape had been. Misprint sat down on the bean bag chair, while Mondie and Mush made themselves comfortable on the floor. Blink sat by Gemini, every now and then glancing down at her to see if she'd wake.
They concurrently looked up at Specs, who realised, under the power of eight pairs of eyes, he had to explain a lot.
"A'right." He sighed. "Every once in a while, you get a night when the planets aline. At that night, four slayas, an elemental, a god incarnate, and a witch are born. And a counciller for all of them."
An elemental, Shade realised, glancing down at her hands. Fire, water, wind, and earth. Was she one? She highly doubted she was a god incarnate, and Gemini was the witch. Maybe she was nothing. She stopped her thoughts and listened to the rest of Specs explanation.
"The slayers receive they're powers at the age of six. The witch's powers are activated on their sixteenth Winter Solstice, and the god incarnate and fire elemental get theirs activated on their sixteenth Halloween." He paused and stared at the four slayers and the sleeping Gemini. "And…to be truthful…I ain't never heard of a witch attending the same school and not knowing it."
"There's a slayers council in Washington, with a member for every state." He continued. "I'm representing New York. We've been searching for our witch, god incarnate, and elemental for a long time. We hoped to find them before their respective solstices and Halloweens…otherwise something like this might…and did…happen. Since Gemini has no parents, it was hard to track her down. We even thought she might have died young." He paused and a wry smile quirked his lips. "Then, low and behold, she's attending the same school as our slayers. Right under our noses."
No one had dared to talk during this explanation. He continued pacing and clarifying the details of the justification.
"It's always easier to find the witch. The God incarnates and Elementals are always difficult. We're still searching for them, even though their powers were activated long ago."
"Have you checked the rest of the school?" Dutchy asked. Specs shook his head.
"No, but we plan to get right on it. You never know…"
"So you're staying in New York?" Bumlets grinned. Specs nodded.
"It don't make no sense for me to try and control the holy lot of you from Washington. An' besides…" He looked sternly at Gemini. "I'm gonna have to teach her how to control her powers before they get out of hand again. She's the most powerful witch we've had in years."
"In years?" Misprint repeated. He nodded grimly.
"Something big is happening." He replied. "We don't know what it is. But we're gonna find out soon."
"Hey…" Shade said suddenly. Specs turned his gaze to her, and she placed her hands on her knees. "Have…well…I have this…strength thing, but…" She glanced over at Jack. "Apparently, I'm not a slayer. Y'think you could…maybe I'm a…"
"No." Specs said brusquely. "You've already been checked. And you're not part of the prophecy." He gave her a long, calculating look. "We don't know what you are."
+
Enter my favourite line. "Hi Mondie. Sleep well? Marry me?"
I gots to go, beloved readers, so nothing big today. We were down in Oregon for a week, and therefore, quite unable to update. But we figure we'd make it up to you.
Yours,
Mis