Note: In the last chapter when Brandon got wings, they were Dark Angel wings NOT fairy wings! Sorry for the confusion.
Inside Job:
Riven was on lookout duty. He was freezing, and he still had three hours to go before he could g back inside.
"Why'd I have to do this?" He asked to the night. "Why did Brandon have to get himself caught? He'd probably have been picked for this. I'm freezing my butt off while that slacker's probably chilling in some nice warm Alfea cell."
Suddenly he spotted a dust cloud through his scope. It turned out to be a squad of Red Fountain Levi-bikes. Brandon was leading them. Suddenly one of the bikes blew up, sending its rider into the air. Brandon caught him. Three Dark Angels were chasing the bikes. Riven immediately called out an alert.
"Dark Angels coming in. Their chasing a squad of Levi-bikes. They must have escaped!" He yelled. The boys manning the wall defenses opened fire on the Dark Angels hitting one in the wing. They broke off and went back the way they'd come.
"Open the gates!" Professor Saladin ordered. The gates creaked open, and the bikes came to a stop in front on the stair to he main building. Brandon was the first to remove his helmet. He looked like he'd been in a big fight.
"Are you all right?" Riven asked when he arrived.
"Fine, just a little trouble during our escape," Brandon answered.
"How did you get away?" Saladin asked.
"Bloom tried to break us by making us do hard labor. When it was late and the Dark Angels were drowsy, we broke our chains, stole the bikes and raced here as fast as we could," he replied.
"Dark Angels?" Riven said.
"That's what the girls call themselves now."
"Did you get any useful information while you were there?" Saladin asked.
"Yeah, I learned their new powers come from something called the Oricalcos, and that their going after Cloud Tower Next," he lied. He and Bloom had decided that if everyone thought they were going after Cloud Tower, Red Fountain would be easier to capture.
"I'll infirm Ms. Griffin and Ms. Faragonda right away," Saladin said before disappearing back into the building.
"You all could probably use some rest," Tortadora said. "Take the night off and report to me in the morning."
"Yes sir," Brandon said before the boys went to their rooms. "This is too easy," he said to himself.
Riven was finally relieved and allowed to go back to his room. Hr stopped to get a cup of hot chocolate and collapsed on his bed.
"I'd better inform Darcy about the attack," he said. He reached out with his mind, searching until he found her. "
"What do you have to report?" She asked.
"Brandon just escaped from Alfea. He says Bloom and the girls are coming after cloud tower next."
"We'll be ready. Darcy out," she said, cutting off her mind.
After resting for the night, Brandon and the other boys who had escaped were back in classes as well as planning the defense of Cloud Tower. Saladin had said that they had the greatest amount of experience with the Dark Angels tactics as so were the best boys for the job. This was a great opportunity, now Brandon had direct access to the Red Fountain computer core. After helping to plan a counterattack for an assault that would never happen, Brandon inserted a disk into the main processor. Techna had given it to him. It would upload a program that would allow Techna to control Red Fountains defenses. When the Dark Angels attacked, the defenses would shut down, leaving the school defenseless. Brandon smiled as he removed the disk. "Bloom was right, this isn't even a challenge."
The next morning, Cloud Tower was a hive of activity. The Witches and Red Fountain boys stationed there were ready for the attack Brandon had told them would come sometime in the morning.
"Anything?" Ms. Faragonda asked Timmy. He was looking at some radar setup he'd created when he'd arrived.
"Not yet mam. Brandon said they'd be here sometime in the morning, so it'll probably happen pretty soon," he replied. Suddenly his communicator started beeping. "Timmy here."
"Get everyone to Red Fountain right away!" Professor Saladin yelled. "Brandon's information was wrong. Bloom is coming after Red Fountain. We need support!"
"We're on our way," Timmy replied and cut the connection.
"We must hurry." Ms. Faragonda stated. "Everyone prepare for teleportation. Ms. Griffin and myself will teleport all of us directly to Red Fountain. Stand Together."
Everyone stoop on a group and the teachers called a vortex that dropped them in the center of the Red Fountain courtyard. The attack had just begun but already the Dark Angels were inside the walls. The gates were actually open!
"What happened? Timmy asked when Saladin approached them.
"We don't know. When they approached the defenses shut down and the gates opened. We're trying to hold them but there are too many." He suddenly raised his staff and blocked a blast of lightning. "With you we might stand a chance." Timmy drew his energy pistol and began blasting at a Dark Angel that was shocking three boys. The girl dodged and glared at Timmy, her eyes glowing an angry red.
"That wasn't very nice," she called out, taking to the sky. Timmy's shots missed cleanly. "I think you need to be taught a lesson," she said, blasting at Timmy with bolts of dark red lightning. Timmy raised his shield and blocked them, but the shield short circuited after the blast.
"What the! How did you do that?"
"Oh come on. Did you really think your puny little shield could stand up against one of Bloom's original recruits?" She sent another blast of lightning at him and this time he was hit. He flew across the grass, coming to a sizzling halt twenty feet away.
"Timmy, are you ok," one of the boys asked. He nodded, and then the boy was blown across the yard by an explosion. The dust cleared to reveal Techna. She folded her black angel wings behind her back and peered down at Timmy.
"Hello Timmy," she said, her eyes tined red on the outside. Timmy was stunned.
"Techna, is that you?"
"Of course it's me. I've changed a bit though. You could as well, if you wish," she said.
"You mean join you, I don't think so," Timmy replied. He had had a crush on Techna, but now she was cruel and evil.
"Very well, then prepare to die," she said as she raised an energy pistol and took aim at Timmy's head. Suddenly a net flew out of nowhere and enveloped Techna.
"Dude, you need to pay more attention to what's going on," Riven said as he shouldered a tube weapon.
The boys took a look around and saw that the boys were losing the battle. A closer look revealed that several of the boys were fighting with each other. Riven grabbed one and wheeled him around. It was Brandon.
"Dude, what do you think you're doing?" Riven asked.
"What I'm supposed to," he replied. Riven saw that he had a glowing mark on his forehead.
"Bloom's controlling you, I knew it!'
"Controlling me, no way. We planned this. I disable the defenses and Bloom and the girls walk in and bang! Red Fountain's mine."
"That's right, and he did a fantastic job," a voice said from above them. The boys glanced up and Bloom was hovering above them. "I thought I'd drop in and see how my boyfriend's doing."
"I'm doing fine. I was just about to take Riven here apart," he replied.
"Bring it on dude. I've been waiting for this a long time," he said as he drew his shield and sword. Brandon instead summoned a long black staff out of this air. It was as tall as he was and had the symbol on Brandon's head at the tip.
"Don't just stand there staring," Brandon taunted. That got under Riven's skin. He swung at Brandon who blocked and responded with a kick to Riven's knee. He jumped over it and swung at Brandon again.
"Come on, is that the best you have?" Brandon asked. Riven swung again, this time with enough force to knock Brandon away for a moment. He drew his boomerang and threw at Brandon. He caught it with his staff and broke it in two. While Riven was stunned, Brandon slipped inside his guard and drove the butt end of his staff into Riven's stomach. He doubled over and Brandon hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out.
"Nice work," Bloom complimented as she landed next to Brandon. She had grown. She was now equal to Brandon in height. "So, now that we have the boys on the run, let's round up the teachers." She looked around but the teachers and the boys and witches who had still been fighting had disappeared.
"Damn, where did they go!" She cried. Brandon took her hand.
"Relax; they've probably retreated back to Cloud Tower. We'll get them next time Bloom," he said, hoping to comfort her before she went into a rage.
"I guess you're right. I'll have Techna bring in her drones and we'll get started getting this place into proper shape. It is yours now."
"How could this have happened?" Professor Griffin asked. "We should have been able to beat them!"
"Somehow they managed to shut down our defenses just before they attacked." Saladin replied. "Bloom will come here next you know. We should start getting prepared."
"I may have just the solution we're looking for," Ms. Faragonda said as she entered with a large book in her hands. "This book tells of another time when the power that Bloom possesses was released. There may be something in here about how to defeat it."
"Well, let's get to work. You and I will study the book while Ms. Griffin and our remaining forces prepare for Bloom's attack," Saladin said. Everyone nodded.
"Let's get to work then," Tortadora said.
What did you think? Sorry it took so long to update. I was on vacation at a place without an internet. Stay tuned for the next chapter and see what the teachers come up with to fight Bloom and the Oricalcos!