Six hours later all four teens were huffing with different levels of exhaustion. The waves of spiderbots just kept coming. Originally there was a few minutes between each wave, but that time had shortened. As soon as they defeated a group of spiderbots, another replaced them.
Saber wiped sweat from his brow, lamenting the rips in his blazer. Father would definitely scold him for the ruined clothing. He had no time to rest. Saber dodged to the right of another crackling energy beam. His lips grew dry just from the heat of it.
Jezzy's cupcake sweater had lost most of its sparkles. Actually, it almost looked like whatever black energy she used was draining the color from it. It had started as a bright red but now had faded to a washed out pink.
Somehow Sigil looked way more exhausted than she should have. As another crackling beam of energy flew towards her, she grit her teeth reinforcing her shield. Not all of the energy could be reflected and Sigil was knocked back from the hit. Saber moved into big brother mode. He abandoned his current fight and jumped over a spiderbot, then ran halfway across the gym.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks." Sigil said.
Megan's howls had grown breathless. She still moved with the ferocity of a wild beast, but she was slowing slightly. Even though she seemed to be the least tired of the group, she was also the most injured. Her arms sported small burns and her left cheek had a nasty gash.
Even Klarion, for all his power, began to slow. Originally he was taking out multiple robots at once, but that had dropped to a mere few. He'd set his kitten down by bench for safe keeping and put several domes of magic around it. Those domes flickered out, apparently taking too much energy to keep up.
Another beam of energy bounced off Sigil's shield. It was redirected as usual, but the arc was different. It flew towards the benches, specifically where Teekl II was sleeping. Klarion's eyes followed the blast. He tensed and rushed towards the bleachers. The world seemed almost in slow motion
"NO!"
Klarion closed his eyes waiting to feel his connection to this world severed again, waiting to have his hope shattered as he lost his chance at a new best friend. He waited… and waited. Finally Klarion opened his eyes.
Every spiderbot in the room was shattered. Broken glass, wires, and machine parts lay scattered on ground in a mosaic collage. Klarion looked over to see Teekl II gone. He turned frantically until he saw the kitten settled in Annabella's arms.
"That seems to be the limit," Annabella said, casually. "Not a bad starting point."
"Wait a minute you could just destroy them all without even breaking a sweat?" Megan asked, her voice raspy from the howling.
"Of course. If I couldn't you'd all be in danger," Annabella shrugged.
Klarion gaped at her. There were 60 spiderbots in the room and she took them out all at once. As much as it annoyed him to admit, even he couldn't destroy that many without losing control. Annabella had waves of dark energy radiating off her. It was similar to Klarion's energy, but had a different touch.
If magic had colors then Klarion's chaos magic was black. The Lords of Order would have magic with a gold color. Regular human magic varied but the color wasn't vibrant anyway. Holy magic was white. This magic was a vivid red similar to a piece of candy Klarion had seen in the fall. Well, it seemed to be candy but it was just stupid fruit with a red sugary coating.
"So, report card time," Annabella said. "Megan, you have good energy but need to work on being less reckless. Klarion, you have a lot of power but you went through your reserves too fast. Sigil, you exerted master control but your energy level was low, no doubt partially due to Jezzy. Jezzy, I know you draw in power from others but you need to work on not hurting your teammates in the future. Saber, you fought well, but abandoned your own fight to run across the battlefield and help Sigil. She was winded but got up fine. Most of all, you guys need to work on teamwork and paying attention to where the others are."
"So you're saying I shouldn't help my sister when she's in trouble," Saber scoffed.
"I'm saying she didn't need your help at that moment." Annabella took on a stern tone. "You put everyone else at risk with that move."
Saber grumbled under his breath.
"You say we need to be a team but we just met," Megan said. "You can't expect us to be perfect already."
"Which is why you have this place." Annabella motioned around with dramatic flourish.
"... A gym?" Saber asked.
A smile played on Annabella's lips as she opened a door, revealing the rest of the building. A hallway led into a cozy living room, complete with two couches, and a loveseat. Attached to that was a kitchen with a fridge, cooking area, and dining area. There was a long hallway with several bedrooms in it.
"Nice place." Sigil smiled, seeing a small library at the end of the hall.
"It should be, you'll be living here," Annabella shrugged.
"Wait what?" Saber yelled.
"Part of the deal with this team is that we all will be living here at least part to build cohesiveness. Of course you can still attend to responsibilities back home and go out on outings, including school." Annabella looked around for reactions.
"Ha ha!" Klarion teased. "You're all stuck here."
"This includes you Klarion," Annabella said.
"Wait what?" Klarion yelled.
"Now have at it," Annabella said. "Last one to pick a room is stuck washing dishes tonight!"
The 5 teens looked at each other and ran off down the hall. Annabella smiled. She just hoped this plan worked.
Everyone ran off towards the bedrooms leaving Sigil standing there. Well, dish duty wasn't so bad. She walked past Jezzy and Klarion arguing over who got the bigger room. The library was bedroom-sized lined with bookcases along the walls. In the middle, sat an antique wooden table. Perfect! Sigil took a seat pulling out her book and diving into the story.
Sometime later, Sigil looked at the sound of heavy footsteps. She looked up expecting Saber to be there. Instead, it was Klarion.
"I'm so bored," Klarion whined.
Sigil went back to her book. A dramatic groan turned her attention back to Klarion. He stomped his foot, more similar to a cranky toddler than a lord of chaos. Sigil lobbed a copy of Peter and Wendy at his head.
"Read this," she said.
"How's that supposed to help?" Klarion asked. "Reading is just as boring as standing here."
"Reading is interesting," Sigil said. "And I think you'd like the story I'm reading."
"Nope," Klarion replied, "Not happening."
"There's a cat in it." Sigil offered in a singsong voice.
"Mew," Teekl II said.
"Fine!" Klarion grumbled. "We'll listen to one story."
Klarion took a seat, cross legged on the arm chair. Sigil dogeared the page she was on then flipped back to The Fox and the Cat.
It happened that the cat met Mr. Fox in the woods. She thought, "He is intelligent and well experienced, and is highly regarded in the world," so she spoke to him in a friendly manner, "Good-day, my dear Mr. Fox. How is it going? How are you? How are you getting by in these hard times?"
The fox, filled with arrogance, examined the cat from head to feet, and for a long time did not know whether he should give an answer. At last he said, "Oh, you poor beard-licker, you speckled fool, you hungry mouse hunter, what are you thinking? Have you the nerve to ask how I am doing? What do you know? How many tricks do you understand?"
"Cats are obviously way better than foxes." Klarion pouted at the story.
"Of course they are," Sigil agreed. "Just keep listening."
"I understand but one," answered the cat, modestly.
"What kind of a trick is it?" asked the fox.
"When the dogs are chasing me, I can jump into a tree and save myself."
"Mew," Teekl II said.
"Is that all?" said the fox. "I am master of a hundred tricks, and in addition to that I have a sackful of cunning. I feel sorry for you. Come with me, and I will teach you how one escapes from the dogs."
Sigil couldn't hold back a laugh. She'd read this story many times and knew what came next. Klarion gave her an expectant look.
Just then a hunter came by with four dogs. The cat jumped nimbly up a tree, and sat down at its top, where the branches and foliage completely hid her.
"Untie your sack, Mr. Fox, untie your sack," the cat shouted to him, but the dogs had already seized him, and were holding him fast.
"Oh, Mr. Fox," shouted the cat. "You and your hundred tricks are left in the lurch. If you been able to climb like I can, you would not have lost your life."
"Hah!" Klarion giggled. "Serves him right. Stupid fox."
"So whatcha think?" Sigil asked.
"I guess it wasn't that bad," Klarion said. "Do you… have another?"
"Of course." Sigil smiled. "This is a longer one called Godfather Death."
Ten minutes into the story, Sigil realized Klarion's comments had stopped. She looked over to see if he'd gotten bored and left. Instead he was fast asleep with Teekl II in his arms. Sigil gently closed the book and laid a blanket over the witchboy. He was admittedly adorable when he slept.