This is one of the few stories that I really planned a lot before I started (well, by chapter two but close enough) but I always leave little bits of wiggle room here and there because I get lazy, and I divert a lot because stories grow and change and characters do unexpected things. However, I never really knew how I would end this... Until now! And I'm feeling hyped because it will be so darn cool! Anyway, don't worry. We've still got quite a ride to get through before then. I think I'm... halfway through? Yeah, something like that...

I'm a little worried about the next chapter though. It still needs a lot of reworking, so I might update next week a little later than usual, maybe Tuesday or something, or if it really goes haywire then the week after. Probably not, but don't be surprised if that happens. Like, it's okay, but it's kinda... mediocre, and that's bad because it's a super important chapter. So yeah, if I don't update on time next week, I'm really really sorry, but I don't want to write anything other than my best with this so understand me! Well, I've rambled more than I need to so here goes nothing!

CHAPTER 17: BIKO GIVES US FLYING LESSONS (Ludmila's thoughts)

Wow, things went wrong really quickly. And everything was going according to plan for five minutes too.

We entered the hotel lobby, just casually strolling into the building like nothing was wrong. Before we started off, Zodiac managed to print out a copy of the building's blueprints, and spent the better part of an hour studying them. Now he should have been able to teleport us to anywhere within the building as long as we got inside first. That wasn't a problem. All we had to do was walk in. We didn't even needto go and talk to the receptionist.

We just headed towards the corner of the lobby, just before the turnoff that lead to the elevator. There was nobody nearby, and nobody could see us.

"You think you can do this?" Biko asked.

"Please, you doubt my skill," came back Zodiac's confident reply. He grasped our shoulders and closed his eyes. The world span around me, and it was like my whole body was getting pulled through a vortex inside out. I could barely stand, let alone move, when we came to a standstill.

The walls were gone, instead replaced by open air. The frigid night air tried to freeze us to the rooftop of the hotel. Or at least I could only guess that it was the same hotel. Around the building's perimeter, just before the railings that signalled the building's edge, were a bunch of red and green lights, bathing us in a creepy, warped light. I held on tight to my hat, hoping that the wind didn't blow it off my head and down a fifty foot drop to the streets below.

"Umm, Zodiac, where are we?" Biko asked.

"Oh… well, that wasn't meant to happen," Zodiac said sheepishly.

"We're meant to be right outside of Jordan Flair's room. What are we doing here?"

"Sorry, I think I overshot a little. It's really hard to judge distances if I can't see where I'm going…."

"You overshot by ten floors! We're on the roof!"

"Would you like to explain how and why you're here?" We were so caught off guard, we didn't even notice that somebody else was up there with us.

He was standing by the door, leaning against the wall just next to it, a lit cigarette trapped beneath his teeth, illuminating his whole face in an amber glow. His hair was as brown as mine, and its fringe was just about to cover his grey eyes. His face was angular, like it was expertly sculpted from marble. His red jacket was placed casually over his tight grey t-shirt and his jeans were the colour of asphalt. His hand was on the door handle, as if he was just about to leave when we randomly appeared in front of him. Our timing couldn't have been worse if we'd come to a funeral with balloons singing happy birthday.

"Hello there, good sir!" Zodiac said quickly. "We were just a little bit lost, you know? We're the… special entertainment! For Mr. Stills! Sorry, could you direct us to room three five two please?"

"You're on the roof of the building," he said, completely ignoring Zodiac. "To get here, you would have had to pass through the door. The one that I'm standing next to. I don't like to brag, but I'm a pretty perceptive guy. I would know if you had wandered up to here by sheer chance. But you didn't. You just appeared." He stood up, slowly walking towards us. "Are you gonna tell me that you scaled up the side of the building?"

"It's a distinct possibility," Zodiac said. His hand had slowly drifted towards his pocket. I could see that he was getting ready to draw his slingshot at any moment.

"Even if you did, there's no way you could have gotten up it on your own. Unless, you have special powers too. Powers like mine…." I looked at Zodiac with worry, hoping he could figure something out. He didn't return the look. Instead, he was focussed dead ahead, never taking his eyes off of the guy.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zodiac lied.

"It doesn't matter. I already heard that you're looking for Mr. Flair. Even if you are just some kind of crazed super fans, I can't let people with abilities like yours get anywhere close to him."

"What are you, his bodyguard?"

"You could say that." Something that looked like a giant shadow came out of him, pouncing like a jaguar as it wrapped itself around Biko. He cried out in alarm as it bound him like steel cords, levitating him a few feet in the air.

"Biko!" I cried out. I reached out to try and free him, but froze when I saw what it was.

It looked like a giant pair of hands, deep maroon with bony fingers and gnarled nails, each the size of a high def. TV screen. Every now and then they would pulsate deep red like a furnace was going off beneath the tough, calloused skin.

"Put him down!" I yelled, pulling out my poi.

"Make any sudden moves and this guy will be dead before you can regret it." As if to prove his point, the hands gave Biko a sudden squeeze, the guy crying out in pain. I froze in my tracks. I was pretty sure if I threw my poi, I could knock him in the face with a nice, clean fireball, but those hands already looked like they were digging into Biko. I didn't know how strong they were, but if their size was a clue then they looked like they could crush him like a grape.

The guy smiled, shoving his own hands into his pockets.

"Good. Smart move kid. That's the way it's meant to be. Wait a second… where's the-" He stopped abruptly, crying out in pain as he collapsed to his knees, Zodiac standing behind him, having hit him in the head with his elbow. The hands faded away, Biko falling from their grasp, doubled over and practically coughing up his lungs.

"That… that was terrible!" he complained. "It was… it was like… I couldn't feel my body… I was just a disembodied head or something…."

Zodiac jogged over to him and helped him up.

"Are you alright?" he said. He shakily nodded his head.

"Who was that guy?" Biko asked. "That power of his… is he a demigod?"

"Either that, or he's a monster. Come on, we don't want to be around when he wakes up."

"Couldn't you knock him out for longer? Like, choke him or something?"

"What, and risk killing the guy? I'm a thief, not a murderer. Choke someone for too long and they can suffer brain damage and all sorts of nasty stuff. Better for everyone I just give him a concussion. Now stop wasting time, and let's go!" Zodiac teleported again, and I was guessing this time he went behind the door. I yanked it open, and sure enough, he was already sprinting down the steps.

"You think you can teleport us to this guy's room now?" I asked.

"Not until I'm really close. I'm not chancing another risky jump." We ran until we were sure that guy wasn't anywhere near us anymore, then slowed to a brisk walk. There was no reason for anybody else to think that we weren't meant to be there as long as we looked natural.

So, like the brave and honourable demigods we are, we took the most heroic mode of transport available to us: the elevator.

"So, the same plan as before, guys," Zodiac said. "Biko, Ludmila, you two watch the door. Don't stand right by it, just kind of wander about like you're waiting for somebody, just something to look less conspicuous. I'll sneak inside via teleport and steal the lance. When I'm done, I'll teleport out, and zap us back outside the hotel, or at least close enough to the ground floor that we can land without dying."

"That second part of the plan doesn't sound safe," I pointed out. "Have you ever done this before?"

"Oh yeah, loads of times, and I only ever broke one of my legs! Well, twice, but it was still the same leg! Actually, maybe it was-"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" I interrupted. "You can stop talking now. Please." The elevator ground to a halt, staying still for a moment before the elevator doors opened.

"Welcome back."

We all leaped backwards, shocked out of words as we bumped into each other. It was the same guy from before, standing right in front of us with a slightly irritated smile. He looked pretty calm, but I could see a few beads of sweat on his face.

"You!" Zodiac yelled.

"That was rude, hitting me in the head," he said. "And I just wanted to talk." I didn't let him, punching him in the face. He just barely dodged out of the way, catching my arm and tossing me over his shoulder and onto my back. Zodiac and Biko both swung blows at him, but he casually dodged all of them, weaving, even shoving his hands back in his pockets. Zodiac tried to grab him, but the guy just head—butted him, stunning him temporarily. Biko launched a fist at him, but he grabbed his arm and tossed him to the ground as well. He grabbed Zodiac and did the same thing to him, throwing him like a Frisbee so he landed facedown next to us.

Zodiac was the first to recover, springing to his feet just moments before us.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" I asked.

"Simple: run!"

Run like a coward. I could dig that. We turned heel and ran, heading away from him. Amazingly, I didn't even hear him following us.

"You can run, but it won't do you any good," he called out after us. It was better than fighting him at least.

We rounded a corner, blindly sprinting in a panic before Zodiac ground to a halt, Biko and I doing the same thing.

"Why'd you stop?" Biko cried out indignantly.

"Because of that." Biko looked up, and so did I. We were standing right in front of the same guy we were running from. And it didn't look like he had somehow run all the way ahead of us, he was still in the exact same position as before: right in front of the elevator.

"What the—what? But we—when did we…."

"Are you lost?" he asked, a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Okay, let's try that again," Zodiac said slowly, running back the way we came. This time, he waited until he had made it to the next corner, slowed down, and peered around it. Again, the guy from before didn't even move, still long behind us. "Alright, it's clear," Zodiac said. Slowly, we all turned the corner with him and took two steps. We froze.

"Are you sure you guys don't need a map?" the he asked, casually lighting another cigarette. He looked like he was struggling to hold in a laugh. "I can redirect you to your room, honest."

"You're already redirecting us!" Zodiac yelled, pulling out his slingshot and drawing it. "Who the hell are you? There's no way you're just an ordinary bodyguard."

"You're right about not being ordinary," he said. "I'm just here for the ride and to pay off my next set of bills. I'm what you would call… a hired hand. Unlike the actual bodyguards, I don't care about ordinary people going to meet Mr. Flair, armed or not. Instead, I'm here to stop brats like you and I from bumping into him. You could give him a real scare, you know?"

"And how're you gonna do that? You might have weird powers, but there's only one of you. If we fight seriously, there's no way you can win." As if to demonstrate his words, I began spinning my poi rapidly, fire automatically building up around them in two fiery whirlwinds. The other guy whistled to himself.

"You're right. I can't beat you all." He raised his hands in the air in surrender. Biko smiled, and rightfully so. He didn't even have to draw his pathetic excuse for weapon and the bad guy was giving himself up! "Well, not without using my trump card at least." He slammed both of his hands on the ground, the giant red ones from before appearing superimposed on top of his own. "Verse! The Worl-"

The air around us shimmered, like we were caught in a mirage, his voice cutting off like he'd stopped midsentence. For a millisecond, it was like somebody had inverted all the colours in the world. I didn't even have time to think or understand what happened when the air returned to normal. Suddenly, it felt like my whole body was on fire, like all of my nerves were being plucked like guitar chords one by one. I was flung backwards, slamming against the wall with a crash.

I crumpled to the floor, too dazed to even tell where I was anymore. I tried to wake myself up and look around. Every movement hurt, like somebody was stepping on me with spiked boots. I could feel warm blood spreading around my stomach. Honestly, I was too scared to even look at the wound. I was pretty sure that if the pain didn't get me, I would pass out from the shock.

Biko and Zodiac weren't much better, flung to random parts of the hallway, lying down on their sides or their heads slumped down against their chests. Even worse, there were monsters everywhere, weird looking snake ladies with spears and shields. I have no idea where they came from because they weren't there a second ago. I looked back at the bodyguard. He was now stood up straight, his hands dug firmly in his pockets.

"Wow, I get a rush every time I do that!" he yelled. "So much power, all between my fingertips!" He had a mad look in his eyes, like somebody who'd fired a gun for the first time and enjoyed it. He even began cackling madly to himself.

"What… what the hell was that?" I asked as I tried to force myself back to my feet.

"Don't you guys know?" he replied between his insane cackling. "I've never used it on a human before... This is amazing!"

Before I knew what was happening, Zodiac had appeared next to me, one hand holding onto Biko while he grabbed my shoulder with the other. In the next instance, we were gone, behind the wall of advancing snake monsters.

"Guys, get up," he said, panic creeping up in his voice. Biko stood up groggily, drawing his broken sword for all the good it would do him.

"That guy's a demigod?" I asked. "He's insane! What even was that?!"

"Beats me. I never knew fighting a demigod was this intense. I have no idea what his power is…."

"Even you don't know?"

"We'll never find out if we don't make it out of here alive. Come on, let's go while he still thinks we're there!" We sprinted down the hallway, not stopping for even a second. It seemed like every guest on that entire floor was some kind of monster because doors and walls were flung open or torn down as more snake monsters and hulking ogres appeared at every turn. One door even opened with a skeleton still wearing a pink showering cap and a towel around his waist.

Everything hurt, but I swung my poi anyway, vaporising a weird giant ant that leaped at me, trying to tear off my face. Zodiac fired well aimed shots into monster's eyes when he could, and when they got too close he would just teleport all of us a few feet away. Sadly, Biko wasn't much help. Nothing really got close enough for him to jab them with his pathetic excuse for a sword, and I could sense him freaking out every time a new creature jumped in our paths.

"Which door is it?" I yelled as I kicked a snake lady in the chest with a superheated boot. She disintegrated into a burning hot pile of sand.

"The last one on the right," Zodiac replied. "Just five more doors and we're there!"

"The World!" An explosion went off in front of us, knocking us all backwards and onto our backs. When the dust cleared up, that bodyguard from before was standing in front of us, the two disembodied hands floating by his sides.

Zodiac didn't give him a chance to say or do anything, firing at him. I was pretty sure he was aiming at his head, but his aim was off while he was on his back, the pellet flying right past his ear. He loaded up another one, this time aiming for his chest. One of the hands drifted in front of him, catching the pellet in mid—air before it could hit him.

"Hey, easy! Watch where you're aiming that thing!" he yelled. Zodiac didn't care, firing again and again. None of the shots was anywhere close to a fatal hit though, all of them getting stopped by the hands. Whenever the bodyguard tried to slam his own hands to the ground, Zodiac shot at them, forcing him to protect himself instead.

"Go!" Zodiac roared. "I'll keep this guy distracted. You guys get the lance!" I didn't want to leave Zodiac to fight him alone, but it was a heck of a lot better than facing him myself. We sprinted past him, Biko sliding around him while I jumped, leapfrogging over his head.

"You think… Zodiac… will be okay?" Biko gasped.

"I dunno. Whatever that guy did, he can't do it again as long as he can't touch the ground, so he should be fine." We kept running until we reached the end of the hall. The end lead to a porch that was open to the city skyline, and probably a fatal drop to the streets. On our right was what looked like just another hotel door, and that's how we knew we found the right one. No monsters or ghouls leaped out of it dressed in their PJs.

Standing next to the door was this huge guy dressed in a black suit and sunglasses (indoors like a moron) who somehow hadn't noticed the commotion just a few feet away. He did notice us though. He stood in the way, barring us from proceeding with his hands spread wide.

"Stop right there, this room is—oof!" Biko tackled him, flipping him over his back so he was sailing through the air towards me. I super—cooled my fist until it felt like a block of ice and punched him in the nose. I'm not sure where the strength came from, but the guy definitely felt it, hitting the ground like a sack of bricks. He was knocked out cold, literally, blood dribbling from his broken nose.

"S—sorry," I apologised. Biko didn't even bother, or maybe he just didn't notice the guy altogether. He was already looking at the door, trying to find some way in.

"We didn't think this through," he said. "We can't get in without Zodiac, and he's still fighting with that weird guy."

"Zodiac told us to stick to the plan and yet he's not in the right position either."

"No planning for a monster slumber party I guess. Let's try break the door down."

"And alert Jordan Flair inside? No, I think I can open it…." I observed the lock. Luckily, it wasn't electronic. This wouldn't be too hard. I grasped the doorknob, focussing all of my power into my hand. In a matter of moments, the knob started to melt, bits of brass and aluminium dribbling down the door and over my hand. I buried my fingers inside where it had just melted, grabbing the mechanisms inside and doing the same thing to them. In a few seconds, we could just push the door open. "Whoa… that's really freaking cool."

"Thank you," I replied, feeling a little embarrassed. I tried to ignore his awestruck expression as I shook the melted metal off my arm and instead focussed on the suite.

The place looked way too comfortable. There was a plasma screen TV against the wall, and opposite that a giant queen sized bed with scarlet bedsheets. There was a fish tank in one corner of the room for some reason, and beneath the table it was resting on was a small fridge, probably already stocked with all sorts of stuff. The wardrobe was open and filled with expensive looking suits and designer clothes. To our immediate right was a door that probably led to the bathroom, the sound of a shower and somebody singing coming from it. What was really impressive about the place, however, was the view. An entire wall was instead made up of windows and glass doors so they could be opened up to the night outside. It made me feel a little nauseous as I approached it and looked straight down, seeing the cars move around like ants below us.

"Come on, let's find this stupid necklace," I said, trying not to think about how high up we were. "It should be made of Imperial gold, so it will shine and glow like your sword." We scoured the room as quietly as we could, trying not to alert the guy in the shower. Hopefully, the sound of the running water and Jordan Flair's bathroom choir session would drown out any noise we made.

We checked all the usual places he could have put it: his bedside tables, the cupboards, under the pillow, inside his mattress… we even checked inside the electronic safe, melting through it the same way I melted the door open. There were a whole bunch of bank notes, and something that looked suspiciously like a love letter, but that was it. Nothing that resembled either a lance or a necklace.

"It's nowhere!" Biko complained.

"It has to be somewhere. He never goes anywhere without it, right? We just have to keep looking." At least, that's what I was thinking until I heard the shower turn off. Both of us panicked, looking around for a place to hide. I dived for the door, but the metal had cooled in place after I shut it. I would have to melt it down again, and I didn't have the time. We both spotted the open wardrobe, looked at each other, and nodded our heads.

We scrambled towards it, packing ourselves in and shutting the door just as we heard the bathroom door opening.

We were so tightly packed that I wasn't actually sure if I was hearing my own heartbeat in my ears or Biko's. It was awkward, uncomfortable, embarrassing, and a life or death situation. Contrary to popular Hollywood belief, this was not romantic in the slightest. It was just awkward, not to mention terrifying.

The keyhole was around where my elbow was, so I couldn't even see outside, nor could I tell where Jordan Flair was. What would happen if he found us? What would he do? What would… what would he be wearing? He just came out of the shower!

I was pretty sure my face was rapidly changing from deep scarlet to sea green. I tried not to think about it. Instead, I focused on the sound of his footsteps squelching on the floor and dripping water. They started getting louder and louder, as if he was getting closer to us. I held my breath. I was scared to even think lest he somehow heard my brainwaves or something. It could have been anything from ten seconds to ten minutes of us just staying stock still, not even daring to breath.

Light flooded my eyes as the wardrobe opened. I wasn't sure who was more startled: us from the sudden influx of lighting on our retinas, or him from finding two teenagers crammed in his wardrobe in a compromising position.

He was just like how Biko had described him: pulled straight from a movie scene, with wavy golden blond hair and brighter—than—blue eyes. His face would have normally looked pretty handsome, like he was chiselled from Mount Olympus, but he was too busy being shocked with his mouth hanging open to flash us a picture perfect smile. He was wearing a red bathrobe (thank all the gods) and I couldn't really see anything else. What caught my attention, however, was the brilliant gold necklace hanging around his neck. Actually, it wasn't exactly a necklace.

It was in the shape of a cross, with some intricate designs etched into it. Even the beads that hung on its string or whatever it was were solid gold and ivory. It had to be the most expensive rosary in the world.

"What are you… what? What are you doing here?" he asked in shock. We couldn't really balance in the wardrobe any longer, falling onto the ground in a heap. "Who are you? What do you want?"

My brain stopped working. I guess we really hadn't thought this far. What were we meant to do if he took the lance with him into the bathroom? What were we meant to do if he spotted us? Zodiac said that we would just run, but we were currently locked in and couldn't teleport. Nothing was happening the way it was meant to!

Luckily, Biko picked up the slack instead, speaking on behalf of both of us.

"I watched you when you were speaking in town this morning," he said, sounding nothing like how terrified he looked only moments ago. "Wow, I was really impressed! I never knew that the word of God could have so much power, so much passion behind it! I really wanted to meet you but circumstances couldn't really allow it. I suppose God wanted us to meet if we're here now though. It really is a huge honour to meet you!" He bowed, extending his hand at the same time, then realising he couldn't do both, straightened up so he could just shake his hand.

I stared at him, completely dumbstruck. Had he been taking some kind of improv drama classes or something? If he was, he was already a pro. He looked completely genuine, gushing with nervous fan boy excitement.

Jordan Flair seemed to buy it, smiling warmly and shaking his hand.

"Well, I can't exactly approve of your unorthodox methods of entry, but I'm always happy to see my sermons changing the lives of my followers. What can I do for you two? Or rather, what can we do for the Lord?" Bells of recognition were ringing in my head. I remembered in history class seeing videos of JFK making speeches, and this guy sounded a lot like him, minus the accent.

"Well, I just had a few questions I wanted to ask, and hopefully to get your autograph. You don't mind, right?" I could see what Biko was doing. He was trying to lower his guard enough so that he could steal the necklace off him, or at least knock him out and take it by force.

"Sure! I'd be happy to help, as long as you can answer a question of mine!" he said. Suddenly, Biko's eyes bulged in shock. He cried out in pain and sunk to his knees. I was confused for a second until I realised what was happening. Jordan Flair was crushing his hand, shrinking it to almost half its size in his grip. "Do you take me for some kind of fool?"

I pulled my poi out of my pockets, but Flair grabbed Biko's throat, stopping me in my tracks.

"Careful little missy," he said. "One false move and your friend will never walk again." Biko squeaked in terror as he squeezed, as if emphasising the point. "I can hear chaos and calamity all the way from in here. This entire floor is filled with monsters. They wouldn't get so agitated unless something, or someone, was nearby that could get their blood boiling. And since you've somehow appeared in my room, which is locked and forty storeys up, that must mean that you're the cause of it. Am I right, half—bloods?"

So he knew we were demigods, and we were trapped in his room. This was officially a crisis. And what do we do during a crisis? Easy: hit 'em where it hurts! Biko swung his fist with force, landing a critical hit that stopped Flair in his tracks, his eyes wide in agony as he let go of him. Biko snatched the rosary off of his neck, and ran towards the door.

Flair recovered quickly though. He grabbed Biko by his ankles and tossed him to the window. He slammed against it, sliding down in a daze, the glass lightly cracked.

I tried to fight instead, swinging a burning punch at his face. It connected nicely, leaving a nice big red burn mark across his cheek. He didn't seem to care though, slapping me hard. I almost spun in a full circle on the spot, collapsing in a daze on the ground, my eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling as my mind tried to process what truck had just hit me.

Flair marched towards Biko who was starting to get up, shaking the dizziness away. He snatched his rosary back, and without hesitation, booted Biko in the chest. The glass shattered into a thousand pieces, falling away into the night sky, and taking Biko with it. That shocked me out of my stupor.

"Biko!" I screamed, forcing myself to my feet just in time to see Biko disappearing from view with a scream. I felt a whole whirlwind of emotions raging inside me. Grief, terror, panic, loss, rage, fury, vengeance. I couldn't sort through all of them. I could barely identify them, but I knew that Biko had just fallen down a four or five hundred foot drop. I definitely knew what I needed to do.

Screaming in fury, I swung my poi at his face, the poi lit on fire before they had even touched him. He just barely ducked it, my poi instead embedding itself in the wall like a wrecking ball. I yanked it out, already swinging the other one like a spinning flail of death. I slammed it to my right, setting his bed on fire, then swung it back. Flair held up one hand in panic, his other one clutching his rosary. A second later, I heard a clang like metal on metal. In the fist that he held above him was now a pure golden spear, the light from my fire reflecting off of it like it was coming from within the weapon. He tried jabbing me with it repeatedly, but I ducked and dodged out of the way, finally catching the spear beneath my armpit. He lifted the whole thing up, almost slamming my head against the ceiling if I hadn't let go of it, coming down to punch him in the face.

It was all I could do from such short range, just rain down blow after blow on him, Flair staggering as he desperately tried blocking them. He swung his leg, his shin connecting with my side and sending me toppling sideways. The open window was to my right, wind rushing and howling through it. It was really scenic, but it meant that one false move would send me toppling to my grave like… like….

I opened my eyes in shock, unable to speak. Flair must have thought I was stunned to see the lance in action.

"You must be pretty surprised to see such a fabulous weapon spring from my rosary!" he said. "This is indeed my pride and joy, a sure sign that the Lord is watching over me at all times!"

Right as he said that, the wind became a hurricane, bits of furniture and appliances hovering in the air. Anything that wasn't nailed down either floated, or got blown out of the room, and that list of jettisoned objects nearly included us too. Flair looked at the window, trying to find out what was happening.

The cocky smirk or playful smile was gone, replaced by a look of determination. Biko was hovering in the air, a small green cyclone spinning around his body, his clothes rippling in the wind. The whole suite was thrown into disarray just from him being near it, and I could see the TV flying off into the nether. The bed soon followed, gently sliding out and plummeting to the ground.

He pointed his fingertips at Flair, wind building up around his arm. A second later, he unleashed a funnel of wind, like a horizontal tornado, blasting Flair into his wall, the guy collapsing against the floor, slipping out of consciousness. Biko flew into the room, the tornado dissipating as he jogged towards Flair's body.

He picked up the lance from his slack grip, examining it for a second.

"Biko!" I cried.

"Back from the dead," he said, a smile spreading on his face. "But they never found my killer, so I jumped up out this grave like Michael Jackson in Thriller!"

"Aaand you're back," I said, wishing that he had just stayed silent. We were interrupted as Zodiac warped into the room, tumbling onto the floor with cuts and bruises all over his body.

"You… you guys done?" he asked. I pointed over at the slump figure of Flair. "Great…. Let's get outta here!" Something heavy slammed into the door. Once. Twice. An axe head embedded itself in the wooden frame of the door, twisting and turning. It was only a matter of seconds before they would break it down, especially after I'd already loosened it up for them.

"We're trapped," I said, backing away from it, only to remember that if I took another step backwards I would be taking a plunge to my death.

"Well, there is one exit," Zodiac said, pointing behind me.

"Zodiac, that's a one way trip!"

"Yeah, Biko added, "and I'm not sure I can do that… weird thing again."

"Well, between this one way trip, and the one with teeth, swords, and battle—axes, I think I'll take my chance with the fall."

"It's fifty storeys up!"

"Only? Please. Been there, done that."

"What?!" The door busted open, monsters streaming into the room, roaring angrily and swinging their weapons at everything within their reach, including each other.

"Now or never!"

"Wait, let me-" He didn't even let me finish, dragging Biko by the arm and rugby tackling me out the window. I screamed loud and long, my voice echoing across the streets of Ohio.

And that was the last thing I saw before the world went dark.

AN: Huzzah! I have finally done it! I can't believe it and I feel absolutely ridiculous but it was fun and it is good! I have posted the first chapter of my Powerpuff Girls fanfic! It is good, and the first chapter is also pretty intense (I believe stories must start with a bang!) so I do recommend that you check it out at some point if you like this. Obviously it gets much better than the first chapter after a while, but that's never an excuse for a lame start so it should be fun.

It's called Princess Versus The Great Divide and you can (obviously) find it in my profile so go check it out!

Summary/really-should-be-called-the-blurb: 'Everything is all about the 'Powerpuff Girls'. The brats aren't even good heroes! Well, I won't stand it any longer! My name, is Princess Morbucks, and my plan is to destroy the Powerpuff Girls by beating them at their own game becoming Townsville's NEW superhero! But it's hard work, with conspiracies, fatal slumber parties, and well dressed supervillains. I have a lot to learn!'

So yeah, as you can tell from this, Princess is the main character here. For those who don't remember the show well, Princess was one of the villains in the series. She's a horrifyingly spoilt brat who at first wanted to become a Powerpuff Girl for the attention, but the Girls didn't let her because she wasn't experienced in crime fighting. She Iron Mans it and makes a super suit, vowing to destroy the Powerpuff Girls if she couldn't be one, although she never quite gets over not becoming a Powerpuff. She's... a surprisingly complex character when you examine her. My story is set like six years after so she's now eleven or twelve. She's so much fun to write, if only for how hard it is to strike this balance between genuinely horrible, likeable, and just misunderstood. So yeah, check it out, tell me what you think. Not a fan of Powerpuff Girls? No problem. It reads more like this than Powerpuff Girls, so you'll probably be fine.

There's still lots of room for improvement, but that's what later chapters are for! {looks up at my 300+ word Author Note and cringes}

Have a great weekend! {Goes back and erases half of Author Note to acceptable levels}