madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-let's just pretend i can write fight scenes-

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The storm above the now panicking students swirled around, gaining speed, until it resembled a hurricane.

Kids screamed and ran for the building, pencils and paper lost. The wisps from the now hurricane snatched away their belongings. They wouldn't be returned. Jason skidded across the slick floor past Teqi.

She spat her hair out of her mouth and screamed silently. Why could she never get a gods-damn break?

Leo lost his balance. Apparently, he was light enough to be dragged back by the wind, and he almost toppled over the railing. Her heart jumped into her throat and started freaking out. Jason grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. She reached over and held his other arm, keeping them balanced as another gust of wind pushed them back like a little bitch.

"Go, go, go!" yelled Coach Hedge.

Piper and Dylan the toothpaste-commercial-guy were holding the huge glass doors open, herding the rest of their class and the general public inside.

Teqi, Jason, Leo, and Coach stumbled toward them, slipping on mechanical pencils and puddles, but it was like running through quicksand. Not that Teqi knew what that was like. She imagined it was pretty similar. The wind seemed to fight them, pushing them backwards, and their efforts turned out meaningless.

This would be such a pathetic way to die, after everything she'd been through.

Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk, and stranding them outside in the freak tornado that nearly tore Leo's green army jacket from his body.

Piper tugged at the handles. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass desperately, in what might be the first time they'd acknowledged the trio in a way that wasn't side eyes. The doors were stuck shut.

"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted; her voice nearly lost in the wind.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his white teeth shining maniacally. Teqi sighed. She'd never liked this guy. She should've just stabbed him when he asked to borrow her .

"Sorry, Piper," Dylan said. "I'm done helping."

No no no. Teqi tried to reach her, "Pi-"

He flicked his wrist, like he was swatting away bugs, and Piper flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck. She was the bug.

Teqi winced. That had got to hurt. Jason struggled against Coach to get to her side. Teqi turned in a circle quickly, careful not to look away from Dylan for more than a moment. She tried to breathe slower. Freaking out wasn't going to help. There wasn't any other way off the skybridge, and whatever Dylan really was, still stood in their way.

"Jason, Leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered, his hands out to block them. "This is our fight. I should've known he was our monster... He didn't get seconds on pizza night."

"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. He scrunched up his pointy nose. "What monster?"

The coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two short horns. Coach Hedge lifted his baseball bat—but it wasn't a regular bat anymore. It had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.