Flame Touch

Chapter 13-Sunny

I tried to calm the thoughts rising inside my head. I felt like I was just pumped with a shot of really, really concentrated alcohol, or gogurt. I really like gogurt.

Anyway.

Blond boy and brown eyes were glaring at each other like Knox stares at her food, and I opened my mouth to ask an innocent question, but they all just stared at me like I was crazy! “I HAVE A RED THINGY ON MY LEG! AND IT GLOWS!!!!” I wanted to scream, but I restricted myself. As they were about to respond to  my question, I thought I saw something in the corner of my eye, something black that kind of looked like an eight legged cockroach. I was about to tell Knox this, but at that point the cockroach thing got bigger and louder.

A lot louder.

“KREEEEEEEEEEET!”  It screamed with unholy volume. Everybody turned around, and the whole lunchroom was thrown into a panic within about five seconds, which isn’t surprising seeing as it doesn’t take much to throw a room for of high schoolers into a frenzy. “What the hell is that thing?!?!” I tried to scream over the noise. No one heard me. The cockroach, though, seemed very interested in what I had to say and came rushing in my direction.

Perfect.

It reared up on four legs and I was paralyzed, partly because of the that-is-a-really-ugly-cockroach part of my brain, and partly because my leg was stuck under an upturned lunch table. The thing was about to slam on top of me when a silver arrow pierced its skull, causing it to scramble around and vaporize. I turned to see who shot the arrow, but someone pulled me from under the table and to a side before I got a good look. I was about to scream at the guy, when I saw another lunch table that was in the place that I just was.

I looked up and saw Semba standing above me. I was about to thank him (funny how I couldn’t get anything done) when I saw Knox and Melody, both locked in combat. Knox was fighting with a bow and arrow too, which was slightly less shiny than the one that brained big, black and ugly, and Melody was making every monster she touched turn stock-still. As confused as I was, I wasn’t planning on sitting on my bum the whole time this went on (call it shock or bad hamburgers, but I wasn’t about to be cockroach chow). I jumped to my feet, well as much as you can jump with debris around you, and ran to blond boy’s side. There were more cockroaches coming towards us, and the other students had run out blindly, which I would have done if it weren’t for the roach barrier blocking me. Blondie was using arrows, like Knox, but the ones he was using were shinier and he shot them with amazing accuracy. “Why are there so many bugs??” I asked him, even though he wasn’t paying attention, “I feel like we’re on a supersize me movie mixed with Star Trek! And how come I can’t hurt the stupid bugs, huh? HELLO?!” Blondie didn’t even blink an eye as he shot another one of the bugs. I was terrified, but I converted the fear into anger and started focusing on little things like the flying debris, and the disaster zone area, and-oh! The roaches.

“How can you tell they look like bugs?!” he yelled over the screeching they were making, “They’re demons in service to Scorpio!” one of the monsters spit at him, but it didn’t hit. Taris sidestepped and stuck it in the stomach with an arrow. “So they’re scorpions?” I asked, thoroughly confused because last time I checked, scorpions were different looking…and smaller. “Talk later, vaporize now!” he said firing one arrow after the other. I looked around for a weapon in the debris, but there was nothing but a plastic spoon and some kid’s nutella sandwich. I looked around some more, the lunchroom was full of the black things now and in the center was a red one. One of Mr. Felix’s lessons played in my mind:

“In a colony, there’s always a head. If you destroy the head, the rest of the colony goes in disarray and panics. That’s why we have presidents and kings and bosses, and why we distinguish them from other people. We want to make the leadership role more appealing, but it just makes people a target for the media and for unwanted attention.”

My eyes widened and I grabbed the plastic spoon and did the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, and that’s saying a lot considering myself.

I charged into the mob.

As soon as I got in, I knew it was a bad idea. I felt their feelers on me and their teeth trying to bite me, but I hacked and clawed and kicked my way to the center (who knew spoons could cause so much damage?) I passed Knox and Melody, who were in a fix because there were so many of the black things and Knox couldn’t fire arrows as accurately and as quickly as Taris and Melody was just getting trampled. I ignored them (I know, I’m such a great friend) and found myself in the middle. The red cockroach-scorpion-whatever thing was right up in my face, “KREEE KRET KREEEET!” it screeched which was probably bug for, “What are you going to do with that spoon?” Its skin was smoking, and I had a feeling my spoon wasn’t going to work on it, so I tried to kick out it’s legs, turned out that it had no knees (go figure). It screeched again and went for my head.

Now I don’t know about you, but I rather liked my head where it was thank you very much.

It lunged and, I don’t know how exactly seeing as I’ve never been in a fight let alone won one, I dodged. The red things went tumbling forwards and before its slimy brothers could help it, I gorged it with my spoon, and kicked it in its flaky exoskeleton (powerful stuff, spoons). It didn’t move again.

For about five seconds everything was still, then the rest of the…things howled and screeched and vaporized on the spot. So much for getting a yearbook photo. “YEAH! THAT’S HOW WE DO IT IN FRANCISCO!” I whopped, despite myself. I turned and saw about four pairs of eyes staring at me. Melody was crying and Knox was staring at Semba who was staring at Taris who was staring at me.

“What?” I asked as innocently as I could, “We totally wasted them! Whoever they were.” I shifted uncertainly, “They were the enemies right? Those bugs?” I looked at them for confirmation. Taris nodded, “Yeah, they were, but how did you know which one to get?” he asked. Melody was starting to calm down and both Knox and Semba had turned their gazes to me. I walked towards them, which was easy enough to do since all the bug things had turned into smoke, which was probably really bad for the school ventilation system. “Oh I don’t know it was just smoking, and glowing, and bright red.” I said rolling my eyes. Knox walked up to me and looked me in the eyes, which was disorienting because they were so many different shades of brown. “Sunny, none of those things were red. They were all semi-transparent, they didn’t have a colour.”

“What do you mean? Of course they did, they were black and, and, hold up.” I raised my finger to Taris, “Before we got into why what just happened happened, I think I would like to know how, oh, and while you’re explaining that, you can explain the glowing legs, the arrows, and every other thing that happened.” I said pointedly and Knox nodded and turned to him for an explanation, and even Melody was looking at him. Semba stepped in a spared him.

“Ah, we’ll explain, but not here. Let’s get out of here before our faces are plastered all over the media and the teachers figure out what’s going on,” he said, “and how, you might ask, will we leave so quickly? Through the quickest and easiest, but not always most comfortable means of travel! Welcome to Air Semba!”