Clones pop out of Verspri at the least convenient times. They look like him, but they have personalities and skills of their own--so of course they blow Verspri's cover, and get him sent packing to a secret magic school in Mexico where he's supposed...
Kwayo crouched, waiting for the starting gun to sound, focusing on the grass ahead of him that ended yards away in a pit of mud. Turns out this was a blind relay; no one knew what surprises each leg held. So he, Teremki, Kami, and Ryn had drawn straws to see who would go first. Kwayo had drawn the short one. At the very least, he didn't have to run two relay legs, since the teachers had allowed their team to only run four parts due to Tamy still recovering from burn wounds in the hospital.
Kwayo looked to his left at the many other students standing along the line. He grinned mirthlessly at the slowly sloping height. He stood by a seventh grader, and from there the competitors just grew higher. Did the people in charge want a total slaughter, or did they just not realize how easily the high schoolers could pound a sixth grader like him?
The gun went off, and Kwayo jolted, breaking into a sprint a fraction of a second behind the rest of the line. He mentally kicked himself for losing his concentration, running harder.
A few students leapt into the mud pit and slowed, but Kwayo transformed into a golden eagle, flying low over the ground. An invisible barrier blocked the top of the course, and Kwayo didn't want to get near it. It would be too easy for someone--a large gust tried to push him down. He struggled to stay aloft; what awful person was shoving him? The pressure disappeared and he was suddenly rising too quickly. He screeched and ducked lower, dodging by pure chance a red blur that flew through the air above him. Why on earth couldn't this have been a solo course?
Something exploded further down the course, rattling his ears. Below, the mud gave way to flat, sturdy concrete and he landed, explosions rocking the sheer, metal walls. Maybe those were part of the course? Or was someone's power just getting completely out of hand?
He touched down, shifting into a crocodile and speeding forward, tail whipping behind him. Another explosion burst above him, sending colors spinning across his vision.
He stumbled, dizzy with the light. Another explosion of colorful gas lit the air. Sulfur stung his nostrils and the ground spun, his toes going numb. He shut his eyes but that just added to the horrendous nausea.
Faintly, people shouted. His head spun and he tried morphing into a human, or moving his prickling legs, but his nostrils burned and his senses grew hazy. Faintly...
***
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"Oh. My..." Ana clapped a hand over her mouth. Sirens blared from the course. Just a few seconds before, an explosion had echoed across the field packed with students and teachers. A hush had settled over the crowd, and smoke fountained from leg one of the obstacle course. Then, sirens.
Ana broke into a run. Rielle was in there. And...oh, no, had Dryda gone first for her own team? Verspri, running beside her, grabbed her arm and pulled up short. "Ana!" He pointed at the sky. "Look!"
She glanced above the obstacle course, and her jaw dropped. Large, black clouds obscured the sky, but only in a concentrated circle that also curved downwards. It rained heavily in a dome above the course, fat raindrops falling in slow motion.
