It lasted only a microsecond. Then the screaming began. The Germani reeled backward, their crossbows firing wildly. One bolt zipped past Leo's head and embedded itself in a sofa. The other bolt shattered against the floor, splinters skittering across the tiles.
Melodramatic to the end, Commodus pressed his palms against his eye sockets and screamed, "MY EYES!"
Via stepped back, out of Apollo's body. She was practically buzzing from the aftermath. Apollo stumbled and grabbed the table to keep from falling.
"It's safe," Via told her friends.
Leo broke free from his captor. He lunged toward Emmie and Georgina, and the three of them scrambled away as Commodus and his men, now very blind, stumbled and howled, steam pouring from their eye sockets.
Where the captors and hostages had stood, silhouettes were burned across the tile floor. The details on the brick walls now seemed in super–high definition. The nearest sofa covers, once dark red, were now pink. Commodus's purple robes had been bleached a weak shade of mauve. Via turned to her friends and saw that their clothes had also lightened by several shades. The fronts of their hair had been frosted with highlights, but they had all, wisely, kept their eyes shut.
Thalia studied me in amazement. "What just happened? Why are you toasted?"
Via glanced at Apollo. Sure enough, his skin was now the color of maple bark.
"Oh, yikes," Via said. "I hope you become a god again before we discover what sort of horrible skin cancers you got from that."
Apollo facepalmed. "This mortal body was not meant for channeling such power. I am fortunate I didn't burn up instantly like an antique flashbulb."
Commodus wailed. He grabbed the nearest thing he could find, which happened to be one of his Germani, and lifted the blind barbarian over his head. "I will destroy you all!"
He threw his barbarian toward the sound of Thalia's voice. Since they could all see, they scattered easily and avoided becoming bowling pins. The Germanus hit the opposite wall with such force, he broke into a starburst of yellow powder and left a beautiful abstract expressionist statement across the bricks.
"I do not need eyes to kill you!" Commodus slashed upward with his sword, taking a chunk out of the dining table.
"Commodus," Apollo warned, "you will leave this city and never return, or I will take more than your sight."
Commodus charged toward him. He sidestepped. Thalia let loose an arrow, but Commodus was moving too fast. The missile hit the second Germanus, who grunted in surprise, fell to his knees, and crumbled to powder. Commodus tripped over a chair. He face-planted on the living room rug.
Pat wheezed. "Wig snatched —"
"Pat, no," Via said. "Just no. That's not even what it means."
"You will leave," Apollo told him again. "You will not return. Your reign in Indianapolis is over."
"It's Commodianapolis!" He struggled to his feet.
His armor sported some new skid marks. The slash across his face was not getting any prettier. A little figurine Georgie had made of pipe cleaners clung to the emperor's shaggy beard like a mountain climber.
"You haven't won anything, Apollo," he growled. "You have no idea what's being prepared for your friends in the east and the west! They will die. All of them!"
Leo sighed. "All right, guys. This has been fun, but I'm gonna melt his face now, 'kay?"
"Yep," Pat said. "Sounds good."
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Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez
FanficVia knows she shouldn't be thinking about Leo Valdez. He has a girlfriend whom he literally died for, a girlfriend who is so much better than Via in practically every way. Unfortunately, Via never had much self-control, and after saving her sister f...
