Im nerdy...... And secretly Super

The Red Tango

Authors note;

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT ON THE UPDATE!!!
Unfortunately my writing has been delayed due to breaking my arm!!!
So I apologise for the agonising time it has taken for me to continue with this story. However I am now fully recovered and back to my frantic typing!
Who knew that breaking a bone would b so painful by the way?! I didn't! That was my very first break! God dammit!
There goes my squeaky clean medical report😜
Anyway...... on with the story!


Chapter 23: The Red Tango

Blaire


"Ghost," I warned. "Think about what your doing. It doesn't need to end like this."

My raised arms were the only barrier between me and the possessed, helmet boy before me. The millions of eyes that belonged to those of the hostages, stared in awe at the two of us. Blatantly ignoring what I had just said, Ghost still prowled towards me, hunting me like some damn animal.

Stupidly, I kept acting like his prey and hadn't realised until it was too late that he had managed to back me into a corner. The lump in the back of my throat burned. Staring past Ghost, I looked towards Red with pleading eyes.

I know, I never thought I would ever end up in this situation either. Were for once, the hero is actually begging the villain.

"Red? Please, don't make him do this!"

His only reply was an evil smirk, red eyes flashing.

Ghost's hands slammed up against the wall beside my head. Gulping, my attention fully concentrated on the guy before me. Pausing for one second, he reached a hand up to his helmet and flipped a switch, the set grim line of his mouth appearing before me. I couldn't help but think, it was only half an hour ago those lips were on mine and I had felt butterflies in my stomach.

That's right. I'll admit it since I'm facing my doom, I actually liked the kiss that Ghost and I had shared. Much to my displeasure and personal morals. But I still think no matter what, the idiot is still annoying.

Actually, now that I think about it, he was cutting off my oxygen supply at the time.... Maybe those weren't butterflies I had in Fact felt, but a sudden illness or rare disease or something..... Yea that must be it!

Well whatever I had felt in my living room with him, I was definitely not getting the same vibe now! In fact, it is quite the opposite entirely, for the first time I felt true fear. And this time it isn't Rhyden creating this feeling deep down inside my gut.

Panicked, I scrambled up against the wall, tilting my head away from facing him. I don't want to hurt him! There is no other way out of this.

"Face it Hood," Red laughed like the true maniac he is. "Your life is coming to an end.... Soon. But for the moment-" he trailed off.

Ghost grabbed me and tugged my body firmly against his chest, his hand on my waist while the other gripped my hand.

"What the-" it was now my turn to trail off.

Red calmly walked over to the old juke box that stood off to the side and rifled through his cape. A growl ripped form his throat, "Dammit! Does anyone have a dollar?" He turned to ask the question.

Mutters filled the air, as the mall's hostages began getting out their wallets or searching through there Pockets. Once a dollar was located, an old man handed it over to Red.

"Here you go."

Red smiled sheepishly, "thank you."

Back to business, he slid the dollar into the juke box and hit a couple of buttons. A loud blast of music came through the malls speakers, the song easily being recognised as the world famous Tango.

I was too late.

"Before we get down to proper business, why don't you and Ghost provide us with some entertainment! It has been rather boring waiting for you to arrive my dear, dear ransom. "

"What are you talking about?!" I snapped at him. "What did you do to Ghost?"

"I merely compelled him to do what I wanted by whispering sweet nothing's into his ear." Facing Ghost, Red then said, "I think you should show her what you got!"

Pulling me snugger against him, Ghost spoke in a robotic voice, "Let's dance!"

"Oh god."

You might be wondering what the heck is going on. Don't worry I am as well, but it turns out Red can not only float with his powers but can be very persuasive it turns out. If you haven't guessed it already, Red has the power of persuasion, allowing him to make anyone do anything he wants.

Should I be worried? Definitely. There's no telling how far Red is willing to go to get what he wants. And right now Ghost is under his spell, and unfortunately for me that means I am literally dancing my way to death. Fun right? Well it's not. Somehow ghost and I dancing the tango is quite amusing to Red.

I don't find this so funny.

How did I end up in this situation?

Well...... For you to understand that you might want to check out what happened before.......

>>>>>>>> half an hour earlier<<<<<<<<<<<<



I stood in a daze in the middle of my living room, not quite yet comprehending what my Dad had just told me. A gloved hand waved in front of my face. Slapping Ghost's hand away form me, I scowled at him.

"I'm just shocked, not in a coma."

"Whoa there girly! Just checking," he backed off.

Shaking my head I turned back towards my parents and said, "Are you sure you heard the right thing? I mean, why would Red want ME for a ransom? Why not just demand for money like a normal villain?"

Ghost snorted. "Pfft! Yea. Cause Red is totally normal and not a raging sociopath! I bet he wants you so he can feed you to his pets. They do like to bite if I remember correctly."

He snapped his hand open and close like a pair of jaws and latched his hand onto my arm. Shaking him off again, I shoved him over so he would fall. Thankfully, something today went my way, as he tripped backwards after his stumble and flipped over the table onto his back. Leaping back to his feet, a finger was rooked in my direction.

"That wasn't very nice if you."

I only smirked.

His tone of voice light and flirty, he continued, "I like it."

I bet if I could see past his helmet, this guy would definitely be winking at me. Stupid idiot. I wish he would just take the damn thing off! It would be so much easier to understand how he is feeling! Not that I actually care what goes on I that heart of his..... That's even if he has one.

"It will take too much time to try and figure what he wants with you. Right now he has millions of hostages at his disposal, you two need to get there now! Before anyone gets hurt. Go!" My mother cut in shouting at us.

Snapping into action, I gripped Ghost's forearm and ordered him, "Close your eyes. I don't want you to get dizzy and puke on me."

"Why do I need to close my-"

"Just do it!" I bit out before Flashing the both of us out of my living room and through the portals, re-materialising us just outside the mall's front doors. Leaning against the wall, I watched in amusement as Ghost lurched away from me, just in time to hurl his guts up onto the side of the concrete.

"I told you to close your eyes."

"Ugh..." He groaned. "Never doing that again. What the heck was that?"

Knowing that answering that question will only gross him out more, I said, "You know you are so lucky you didn't have the bottom half of your helmet closed? I mean, just imagine you would have been stuck with puke INSIDE that thing!"

I couldn't help but laugh just thinking about it.

"Ugh.."

He then proceeded to lose the tea and biscuits he had consumed at my house. Served him right! He ate my Oreos. Nobody touched the Oreos. Not even Dad dares to go near them! But he did.... Which is so not cool! Justice has been served. Or.... Puked.

Brushing off his knees and wiping his mouth he said, "No seriously. What the heck was that?! That was freaky!"

"What you just saw was the portals, the passages in between time and space. Its how I teleport, I am able to slow down time just long enough for me to dematerialise and move in my spirit form through the portals. My spirit form is faster than time itself, allowing me to get to other places quicker and rematerialise there."

Ghost looked at me in shock of my explanation. "Umm...-" he cleared his throat, "how do you materialise and rematerialise?"

Feeling queasy myself I told him, "I release my Heat powers to an unbearable amount that even my body can't take, ripping and burning each and every single cell in my body to rebuild later on."

"That must be painful?" He sounded concerned.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Eh! You get used to it."

"Get used to it?!" Astounded he continued to rant about my powers. "How in the hell do you get used to it?! You are literally burning yourself alive millions of times a day!"

"When I first started learning to use my powers it hurt, but... Like I said..... You get used to it."

It went quiet for a while, both of us just standing there, not saying a word.

Well, this is kinda awkward.

Breaking the silence I said, "we should probably move our butts in there," I gestured to the mall. "Assess the situation and what not."

"Right. Right. Do we.... Have a plan?" He asked.

"Umm..... No."

Admitting this makes me nervous, but then again.... I always wing it.

Sharing a look, we nodded and kicked down the doors. The bar that once held them shut, snapped in half and glass shattered across the floor.

"WE ARE HERE TO SAVE THE-- Hey? Where is everybody?" Ghost questioned the air. The sight of an empty mall stopping his ridiculous, and cheesy line.

Thank god.

I rolled my eyes. "Red wouldn't be so stupid to keep the hostages anywhere near the doors or any exits so they will all most likely be at the food court. Duh!"

"Oh."

I glanced at him sideways as we made our way there. "Were you really going to enter saying 'we are here to save the day?'" I put air quotes around his line.

I think he may have been blushing as he sheepishly replied, not very confidently, "Uh.... No? No?! Pfft! Yea no. I wasn't going to say that! Maybe.... YOU were going to say that and just thought I was going to say that because you are a hallucinating human being."

I am so confused its not even funny.

"What?!"

"That's right."

"Do you realise how stupid you are sometimes? I mean, do you even monitor what comes out of that helmet of yours?!" I exasperated.

Instead of answering me, he flipped the switch on his helmet so his mouth was no longer revealed. Great..... Now I have nothing to go on, whether he is smiling or frowning, or what not.

I threw my hands in the air, "Fine! Ignore me! Real mature."

Sticking my tongue out at him, he then surprised me by grabbing it in between his fingers and pulling me towards him.

"Hmftfskjbdkjbljh!!!" I garbled.

Translation: What the BEEP! Are you doing?! You tongue grabbing maniac!

He pressed a finger against his helmet, "Sssshhh! Do you hear that?"

With Ghost still holding my tongue, I tried to listen into whatever he was hearing.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. No noise at all.

He leaned in beside me, "That's the peaceful sound of a world without your bitching, which equals a world I want to live in."
His fingers pinched my tongue, "Shut up."

His fingers slid from my tongue, and like a roll up blind, slammed back inside my mouth. Sharply turning away form me, Ghost continued towards the food court without me.

Did he just.....? But..... What?!

Gggrrrrrr!!!! I am so gonna get him back!

Jogging to catch up, I silently seethed beside him. Crossing my arms, it was then I heard it. The monsters are here as well. Nervous, I held out an arm to stop Ghost from moving.

"Hold on a sec."

Flinging my arm to the side, he pushed forward, "Well as my side-kick you can stay here since you are so scared, no wonder I am the leader of this duo." He muttered that last part and kept moving, ignoring my warning.

Now fuming, I let the idiot go. If he thinks I'm the sidekick he is so wrong, I'll let him mess up, so when I have to go save his ass I can rub it in his face.

Focusing on listening into my surroundings, I could hear the disgusting snarls of the red eyed monsters Red has created. I don't have a problem with destroying them, even though they were originally just normal humans, the ones he turned are criminals, gangsters, rapist and other terrible types of people, I know this because I have secretly been checking up and placing ids with some of the monsters faces.

That's right.... I do research... I bet Ghost doesn't.

Keeping quiet, I moved in and behind objects, just in case anybody was watching. My heightened hearing allowing me to hear exactly where everyone is. Just around the corner from the food court, I slid on my stomach behind a pot pant and sneaked a look around the surroundings.

Mum was right. He had plenty of leverage as millions of innocent people sat as his hostages at the tables. But something isn't right. Nobody was crying or panicking. In fact, they all looked pretty complacent, like they all WANTED to be in his presence. Nobody was moving, the only part of there bodies that moved was there heads, as they scanned around the court.

"What is going on...." I whispered.

Then there was the idiot, oblivious to the fact that one of the disgusting monsters was standing right behind him as he snuck closer to Red. As the monster slowly crept up to him, I waved my arms frantically, gaining his attention. Worried I mouthed desperately, "Turn around! Turn around!"

Doing as I said, he jumped. Glowing green, the monster fell through him while trying to snatch him. Observing the fight, I noticed one detail. Not once did the monster try to bite him.... At all. Whenever I would fight these creatures, they would always lead with there chompers trying to snatch a section of my flesh.

Why?

"Why is it only me that they see as a borito?" I asked myself.

A scuffling sound behind me interrupted my thoughts. Glancing backwards I smiled at the red eyed man behind me. "Hi!"

Wait a minute.... Red eyed man?!

I gasped and flipped onto my back, kicking the monster in the gut, he flew away from me. Getting to my feet I made a run for it. Unfortunately it was just in the wrong direction. The next thing I knew, I was being surrounded by the ugly things. Shuffling backwards, I bumped into something hard.

I flipped the body over my shoulder and slammed the guy to the floor. About to deliver a skull crushing punch, I stopped mid throw and released a breath, "Ghost!"

Lending him a hand, I helped him off the floor and back onto his feet. Brushing him off, I internally giggled as I secretly felt his abs brush my fingers.

What?! I am a girl! Believe it or not I have hormones!

A cough rang out, making me snatch my hands away from a chuckling Ghost.

"Well, well, well it looks like my ransom has arrived!" Reds chilling voice rang out.

Slipping into a defensive stance, I prepared for a fight. Ghost did the same beside me but stayed slightly in front, covering me as much as he could with his own body.

Why the heck is he acting as my personal human body shield? He has never done that before why now?

I gave him a slight nudge to the side, moving him out of the way. He tilted his head towards me saying, "Get behind me. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Just worry about yourself. I can handle myself."

Raising my fists, flames ignited. Red laughed not taking my silent threat of pain seriously. His sleeked back hair glistened under the fluorescent lights of the mall, giving me a creeped out feeling as I quietly observed.

"Oh come now Hood. Why so hostile? Are we not all friends here?"

"Right! Friends! Sure 'friend' why don't you come over here and let me give you a 'friendly' noogie that will rip your head off!" I shouted back.

Reaching deep inside me, I called on Dragon. Instead of feeling the familiar burning rage or hearing the her sarcastic hisses inside my head, I felt..... Nothing. I couldn't feel Dragon within me. She was nowhere to be seen in this time of need. It was almost like Dragon was happy just sitting in the backseat, almost like she was refusing to come out.

Fine then. It seems I will just have to do this all by myself. Instead of continuing to call for Dragon, I reached for the roiling power I held deep inside of me. Balling my hands into tight fists, I let the flames grow and burn to a raging red. Ghost stood taller and began to glow brighter, growing more confident with me.

Sending him a slight smile, I nodded. "You ready to do this?"

"Hell yea!" He growled back at me. I could already tell he had a smirk on his face, anticipating the fight before us. "Let's do this."

His samurai sword appeared in his hand, ready for battle. If we could take out the monsters first, there is less of a threat. Just as we were about to launch our first attack, Red flew up over the circle of monsters to stand before us. Lurching forward, quicker than any of us had anticipated, Red had swung me up into his arms and flew us into the air, high above the ground.

"Hood!" Ghost shouted.

Unaffected by my burning hands on his chest, Red looked straight into my eyes and spoke in a voice like no other. It was deep and lulling, almost like he was singing a lullaby, exactly like a sirens call, luring a sailor to its death. If it was possible his red eyes burned brighter and I felt my pupils swell. Enchanted by his voice, my ears listened without my consent. I couldn't turn my eyes away even if I tried.

"Hood! No! Don't listen to him! He will control you!" Ghost pleaded with me from far below as he battled for his life against the monsters.

"I command you to kill Ghost and every hostage in this food court."

I just couldn't help it..........

I laughed.

Hard.

"You want me to what?! Hahahahahaha! You do know who you're talking to right? 'I want you to kill Ghost and the hostages in the food court!'" I imitated him. "Ha! That's the funniest thing I have ever heard! Oh my god!"

I had trouble breathing, "That is priceless! Oh man! Whew! You're a funny guy Red really! Hilarious!"

I couldn't help but loose it all over again. I know I shouldn't really be laughing in this guys face since he could drop me and all, but that was just too funny!

Red looked confused mumbling, "Why isn't it working?! I had you!"

I snorted, "Yea well you didn't. I just couldn't stop staring because you have a piece of tuna stuck between your teeth man."

He looked concerned, shifting my weight onto only one of his arms. "Gosh! Where?"

I gestured between my own teeth, "oh right it's right there. It's really wedged. Almost got it."

Red picked at his teeth waiting for my seal of a approval. "Is it gone?"

"No not yet. It is right... There you go! Yep! You got it!"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Hood."

I slapped his back. "Don't worry man. I got ya dental problems bro!"

Red then looked at me with a sad smile, "Sorry about this."

I was then free falling towards the ground. Too shocked to teleport or doing anything to stop the sudden drop. I closed my eyes in fright, only to snap them back open when I felt a pair of strong arms catch me. I stared up into Ghosts helmet, and I couldn't help but imagine what his eyes would look like. The only pair I could imagine was Cody's lime green ones staring down at me in his arms.

I've been in his arms before, I could imagine his skin too. The warm, tingling sensation I would always feel. The first day we talked in the school hallway and I had run into his locker. Literally. Cody had scooped me up into his arms just like this, and again in my room the day after Ghost and I had first faced the monsters. Cody was the only one who had come to visit me.

Remembering earlier on in my living room with Ghost, I flashed back to the moment he was saying something about seeing me the day after with a bunch of flowers. Cody had brought me flowers.

As Ghost held me in his arms right now, I have no doubts in my mind that maybe the boy I have been crushing on for my own whole life is the boy behind the helmet.

I stared up at him in awe, both of our breathing laboured, his from fighting and mine just from being breathless by being taken of the realisation of him.

Ghost breathed, "Are you okay?"

I smiled, "Perfect."

A small whine escaped my mouth without my consent, as he placed me back on the floor. He tilted his head in my direction, no doubt amused. Holding onto my shoulders he asked, "Your sure your okay?"

A goofy smile n my face and dreamy sigh in my voice, I whispered, "Fantabulous."

"O-k?"

"Hate to break up this little....whatever it is that is going on between the two of you... But! This show must be moving on!"

All of a sudden Ghost was being snatched and held down by the monsters that now remained. Yelling, I threw fire balls at them, instead of screaming or bursting into ashes, they continued to hold Ghost down, possessed. Ghost tried to throw them off but wasn't strong enough.

Before he could use his powers to escape, Red had a hold of him, his voice taking on the same siren tone as before. Leaning down, he whispered something to him. Ghost instantly stopped struggling and the monsters let him get up off the floor. He stood differently, posture strange. It was when he started towards me did I know.

Red has the power of persuasion.

And whatever he had whispered into Ghosts ear, is not good for me.

"Ghost," I warned.


Aaaannnnnddd....... You pretty much know what happens next. Great! Now that we are all caught up! Let's continue shall we?

I now realise why none of the hostages are doing anything to escape or help themselves.

They can't.

They are also under Reds spell.

Ghost twirled me round and round inside his arms. Rather skilfully I might add. My eyeballs rattled inside my brain, dizzy beyond belief. Round and round and round I kept spinning, losing all control. Suddenly I stopped, pressed against Ghost I was then dipped.

"Oh my gosh!"

My head banged off against the floor, disorientating me. I don't think this is an ordinary tango, either that or Ghost is just really bad at a dancing, but I highly doubt that with the way he spun me. I think this dance is supposed to be the death of me. I can't just stand back and do nothing while Red messed with his mind.

I need to do something.

Anything!

It's was then, far back inside my mind did an idea spark. Smiling, I got a firmer grip on Ghosts shoulder and hand.

"You want us to dance Red? Fine. Let's dance."

When Ghost spun me outwards, I let out a stream of fire, rendering the three monsters near us into nothing more but piles of ashes. When he dipped me, I lit another on fire with my other hand. When I was lifted into the air, I threw several fireballs. I did all of this while still doing the Tango.

"No!" Red screamed. "What are you doing?!"

"Nothing but dancing Red! Did you know the Tango is quite the hot an fiery dance?" I sassed him.

It was with one last turn that I burnt alive the last monster in the mall. The dance finished with Ghost dipping me and out of no where a rose was in his mouth.

Don't ask. I have no idea where he got it either.

Ghost and I held our position, paused waiting for another command. Furious, Red then shouted.

"Kill her!"

And whatever master wants.

The slave does blindly.

Ghosts hands tighteneed around my neck.