The Enhanceless and the Phantom

Chapter 27

All of Cyrus's attention targeted the cat. Both phantoms shook their arms. The cat twitched its tail, seemingly irritated, yet unsurprised. He clenched his jaw. This moment was fleeting yet immovable. All the other phantoms stood still as his brain hummed. For the first time, nothing flew in his head. Only emotion. He called back the phantom searching in the crowd.

Cyrus screamed from the ground level as his phantoms charged the creature ten stories up. The cat bolted to the right. Both the phantoms tried to force the Enhanced creature into a corner. The cat hissed. He felt irritating sweat run down his temple. The cat darted towards the door. One phantom leaped to close it. The ground cracked. The phantoms stumbled. Cyrus clenched his jaw harder. The other phantom jumped onto the cat. They struggled. A boy yelled distantly. He ignored him. The cat nearly sprawled out of his grip. The other phantom ripped off his glowing collar. The glow faded. Familiar voices echoed through his earpiece. He ignored them too. The cat whimpered. The phantom fully restrained the creature.

"YES!" Cyrus jumped into the air. He fixed everything! This gangster would be brought in. Brielle wasn't kept out of the Contest for nothing. Dawn would be safe from the gangster. And he even had the damn cat! His dad would have been so proud of him. He finally closed an investigation.

He was saving people.

Triumphant saturated his grin as he opened his eyes. He saw the school building encased in smoke, and the portions he could see were covered in cracks and falling. He looked straight at the open doors before him.

Only five seconds passed, but Cyrus would relive this moment for the rest of his life.

One second. His phantom, saving the boy from the basement, was not moving. The phantom's hand was clenched onto the boy's arm but refused to let him move. The boy was struggling against the phantom who had frozen. Cyrus's glasses slid down his nose as he panicked. He never gave the command to save him! His attention was so focused on the target above that he did not even hear the boy screaming for help.

Two seconds. Cyrus commanded the phantom to let go. The boy broke free and sprinted towards the opening. The phantom ran after him in hopes of somehow getting him across faster. He watched the boy's cape of scales flap behind him. He began running to meet the teenager.

He can make it! He can make it! A loud, crashing, sentencing boom shook the concrete street. Cyrus stumbled. The building caved in. He couldn't stop it. But he would try.

Three seconds. A waterfall of dust, concrete, and flames descended. The boy covered his head as he sprinted. Cyrus ran harder. Everything fell slowly, powerfully, and horrifically at once.

"NOOOO!" Cyrus screamed. He unwillingly listened to the crushing weight of support beams, furniture, and marble stone plummet down onto the kid. He continued to run faster than he ever had before. It did not matter. The boy ducked as a support beam aimed down at him. Everything was happening so fast. Cyrus could not think. His feelings could not keep up with the devastation. He needed more time. Just a few more seconds. He begged the Enhancer for more time.

Please. Let me save him. This is what he tried to think.

Four seconds. The two phantoms on the roof both fell with the building. Cyrus continued to run, but it did not matter. He knew it did not matter, but he refused to stop running. The support beam angled down precisely above the child's head. He would have missed it if he had been released a second faster. But he was not. The support beam landed directly upon the child's skull. Cyrus's eyes burned with fear. The child recoiled. His blue scales flung up from the impact. More rubble fell, blocking the horror from Cyrus's view. The child did not even scream. He was close enough that he should have heard a scream. He should have seen his eyes. He should have known his name. He should have saved him. No. No. He could not think that. He continued to run. He had to. He could not stop. A wave of pink slammed down in front of his path.