Sigma/Star

Chapter 21: Omnicorp, Ochenkov, and Others

There was a little flicker in the air of the school hallway, just outside of Riya's room. Porter saw it from the corner of his eye and felt his body reacting. It was a strange feeling to not control his body, similar to when he had been fighting Ramirez, like an outsider looking in. He wasn't sure what he was in combat with this time though because there wasn't anything there, just that gleam. Yet he couldn't stop himself from stepping back and throwing out his arm.

Both he and Riya were shocked to find that Porter struck something. There was the sound of an object hitting the ground and the shimmering was back, a static flash in the shape of a human. It continued this time though, switching on and off between showing a humanoid shape and being invisible.

Baffled, Porter kicked his foot out towards the area and had it hit the mysterious thing as well and it produced an "Oomph" sound. The image stopped turning on and off and a human body was revealed lying on the ground in a white, skin-tight suit.

The person flipped up onto their feet and picked up a katana from the ground, holding it in front of them and ready to strike. "I don't know how you saw me." The voice from the assailant was deep and electronically distorted as it came out from behind a mask. "It does not matter though so long as the job is completed."

The katana lashed out and made an electric buzz as it passed by Porter's ear. He had rolled aside as the weapon had approached, not sure exactly how he had been able to predict and react to that attack so fast. The enemy seemed surprised as well, especially when Porter leaped up and threw his fist straight into their face. The enemy's head snapped back as Porter's knuckles cracked and bruised.

Riya, normally so shy and quiet, suddenly lashed out with her foot and met the back of the assassin's knee. The forces of the two strikes in opposite directions dropped the attacker immediately and they crumpled into a heap on the ground. Porter abruptly leaped onto him and started to pin the person down, knocking the katana aside and struggling to keep them from pushing something on their wrist.

The two continued their miniature battle until Riya dropped her History of Ishiyama textbook on the enemy's head and the impossibly thick book knocked them senseless. Porter rolled off breathlessly and lay on his back on the cold metal floor. He reached over and drew the mask off the assailant, revealing the mature face of a man in his mid-thirties, with handsome features in his jaw and nose and Porter saw Riya's cheeks go red a little at the sight.

"Who is this guy Riya?"

"I don't know, I've never seen him before." Riya shook her head in bewilderment. "But we should tie him up. I think I have something in my room we can use or at least can scrounge things together."

She looked over and saw Porter sleeping next to the man, a thin bit of drool already slipping out of his mouth. She sighed and looked down the hall, hoping that nobody would come down and see this as she began to drag both the bodies into her room, which took quite some time and effort for the thin girl.

* * * * *

Porter lazily opened his eyes on a soft bed, feeling his body relaxing so beautifully on the cushiony mattress. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before stretching, feeling good about starting a new day. And then he stayed there a bit in pause. This was not his bed. Or his room. Or a new day.

He saw Riya sitting in a corner watching him, with a middle-aged man next to her, equally staring at Porter. The two were each sipping from their own cups of tea and had seemed to stop in mid-conversation, like two elderly ladies who were being interrupted by an unexpected guest.

"You're awake," Riya said softly.

"Who's he?" Porter asked cautiously. He saw that one of the man's hands was chained to a support beam that stood in the middle of the room (as some of the residence rooms had these constructs taking up space in them) and his weapons were propped against the end of the bed and out of his reach. The students were possibly safe.