Mutation

Chapter 25: It's About Time

Leo

I had to admit; I was pretty terrified right now. I was also confused and angry at what Dana just told me and Hazel about our fates as mutants, but I was mostly terrified. We were going to battle. This was real, which I had a hard time wrapping my mind around. The sounds of explosions from the far side of the colony and the aroma of smoke were in the air, which made my stomach twist with fear.

What if we died? What exactly was Dana talking about when she said if Hazel and I died, something big would happen? It made me wonder all the possible horrible things that could happen if Hazel and I did die while fighting. The whole mutant outbreak situation was overwhelming to me enough. I still wasn't used to it.

"Alright guys, let's suit up," Dana told us. I was confused at what she meant, until she grabbed at something invisible on her shoulder, and when she set it on the ground, a large backpack suddenly turned visible. I knew Dana had invisibility powers, which was pretty cool. Apparently she could turn other things invisible too.

I was a little disappointed at what Dana pulled out of the backpack. It was those tight purple suits we wore that time the mutants went on a mission in the woods outside the colony. Hazel chuckled because she knew how much I hated those things.

"We really have to wear these things again?" I asked, holding up the thinly fabricated suit.

"You don't have to, unless you want to burn alive. The suits have fire-proof material. Or, to be on the safe side, it could prevent you from possibly exploding from the overuse of your powers," Maxine explained. My eyes bulged when she said possibly explode.

I definitely didn't want to explode or burn to death, so I quickly slipped on the purple suit over my clothes like everyone else did. Maybe the people we were going to be fighting won't look at our weird battle uniforms.

~ ~

The scene down in the town square was worse than I expected. Over half the buildings were demolished or burned, and the City Hall building was currently on fire. A boy who was laughing crazily over by the burning buildings was shooting fire out of his hands. His rough appearance and gray uniform told me he must be apart of Evansby's army. And right now, his army's job was to destroy the colony and kill mutants.

Suddenly, a dozen of Evansby's mutants stopped the destruction they were doing, and spotted us. They realized who we were, and immediately started walking over to us. We couldn't run anywhere, because more of them came up from behind us. We couldn't run. This means we had to fight.

Jazz surprisingly made the first move. She transformed into her blonde werewolf form, and lunged at three of Evansby's mutants. I wouldn't want to be one of those mutants who got attacked, because Jazz started clawing at their faces. For a six year old, she was quite impressive.

Some more mutants from behind tried to grab the rest of us from behind, so we immediately went on attack mode. Sonni transformed into a lion, and pounced on a horrified looking mutant. Dana elbowed a girl in her face, then thrust an invisible force field at two other guys. Maxine did a killer karate kick and kicked a guy in the face. Hazel's eyes glowed purple, which wasn't a good sign for our opponents. She thrust her own even stronger force field at the majority of the mutants attacking us, probably knocking them out or maybe killing them. Dana almost looked jealous, but still as impressed as I was, that Hazel's force fields were so...well, forceful.

I heard screams coming from nearby. I spun around and saw a huge guy shooting lasers at a frail-looking girl, trying to shield them off with a garbage can lid. She looked like she couldn't hold them off, and she obviously didn't look like she had defensive powers to defend herself. Without even thinking, I sped over there and shoved the guy aside. He looked extremely surprised at my sudden blow, but quickly got up to fight me back.

He ran for me, but I was too fast for him. I dodged him as soon as he was about to run into me, which he didn't expect. He let out a scream of frustration while throwing lasers wildly at me, then deciding I wasn't a fair opponent, he ran back for the girl. I had to get her out of the way.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled, then zoomed over to her. I stopped in front of the frightened girl, and as soon as the guy approached, I threw a powerful punch to his jaw. The punch threw him about 50 feet away from me. I couldn't help but wince at the sound his jaw made when my fist connected with it.

The girl looked gratefully at me with tears in her eyes, and said, "Thank you for saving my life."

I smiled. Saving a life made you feel good. "No problem. Now I'd get out of town if I were you. It's not safe here."

She nodded quickly, waved at me, then hurried off away from the town. Maybe she would be safe in hiding somewhere.

I ran back towards the battle. Blood and bodies were on the ground from the previous attacks from Jazz, Sonni, Dana, Maxine, and Hazel. I glanced desperately around me for a sign of someone I knew. Hazel was near the burning City Hall building, levitating chunks of the fallen roofing in the air. Hopefully she wouldn't come across a dead body underneath the rubble.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Leo," a voice spoke from behind me. Startled, I spun around cautiously, ready to defend myself. Of course it was Linus.

"What do you want?" I snarled. I was ready to knock his lights out.

Linus laughed, which angered me more. "I'm just here to join the party, Leo. Oh, did you hear about the fun I had a while ago with Hazel? I'm sure she loved it."

I clenched my fists. "I swear, if you hurt her again I will kill you."

This seemed to amuse him. Then he clapped his hands and there were ten different Linuses around me. They each had a Hazel next to them, and the Linuses' arms were wrapped around the Hazels' waists. This immediately made my blood boil. Then I zoomed over to the nearest Linus and threw the hardest punch I could throw. My fist froze in midair, and I saw a fake Hazel smirking at the fact that she stopped my fist. I knew this was an illusion, and this Hazel wasn't real.

"Now, Leo. Don't be so violent," the fake Hazel said in a smooth, almost seductive voice. Her eyes were an unfamiliar shade of purple, and it seemed the fake Hazel was ten times prettier than the original Hazel. Wait, what am I saying?

"This isn't real." I told the fake Hazel. I forced myself not to let my eyes look into hers, or roam over her body, as she stepped closer to me.

"Our relationship isn't real," the fake Hazel said. What she said took me by surprise. This isn't real. It's just Linus trying to mess with me...

I simply walked away from her, even though I had the urge to kiss the fake Hazel. A different pair of fake Linuses and Hazels popped up in front of me. Then the fake Linus embraced the fake Hazel, then attacked her lips with his. My heart sunk.

This isn't real. THIS ISN'T REAL.

I shielded my eyes, but I couldn't get the image out of my head. Somehow, Linus knew that I'd much rather be the one kissing Hazel than him. I wanted to be the one holding her. He was invading my mind. Now I wanted him dead.

I uncovered my eyes, and the illusion was gone. Suddenly, Linus's head snapped to the left, like he just got punched. Only no one was around him.

"Leave him alone, you moron," the real Hazel growled from nearby. I'd never been so happy to see her in my life.

She sent another invisible blow to Linus's face, and he flew backwards a couple of feet onto the ground. That surely knocked him unconscious.

"Leo, are you okay?" Hazel asked me. I couldn't help but smile like an idiot at her. And I wasn't scared to admit to myself anymore that I was falling in love with her.

"Uh, Leo? Did you hit your head?" Hazel asked worriedly. I laughed at how stupid I must have looked. And at what I was about to do.

"Leo, what-?" Hazel began, only I interrupted her by zooming (Literally. Smooth, right?) over to her and pressing my lips to hers. I'd been waiting for that kiss for who knows how long.

I smiled against her lips when I heard her telepathically tell me, "It's about time, you idiot."