Arlo's Birthday!

Part 33

Sweat dripped down Arlo's head, along with a dark red substance. When had he gotten hit?

That wasn't important. The three of them were stronger than the masses of people around them, but because of sheer numbers, they were pushing them to the edge. Even John seemed to be tiring. These people were actually endless. 

They needed a new plan or something. They were wasting time - Blyke's captors would've realized their break in by now, and could use Blyke for leverage. They weren't going to get near him at all if he could help it. 

John: PSST! Arlo!

Arlo merely glared at John. Couldn't he see he was busy? 

John: I've got this place covered. You and Remi go ahead. 

Arlo raised his eyebrows, hitting a poor boy unconscious with his iron fist. John being considerate of him and Remi? Or Blyke? That was a first.

John, reading Arlo's mind, rolled his eyes.

John: I'm doing you a fucking favor and I expect you to return it later. Get that dumbass Blyke out of there. 

Arlo shrugged. He finished off a few others before grabbing Remi's hand and dragging her out of there, getting slightly electrocuted. But that was fine. 

Assailant Dude: Hey, where do you think you're goi-

*WHAM*

John stared at Arlo for a milisecond, and smirked.

John: I told you to go, didn't I?

Arlo hated that smirk so much, that he had to turn away. Remi just stared at him, confused.

Remi: What are you doing?

Arlo: We're going to find Blyke, duh.

**************

Volcan walked around Blyke, who was tied up in the middle of a huge room surrounded with shelves of bombs. Volcan held up a small gadget with a blood sensor. 

Volcan: I won't hesitate to put a little bit of my blood here, setting off all these bombs. That's going to ensure a sure death on your behalf, won't it?

Blyke groaned. His hand and feet were tied, with some disgusting thing around his mouth, suffocating him. If Isen had seen him like this, he would've called it "kinky". 

Volcan opened the door to reveal Claire, evidently confused at why she was here. The second she saw Blyke, a flicker of fear was in her eyes.

Volcan: Now now, Claire, I won't do anything to you at the moment. Sit right here.

Volcan pulled up a chair which didn't seem to have any constraints. Clair tentatively sat down.

Volcan: Claire, I know that you know I'm not so dumb that I don't know what you were doing. 

Claire opened her mouth in disbelief, then closed it again. Of course. She had been an idiot thinking Volcan was oblivious to all this. 

Volcan: Honestly, I owe you a lot, since you perfected those recipes for ability loss. So I won't kill you or torture you just like I'm considering doing to Blyke. I'll just remove your useless ability. Maybe make you forget all my secrets. Etc. But you won't die. 

Claire glanced wildly at the door, perhaps wanting to run out, but that would be futile with Volcan's god tier ability. She stayed perfectly still even when Volcan pulled out a syringe filled with a horrific liquid Claire knew as the Ability Remover. Blyke stared at her with confused eyes. 

Claire screamed as she felt it enter her body, shutting down her ability. Blyke's eyes stared, not understanding what had just happened. But in a way, Claire felt glad her ability might be gone. She wouldn't make baseless thoughts and assumptions based on her visions. 

She wouldn't ever make another John again. 

*************

Remi and Arlo's eyes widened when they heard a high pitched scream from somewhere towards the left. It didn't sound like Blyke, but they didn't want anyone to suffer from EMBER.

They dashed down the corridors with such overwhelming speed, everyone in their way was flattened. Where were they?

This time, they heard a yell from a male. 

From Blyke!

They kept following the agonizing screams to a dead end. Blyke was close. But where? 

Remi, panicking, stomped around, stepping on a tile which made a clinking sound.

Arlo's eyes widened as he remembered the clinking as a secret trapdoor. He punched the tile so that it broke into pieces, not caring about his bleeding hand. Sure enough, there was an aluminum trapdoor revealed. Arlo and Remi pulled at it three times before it finally came loose. They tentatively looked down into the dark abyss revealed. There was seemingly nothing their other than cold air. Remi carefully shot down a lightning shot, illuminating the dark and empty corridor under them. 

They carefully jumped down, making sure to make no more noise than they needed to. There was nothing down here... had Arlo thought wrong? 

But at that second, they heard another yell. Except this time it was more like a whimper. 

Someone: Help... me...

Remi illuminated the place with her lightning once more, and Arlo bent down to identify the person. A guy who looked awfully like a guy on TV...

Arlo(whispering): Wait... aren't you Lightsaber?

One of the newest superheros. And he was down here. Arlo could see bruises on his face, indicating that he most likely would be further injured.  

Lightsaber: Get out of here! 

He heard boots clack down the corridor, and Arlo immediately stayed still, activating his ability. 

Arlo: Identify yourself. 

Two flames lit up in the middle of the darkness, along with a pair of bright orange lights. Arlo's eyes widened.

Remi: Volcan. You show yourself now?

Arlo's eyes flitted over to Remi, then back to Volcan. But Volcan's eyes never left Arlo.

Volcan: What are you doing here?

Remi looked at the two, confused at what was going on between the two. 

Arlo nearly stopped breathing.

Arlo: Aunt Valerie?