26. The Power of Common Sense946Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztwheJXyl3
If it wasn't for the fact our lives were probably in danger and that I was actually pretty scared, it would have been a great 'I told you so' moment. It doesn't quite give the same satisfaction, but I do manage to get in an eye roll as Josh comes running back to stand behind the arcade machine with me.
The dust slowly settles, thin specks of plaster fluttering down. Waiting for something to happen, the suspense in the air is almost tangible. It doesn't take long - only a second or two - before someone is thrown out of the wreckage, in the direction of the ticket booths. They, he/she bounces off the safety glass over the window where you pay - and it must be 'safe' glass, if it can handle having someone hurdled at it - while another figure steps dramatically out of the pile of plaster and ceiling tiles.
"Cool," breathes Josh; from the corner of my eye I see him quickly fumble to pull something out of his pocket, probably his phone.
The person slowly walking from the rubble is definitely a supervillain, he flexes his arms and from the wide shoulders, it is not hard to tell it's a guy. He is covered in dust, but I can just make out the dark blue shadows of his suit, with lighter blue cracks running down from his head. It looks pretty cool, way cooler than my dorky suit, that's for sure. I think I also recognise him as the 'Icebreaker' guy from TV last night - in which case, I wonder if the one that just got thrown across the room is the girl who beat him up yesterday...
I quickly turn my head over to the ticket booths, frowning when I can't see the super that was thrown into them. He/she can't have run away that fast, could they? Maybe they have super-speed, or invisibility, hey didn't that ghost chick from the news have invisibility? Hmmm...
"Okay," I whisper to Josh, "this is cool." It was. Nothing like the thrill of being in the middle of a super-fight and not being one of the parties involved. "Oh, and by the way," I add, grinning as I speak, "told you so."
"What? Oh, right," he sighs. "Fine, you win, yes, something happened."
"Get back here!" roars Icebreaker, stretching out his arms and flinging dozens of icicles out in a wide arc around him. Josh and I quickly duck behind the machine again, to save ourselves from being unnecessarily impaled. Anybody else in the line of fire does the same, but looking around, the cinema lobby looks far less occupied than it was several moments before, most of the people having run off. Only curious bystanders, camera/phone wielders and, of course, moustache-lip guy remained.
"Show yourself!" he continues to yell, but no one appears. He looks around carefully, sighing to himself. "Damn girl," I hear him mutter and at that moment I know it must be the girl from last night. "Don't make me wreck everything trying to find you!"
I don't blame her for hiding, I mean, if I was in her place, I would be pretty terrified too. Icebreaker flings around more ice - I'm starting to wonder if that is a favourite move of his - and roars again, so loud it vibrates the floor below us, in a mini-earthquake. So that must be where the 'breaker' part of his name comes from. They probably started their fight in one of the buildings around us - most likely one with more money stored in its vault than this measly cinema - but progressed to here as they attacked and threw each other around. Well, as long as they keep attacking each other and leave us to watch in peace...
"Are you even gonna try to hit me, like yesterday? Or will you stay invisible and cower in a corner som-" His abdomen ripples, as if being hit and he cries out, swinging around with his fists. "Ha," he wheezes, reaching out with his arms, "lucky shot." He must have found something tangible, as he pulls his half-closed hand back towards him, about to wrap around the invisible object with his other arm. But before he can, a girl, clad in all white, a suit that leaves no skin showing, appears in his arms and proceeds to socking him right in the face. He lets go as he recoils back in pain, she quickly disappearing again and leaving him grasping at thin air.
Icebreaker's face is red, though not broken or dripping with blood as he swings around wildly, growing increasing aggravated at the girl.
"What is the girl's name again," I quietly ask Josh.
He snorts at me. "Weren't you really interested in her, only last night? Ghostanna, I think."
"Yeah, that's it," I reply and duck with him as Icebreaker throws around more icicles, probably hoping he will get lucky and hit her by mistake.
"Fine," he huffs, throwing his hands down. "I have better things to do than deal with your games." He grins at the mostly empty and half trashed lobby, nodding at some of the bystanders, Josh and I included. "Hey, you guys wanna see a magic trick? It's called, reappearing girl!"
I wonder what he is planning, as his 'magic trick'. Ha, throwing more ice?
"But for this," he continues, "I'll need a volunteer from the audience. Any offers?" He looks around again, pausing on a few different people filming him on their phones, but continuing to look around, 'weighing' his options, I suppose. His eyes run past Josh and I, I let out a breath that I wasn't aware I was holding when he doesn't pick us. But then, it must be my terrible luck, as he double takes and looks straight back at me, his grin wider than the grand canyon.
Oh shit... he takes off sprinting towards Josh and me. I quickly run one way, while Josh yelps and drops his phone in surprise, running the other. Icebreaker continues to tail me as I run across the room, leaping over a capsized water-cooler. I look back in time to see him throw spears of ice at me; all I dodge except one, which snags on my shirt as it rips across the top of my shoulder and throws me back into the wall.
The edges of my vision blacken, as I feel a terrible pounding pain fill the back of my head. Ow, not a soft landing. Before I can recover, he grabs me by the neck of my shirt and lifts me up, higher than I am tall so my feet are dangling and the collar of my shirt is tight across my neck and restricting my breathing.
He shouts something as he holds me up, but all sounds blur into a mumble as I focus on trying to breathe. I kick out with my legs, but after a few tries of not hitting anything, it becomes a clear waste of energy as I struggle to breathe. I try radiating electricity, hoping the sudden shock will cause him to drop me or something, but I hardly have enough energy to do that, not enough to harm him, as he isn't touching my bare skin. Damn it, I'm gonna die here, held up like some trophy while Ghostanna or whoever is too busy watching, invisible and safe on the sidelines. This was such a stupid idea, agreeing to go downtown with Josh. I swear, if I get out of this alive, I'm never disobeying my mother again. Never.
Am I mad - no, not really, but I can barely find the energy to feel anything, let alone anger. So... this is it... huh... well... at least it's halfway... epic... I... su-
I feel myself hit the ground again, but I'm too concerned with trying to fill my lungs full of air again to focus on the how. I slowly sit up, not wanting to think of what would have happened if I was let go of a moment later. Looking up, I see through blurred vision Icebreaker and Ghostanna fighting again, although I barely manage to get more than a few white glimpses of the later. A flash of white flies across the room towards the cinema's revolving doors, crumpling through the glass.
I watch in a daze as Icebreaker walks back over to me, grinning as he stands above me. Oh hell, now that I have the air in my lungs to feel mad, I do as I stare up at him. His eyes are a sharp shade of blue, but I have never wanted to punch anything more. I wait till he is leaning right over me and use whatever energy I can muster to leap up at him.
But it doesn't surprise him for long and a powerful feeling of dread washes over me as he grabs my hair and pulls me down. Typical me. I'm in a life or death - leaning more on death - situation and I'm more concerned about my hair. I feel the impact against the hard floor, but it doesn't really hurt even though it should, judging by the stars floating arou... uuh...
"Tim, Tim. Tim!" A voice, I think it is Josh's. Hard, slightly itchy carpet pressing into my back.
"Oowwwwwwww," I mutter, as my head starts to pound, a nasty headache filling my senses. Oh damn, did I die? Well, I suppose if I can hear people's voices, I'm still alive, but man, does being alive hurt. I probably passed out then, but how did I end up laying on carpet? I cringe as I think about thinking of how that happened. Nope, don't wanna know.
"Damn it, stupid mortal is alive."
Amy? Oh man, this is getting worse by the second. What is she doing here? Okay, I've changed my mind about the being alive thing. This must be hell.
"Amy, that is rude. Go to your room." My mum sighs, "Tim, are you okay?"
"Ugggggh, ow ow ow." I try to sit up. "Ugh, not pleasant." I'm on the floor in the living room of our flat, still at a loss at how I got here. My mum is leaning over me, her face smothered with worry, while Josh is standing to the side, looking like he is in more shock than anything.
"Dude, I thought you were dead!"
I groan again. "Oh, I'm alive. I can feel it."
"Josh," my Mum says, "there are some painkillers in the cabinet above the fridge." She looks back at me. "Tim, I wasn't really surprised when you didn't come home on the bus, I figured you had gone somewhere with Josh."
"So, hold on, you aren't mad at me?" I'm about to stand up and attempt some sort of victory dance, when she frowns at me.
"No, let me finish."
I groan and Josh appears above me, with a bottle of painkillers.
"However, I was surprised when I heard that on your first time sneaking off, you almost ended getting yourself killed." I cringe as she sighs. Well, at least she had faith in me.
"It wasn't our fault, though," I croak, over my headache. Josh gives me two pills from the bottle and a glass of water, which I quickly take.
"I think me and your mum have already agreed it was really bad luck." Josh grinned at my mum as he spoke. "I mean, if it wasn't, I think she would have thrown me out onto the street by now."
I carefully roll my eyes, wincing at the pain. "Okay, I'm fine now. Icebreaker, Icemaker, whatever, K.O'ed me, and I woke up here." Mum is about to open her mouth, but I quickly interrupt. "No, don't tell me what happened in-between. I don't wanna know. It's been a lovely afternoon, well, I almost died and got thrown around by a supervillain, but it's been a nice day and-"
Josh laughs. "Dibs not telling."
"Oh no."
I feel myself pale, and Josh laughs harder.
"It must be bad."
"Look, well, Tim," Mum starts and I quickly place my hands over my ears. She sighs aloud. It's probably best we tell you before you turn on the TV and the news tells you anyway. AH! AH! Man, that's what was so good about this afternoon... I had also forgotten she could do that. And as for the news thing...
I carefully took my hands of my ears. Josh was still laughing at me, so I gave him the finger. "Okay, break it to me, carefully... please. I'm injured. Delicate."
"Well, I was considering calling you up, when, what is that other superhero's name?"
Josh answers for her. "Ghostanna."
"Yes, Ghostanna turned up, Josh not far behind. She was holding you," no no, "said sorry for any damage she caused, and then flew off. Josh and I brought you inside, then while we were trying to wake you, he told me how you two had managed to get caught in the middle of a fight between Icebreaker and her."
My face is red. Oh hell, this is really bad. And embarrassing. I can't believe she carried me home. Knowing my luck, I probably drooled all over her arm or something. Ewww, what a first impression to make. You know what, I'm gonna stick to liking Julia. Actually, even that Anna girl from lunch is suitable as a safe zone. She is even better, because she doesn't know how much of an idiot I am.
"Tim even warned me," added Josh. "We both saw that moustached guy, but only Tim thought anything of it. I thought he was just being paranoid."
"Hey," I grin, slowly recovering from my embarrassment, "at least I got my 'I told you so' moment." I stand up, carefully testing my feet.
"I think it's evident now that man is one of those people who follow around supers to watch their fights. So yes, if you see him again, you should expect a fight."
I cringe, before frowning. "But how would he even know when and where a fight was going to be?"
Mum sighs. "I'm guessing he probably has some sort of psychic ability."
"I think Tim might have some kind of psychic ability," begins Josh and I give him a look like 'no, I don't'. "I mean, he was pretty certain something bad was gonna happen."
I roll my eyes, while mum says: "No, Tim just has the power of common sense."
I look up at her, perplexed. "Really?"
"Well, only once."
"Hey!" I cry, but I know she is only joking.
"Anyway, now that you have recovered, I can start making dinner. Josh, I would invite you to stay, but I have a feeling that your parents are probably worried."
Josh lets out a small laugh and I offer to walk home with him. Mum frowns at me.
"Mum, I'll be fine. What are the odds of being attacked twice in one night?"
She folds her arms. "Knowing you, it's high."
I roll my eyes. "Ah, but that's Tim's odds." Josh snorts.
My mum just raises an eyebrow. "You promise to wear your suit?"
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