Blue Nexus #57 - Classroom Blitz

Previously in "Blue Nexus": Kyle and Andreus, co-captains of the lacrosse team, have gotten into misunderstandings about Kyle and which side of the upcoming magical war he stands on. Andreus is being corrupted by Tania, and it all comes to a fever pitch when Andreus finally attacks Kyle! 

            Kyle remembered the shove easily. The punch through the floorboard, though? That was a blur. He moved as fast as all the muscles in his body could to get out of the way. A sharp of wood splintered across his cheek and another shot into his calf. He hardly noticed the pain or the small river of blood sliding down his leg.

            Andreus yanked his arm out of the wood. There wasn’t a scratch on his hand. The Power mage marked glowed bright blow. Kyle saw the magic energy running through both his right and left arm, and was probably going to start digging through his entire body. Andreus’s chest heaved heavily, as if he were having a tough time controlling the power or it was beginning to affect him biologically. Dangerously.

            Everyone in the gym already had their phones and cameras whipped out. Another kid burst out of the room, screaming for their coach’s name. Kyle wanted to shout after them, but had to focus on Andreus. The co-captain leapt across the gap between them with ease, starting with a stomp into the ground that shattered more of the floor-boarding. Kyle rolled away with ease. Andreus was a sloppy fighter, no finesse about him, it seemed.

            Kyle thought about his next words carefully. He couldn’t say “calm down” since that would have an opposite effect, and he couldn’t say “you don’t want to do this” since Andreus made it clear that it he did. Hmm.

            “You’re going to hurt someone else,” Kyle said. “You’re not going to touch me, Andreus, you’re too slow. All that power is just bulking you up.” Unless you displace it, Kyle thought. “There’s too many people around to do this.”

            “Then get outside,” Andreus said.

            “I have to contain you,” Kyle said. “Let everyone escape, then you came try and fight me as much as you want.”

            “I’m not going to hurt them, I’m in control!” Andreus shouted. He stomped down, breaking the wood again, and sprinted at Kyle. He was a bull. Kyle dove out of the way, but felt the power in his run and the thunder that roared beneath his feet. The ground shook with every step.

            Kyle landed on his shoulder, the same one Andreus pushed into the floor. The previous pains were starting to surface. Kyle winced, not wanting to show any real agony. He felt the Demon mark gnawing at his arm, begging for the power to flow.

            “And I’m not a dark mage,” Kyle said.

            “You’re a Demon mage!”

            “There’s a difference,” Kyle said. “The only reason I’m a dark mage is because I’m not on your side. It’s because Tania sees it that way.”

            “She sees it right,” Andreus said. “Damn it, Kyle, you’re just being stupid. You and the rest of Magus Forest are getting in the way of our plans to stop the Six Pillars.”

            “You can’t do that without help!” Kyle said. “You can’t do that by trying to beat the crap out of me at school.”          

            “I can convince you with my fists,” Andreus said. “Seems to be the only way to get through to you, anyway.”

            “It’s really not,” Kyle said.

            Andreus ran at him again, holding out his arms. He was going to crush Kyle. Kyle grunted and ducked low, forcing Andreus to the same and put all his weight forward. Kyle spun around, leaving his foot out. Andreus tumbled forward, crashing hard onto the ground. Kyle stood back up immediately, waiting for Andreus to do the same.

            “What the hell is going on here?” an authoritative voice yelled. Kyle almost swore himself.

            The school’s security officer, one of two anyway, and their gym coach stood at the doorway, approaching the two boys. The officer had his hand on his Taser already. Quick on the ball there, Kyle noticed. He stepped in their way, but made sure he could see Andreus move in his peripheral.

            “Please, stop,” Kyle said. “It’s just a misunderstanding.”

            “Someone came screaming to me that Andreus punched a hole in the gym,” the gym coach said. “Now I see there are two.”

            “On accident,” Kyle lied.

            Andreus got to a knee. Kyle spun around with just enough time to move out of the way. Andreus’s punch still grazed his ribs and knocked him back. The fist, instead, caught the officer straight in the chest. The officer grunted from the air loss.

            Kyle hit the ground with his head up. The gym coach tried to wrap up Andreus’s arm into a lock but instead Andreus crunched his arm inward and shoved the coach away, almost pushing him to the wall. The students along the wall screamed. They were shouting various profanities and confusions, holding their phones up at Andreus. Some of his friends were mixed in the crowd, and it seemed like they were egging him on.

            “Dude, Andreus, seriously!” Kyle shouted. “Think this through. You just took down a cop and a teacher. That’s…that’s hard to come back from.”     

            “They were in my way,” Andreus said. He turned to Kyle. Kyle saw the blue veins clear as day pulsating along Andreus’s arms. They were most noticeable in his biceps, triceps, and shoulders; his fuel sources. There was no way, Kyle knew, that he was in control of all of this. His body was reacting naturally at this point. Just running off of adrenaline and raw magic.

            “God this is dumb,” Kyle said.

            The cop tried to get up, taking smaller breaths. The coach was out, writhing in pain while the good students near him were on their phones making calls. If it was for more cops then they were in more trouble. This was too much collateral damage.

            This needed to end.

            Andreus faced Kyle again, and without a word, ran at him. Kyle dodged it again, this time with much greater ease. Andreus was now matter over mind, if there was any of his mind left, anyway.

            “Andreus!” Kyle shouted. “You’re turning into an animal.”

            “I’m in control,” he said.

            Kyle could feel his magical energy power without the initiation of his Demon magic. The boy had lost it.

            “And I need to put you down for now,” Kyle said. He rubbed his fingers against his palm. This was stupid. Dumber than what Andreus was doing. It was risky, and it was foolish, and without the careful movements Phoenix and Brian taught him, it was going to get them both hurt.

            The Demon magic swelled under his arm.

            Andreus ran at Kyle wordlessly again, this time pulling back a punch and preparing to rip it through the air right into Kyle’s face. Before he could, while he was still in the air, Kyle let the magic drop down his arm and enter his system.

            A sweet, warm embrace met him.

            Kyle stepped back with renewed speed and grabbed Andreus’s arm right out of the sky. He threw it away, then spun Andreus around and elbowed him in the back. Kyle dropped him onto the ground, pinning him for a second before bouncing back up. Andreus charged from the ground at Kyle, but Kyle was faster, leaping into the air and head-locking Andreus before slamming him onto the ground. Andreus pushed both of them off.

            He swung a fist a Kyle, who blocked it with his right arm—the only part of his body infused with magic though his overall power had increased—and then head-butted Andreus. It stunned him just long enough for Kyle to plant his Demon hand, pulsating with the magic, on Andreus’s chest and shove Andreus away, almost across the gym floor. Andreus took an extra step back, but Kyle was on him already, leaping through the air and shouldering Andreus’s through the gym’s double doors.

            They spilled into the hallway, where Andreus slid along the ground and crashed into the opposite wall. Kyle reached out with the demonic talons and ground to a halt in front of Andreus.

            “I let my magic get to my head once,” Kyle said. “When I didn’t know how to use it. Hell, I still don’t get all of it. But I’ve kept my emotions in check so it doesn’t constantly overwhelm me. You think there isn’t a struggle here? It sucks to be us if we don’t use our powers they way we’re supposed to. If we don’t use them to help people. You’re not helping anyone, Andreus, you’re just hurting yourself.”

            “What’s the difference?” he asked. “Between what you just did and what I just did?”

            Kyle opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly sounds were starting to catch up with him. The buzz of his reused powers was wearing off. Andreus slouched along the ground while his senses leapt at Kyle. He smelled blood, and wiped his hand across his nose, where a small blot of blood must’ve formed. Police sirens were frozen at the front of the school, and the jangle of keys at the double doors informed him of who was about to burst in.

            Students were whispering and shouting, standing in the gym’s doors. They were trying to speak to Kyle, or were talking into their phones.

            Kyle stepped between Andreus and the advancement of cops that were about to head in when he sensed another magical presence. One that made all the hairs on his body stand up. He heard a quick TWANG and his senses kicked in to stick his arm out.

            He caught the arrow before it could shatter the glass like the other four did. And four police officers dropped to the ground, an arrow dug into each of their shoulders. The fifth, standing in the open doorway, was frozen with fear. Kyle didn’t realize the next arrow coming until it knocked the officer off his feet with it’s power, ripping straight through his shoulder.

            Kyle spun around, dropping the arrow. A man stood above the doorway on a small balcony nobody but janitors could get to. He held a bow up, but when he opened his hand the bow morphed into a small sword.

            “Didn’t think anyone could catch one of my arrows,” he said. “You’re actually the first to do it before it hit their body.”

            The more this guy settled in the more unsettling he became. If his magic power were palpable, Kyle realized, there would be enough to drown the school. And he was being so nonchalant. Was there more?

            “Don’t bother asking who I am,” the archer said. “You should already know. Okay, not who I am, but who I’m with.”

            “You’re one of the Six Pillars,” Kyle said. Andreus grunted. Kyle ignored him, taking a step into the hallway. “A Combat mage.”

            “The Pillar of Combat, you got it,” the mage said. “Name’s Axel. You’re Kyle Raiden, the Demon mage with some other…stuff about him, right? And that’s your friend Andreus.”

            “How do you know about us?”

            “My master knows the names of all the mages he wants to,” Axel said. “He’s already met you and this kid Andreus has been a point of contention between you and Tania, right?”

            “There’s really no need to involve her,” Kyle said.

            “Ah, keeping it simple,” Axel said. “I like you already. We’ll get along well.”

            “Glad you don’t want to kill me,” Kyle said. A small bit of relief did settle in.

            “Hell no,” Axel said. He pointed the sword at the crowd of kids. “Now hurry and power up, or one of them dies.”

            The small bit of relief flipped over into a major pool of panic. Kyle leapt in front of them. “I’m already powered up!”

            “The other thing,” Axel said. “Make it worth my time.”

            “I’m already worth your time,” Kyle said.

            “No you’re not,” Axel said. “You’re a half-baked Demon mage that goes to high school, what the hell kind of power could you have?”

            “You’re a Combat mage, right?” Kyle asked. “I’ve trained with the best hand-to-hand combatants in the world. Phoenix level. That get you going?”

             Axel smiled. He dropped the sword into the tile below and the followed it down, landing lightly on his toes. He left the sword there as he took a few steps toward Kyle.

            “Oh it does,” Axel said. “Show me your moves, Kyle Raiden.”

            Kyle looked at the crowds. They were looking at him through their phones.

            “Get out of here,” Kyle said. “Please.”

            None of them moved. Kyle groaned and then dashed for Axel.

            He tried to predict a move. Kyle bounded for the wall, summoning up a bit more Demon magic. He ran along the wall for a few steps before pushing off and clawing at Axel through the sky. Axel dodged it, hands in his pocket.

            Kyle tried to elbow him as he landed and then kicked his legs out. Axel stepped over both, then swept his leg and knocked Kyle onto his butt. Kyle pushed himself away, and then charged at Axel, clenching two fists. Axel turned to the side, waiting for Kyle to make another attack on him. Kyle could feel the blood pumping and knew that he would end up like Andreus if he didn’t think his moves through enough.

            He jabbed at Axel and brought his knee up to his chest, hoping to make him forget about the second fist. Axel managed to block both the knee and the first fist with just his left arm and then caught the second attack before Kyle fully made it. Having Kyle in his grip made it that much easier to just throw him onto the ground. The tile.

            Stars blasted into Kyle’s vision. Air did the same. He writhed for an extra second on the ground before trying to get up, only to be kicked in the side right into the wall.

            “Demon mages aren’t known for hand-to-hand combat,” Axel said. “I’m glad you know at least a little bit. About the same as, what, someone in a basic karate class? Don’t even know, I don’t even bother with them.”

            Kyle was face down, unable to see Axel. He heard his footsteps though, moving toward the crowd of kids.

            “If only all those kids hadn’t run away so quickly,” Axel said. “Ah well. Nice meeting you two, I hope we can do this again in a better arena.”

            Kyle tried to push himself up. The Demon magic warped back into its mark on his arm, as if it had had enough of Axel as well. Kyle managed to get to his knees. He looked around, and saw that the crowd of kids was still there. But, hadn’t they run away?

            The crowd was muttering to itself, asking questions Kyle couldn’t hear. After a second, they all shrugged and wandered back into the gym. The bell blared overhead, and they all sprinted away. A slender leg walked past Kyle toward Andreus, who was also lying still on the ground.

            “You must be the biggest idiot in this universe,” Tania said. “Taking on one of the Six Pillars without your Nexus form.”

            “I had to do something,” Kyle said. “Did you make it so everyone was invisible?”

            “I may not like you,” Tania said. “But I’m not a sociopath. I don’t want innocent bloodshed here. That children were in the way at all is your fault.”

            “I did what I could after Andreus attacked me,” Kyle said.

            Tania helped Andreus get to his feet. She shook her head and started walking toward the door. She was fading out of Kyle’s sight.

            “This isn’t a fight you’re going to win,” Tania said.

            “Then help me!” Kyle exclaimed. But Tania vanished as she reached the door. Kyle punched the already cracked wall, feeling blood drip down from his knuckles when he did. “Damn it!”

            Escaping school should have been the hard part. Instead, it was the easiest one. The hardest part was figuring out where to go. Kyle’s instinct was to head for Magus Forest and tell them about Axel’s attack, but he held off on that. Axel had to have been following Kyle around. If he led Axel to Magus Forest then the damage there could be irreparable. Sure they would have the numbers advantage, but Axel hardly moved at all in their fight. It was hard to call it even toying with Kyle so much as it was ignoring him.

            Kyle shot through the sky as the Blue Nexus, breaking out of the Earth’s pull of gravity and going straight for the moon. There wouldn’t be many mages that could get into space, and even if there were, there were even fewer that could keep up with his top speed and get into the Zanderia moon base alive.

            Riko, Lalay, and Phoenix were all inside the moon base, standing in front of the giant monitors while another super hero, whom Kyle recognized as Titano—the guy able to grow several stories in size—rested on the table, out cold.

            “What happened to Titano?” Kyle asked.

            “Injured in a battle, pretty bad,” Phoenix said. “We managed to teleport him here before he was knocked out.”

            “Did he say anything?” Kyle asked.

            “Just a color,” Phoenix said. “Blue.”

            Blue, the color of a Power Mage. Titano was strong even as a regular human, and his size increased helped that tenfold.

            “One of the Six Pillars, the Pillar of Power,” Kyle said. Phoenix, Riko, and Lalay nodded. “Do we have anything on them?”

            “Do you?” asked Lalay.

            “No,” Kyle said. “I just got into a fight with one at school. Name’s Axel, the Pillar of Combat. He wiped the floor with my Demon magic without even blinking.” Kyle gestured at Phoenix. “Called your moves basic karate.”

            “Because I’ve only taught you the basics,” Phoenix said, rolling his eyes. But for a second, worry flashed across his face.

            “Have you heard of them before?” Riko asked. “We’ve only just now learned of them.”

            “A mage named Oz warned me about them after the Tiger Trio got loose,” Kyle said. “And again after I helped the Sentinel out in Pacific City. Another mage, Tania, talks about them quite a bit. She’s trying to gather as many baby mages as she can to prepare them for all-out war against them.”

            “A fool’s move,” Lalay said. She turned back to the monitor. “We’ve been trying to develop a software that can calibrate an algorithm so we can track high amounts of magic power, specifically concentrated to a single person. So far, it looks like we’re still in some sort of alpha stage with it.”

            “So, for those of us who want to know what she just said?” Kyle asked.
            “We’re trying to create a sensor for magic power,” Lalay said. She shook her head. “And it’s in an early stage of development.”

            “But,” Riko said. “It doesn’t mean we’re completely in the dark. I believe I speak for all of us when we saw that one mage who suddenly appeared came as a shock.”

            “I know,” Kyle said. “It was literally two feet in front of me.”

            “I’ve been able to personally sense the Six Pillars,” Lalay said. “My powers are partially based in magic, so, I can get the slightest read on them. I want to get this thing working so we can know where they are at all times.”

            “Isn’t that a bit invasive?” Kyle asked.

            “They’re always putting off power,” Lalay said. “They’re acting as beacons. Maybe for each other, maybe for their master, maybe for some new mages. They want to be found, so this sensor will help us find them.”

            “But, why?” Kyle asked. “To do what Tania’s doing and make an army?”
            “They might see Magus Forest the same way,” Phoenix said. “A whole group of mages together in training? It’s a threat.”

            “They’re peaceful,” Kyle said.

            “A threat, perhaps, to their goals,” Riko said. “Not to mention that two of our own are there now, Shindari and Violette. If all of Magus Forest isn’t a threat, then just the two of them are. No doubt Axel came after you hoping to find them.”

            “But he didn’t kill me,” Kyle said. “He could’ve, and could’ve killed a lot more people while he was at school.”

            “If he was just showing off then that gives us an opportunity to find him,” Phoenix said. “And lets you get a grasp for how he fights.”

            Kyle shook his head. “If you want to call it that. What sucks is that there are five more just as powerful as him.” He looked at Titano. “Or even stronger.”

            “No, what’s bad is what the sensor has picked up already,” Lalay said. “Like I said, it’s in its infant stages, but we tried to gauge the Six Pillars, or at least six of the strongest mages we don’t know about on the planet, against our own ranks.”

            “Like in terms of raw power?” Kyle asked.

            Lalay nodded. “They were our equal at almost every turn. If the four of us were to combat four of them, mathematically it would be a draw. And that’s without knowing their latent abilities or the full extent of their magic. This isn’t an enemy we’re going to fight like normal. Alucard ravaged a city when the full Zanderia wasn’t there to stop him. And he’s just as strong as one of the Six Pillars.”

            “Then we need to prioritize them one at a time,” Kyle said.

            “And leave the other five exposed?” Phoenix asked.

            “How else are we going to beat them?” Kyle asked. “We can outnumber them but like you said, it’s like throwing ourselves at mist. We don’t know what we’re getting into yet.”

            “Charging all at once would reveal all of our hands,” Lalay said. “We need to draw them out individually. You, Blue Nexus, need to get to Magus Forest and find as much information from their Grand Elder as you can. Then we need to bring Shindari and Violette in for briefing. We may need the help of Hood Nexus and the Sentinel along with our regular team.”

            “Alucard snuck up on us pretty bad,” Phoenix said. “Ain’t happening again.”

            Kyle admired the drive these three were showing. It was no wonder they were the world’s three most renowned superheroes. Not for their flash or their standing with everyone, but for the desire to do good and stop evil at any turn. It was a corny type of logic, but, wasn’t superheroing in general based on that logic?

            “I’ll get to Magus Forest right away,” Kyle said. “Let Titano know I appreciate his help with this, and try and get a message to Hood Nexus as fast as you can.”

            “Blue Nexus!” Riko called as Kyle was running up the stairs for the main exit. Kyle turned, facing Riko. “You also have to convince Tania that the Magus Forest is the side to stand with. We can’t fight this foe divided, no matter how many members of the Zanderia we usher in.”
            “Got it,” Kyle said. He noticed the hard look in his eyes, though. Tania was as much a dangerous foe as she was a helpful ally in this upcoming war. The sooner they could get her on their side, the sooner they could start planning their battles against the Six Pillars and have a potential ace with a powerful Reality mage on their side.

            He shot out of the base and into the confines of outer space, letting the vacuum hold him for just a moment as he gathered himself. Teleportation was always a bit nauseating for him, and he preferred the rush of speed he could achieve as easily as running. He watched the Earth rotate below him. It was massive, and yet on that planet were six different people who would see malice brought to it.

            Kyle charged up his energy and blasted in a blue streak of light energy toward Earth. He ripped through the atmosphere, sending a sonic boom in all directions. He pulled up a bit, shredding the clouds beneath him before diving through them again.

            The Six Pillars had already made one move against him. He knew he had to hurry, or else there would be another one. Somewhere more dangerous. 

Next time: With too many wildcards in play, Kyle and Brenda decide they need to start drawing the clear lines in the sand. That is, until, someone makes it pretty clear how this battle will be fought...as well as how impossible the heroes' odds are. Check it out in "Blue Nexus #58 - The Mage with All Magic"!