Chương 71: Tag

This was the stupidest idea I had ever been suggested in my goddamn life. I thought maybe, just maybe, some sort of common sense would infect Jairo for just the shortest ten seconds needed to give us a majority vote on "No." Instead he was immediately all for it. My standards are too high for these people. The agreement was made we'd find an isolated spot in the park after debrief and play tag for a while. Supposedly it was to test my powers but frankly I think they just wanted an excuse to screw around.

Waiting until debrief gave me a few hours at least, which I needed because by the time I came down Shivvy was already pouncing on me. He seemed to understand to not try and tear my face open at this point because of how much food I gave him, but he was clinging to my face far too hard. Wasn't sure why he went for my face this time initially, until when I finally yanked him off and threw him away, he slithered up to my desk. On my desk, sat the mask. Cleaned up and with an envelope next to it. Nope.

Not even fucking touching it. Rather let it sit there than even humoring whatever bad would come with the damn thing. Instead I focused on feeding Shivvy. Opening a few of those cans of oysters, he ravaged through them. Attempting to even reach them resulted in barbed points shooting out in random directions. Almost reminded me of Wyrdwood, just metal. Then again, everything was reminding me of the Wyrdwood. Just impossible to get out of my goddamn head.

There were probably ghosts with an easier time moving on than I was from all of that. I could get over everything else just fine, so why was all of that still so difficult? Not even just the kill. That vision was the clearest memory I had of those events and all it did was sit in me with this sickening dread. Just what the Hell were those people trying to do? Couldn't get caught up in it. Had to focus on training while Shivvy ate.

Was worried he was going to wreak havoc while I was off doing this stupid game, but maybe if he ate enough he'd just nap through it. I continued practicing kicks and, while I could get every other step of it pretty crisp as this point, I just couldn't get my leg high enough for those higher ones. Probably because I've never stretched a day in my life and I never needed to be limber like this before. Bet Chris would have an answer. Bet he would also hide it behind another lecture.

Whatever, I'd figure it out myself or never. The hours crawled by, though thankfully they at least weren't interrupted by the debrief. No point in debriefing a guy who wasn't acting as a superhero at the moment. Finally, a knock hit my door, and Jairo's voice indicated to me it was time for this stupid game. We all made our exit and piled down the tunnel, where the three of them chattered like I wasn't even there. Though I was also a few feet behind them, so that definitely helped them out.

Nothing I wasn't already used to. When we finally got out of the shed from the park, we used the waning sunlight to find a clear and open spot where no one was around. Surprisingly, not many around. Likely still out of fear of the tree men appearing again. Was surprised they haven't deployed any more large ones in a while. But I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth like that. When we gathered in the largest, least-populated point of the park, Chris began speaking.

"Alright, so after May's suggestion, I thought up some rules to make tag reasonably fair and prevent any violence. The first one is you can't just tag someone's hand or arm. You gotta place your palm firmly on their mid-section." Christian slapped his own chest, then his back.

"Front or back is fine. If we let limbs and heads count, then we could risk injuries." He brought up one finger, then held up a second finger.

"Next, there's a sixty second time limit. If you can't tag someone in sixty seconds, you're out." I squinted as I pondered the logistics of that.

"How are you going to keep track of that?"

"Easy. You're going to count to sixty out loud. If you're out before you tag anyone, we'll re-decide who's 'It.' That make sense to everyone?" Nods from all of us. I think Jairo and I both recognized May and Chris' disadvantage, so that timer was just a handicap for them. He gave a thumbs up.

"Good. And finally, use your powers to fullest extent except for hurting people or destroying anything. We're trying to test each other here. Only rule is you can't leave this area. No going into the trees, either." Looking around, this part of the park grounds was actually pretty well demarcated. There was an entire concrete walking path encircling it. Probably about a half mile in either direction. Lot of space. More nods. He then turned the thumbs up into a closed fist.

"Alright. Now let's just rock-paper-scissors out who's 'It.' We'll be eliminating one person at a time, so whoever has the most hands that beat them steps out for the first one." We went through the ritual. On the first round — in the order of May, me, Jairo, and Chris — we landed: Paper-Rock-Rock-Scissors. Chris shrugs, crossing his arms.

"Easier for me." He knew about Jairo and I's advantage. Probably wants to rely on dodging. We did the second round, and: Rock-Paper-Paper. May resigned herself quietly, hands in her pockets while Jairo and I took to it. Rock-Rock. Rock-Rock. Paper-Paper. Scissors-Scissors. Paper-Paper. Rock-Paper- God damn it! Wait, why did I care? Jairo pumped his fists.

"Hell yeah, I'm 'It!'" His body then started to slack, his arms and legs growing those chitinous scales.

"Gonna count to five before I start moving. That's a free head-start for you all. One..." None of us took that as a joke. Chris and May both sprinted off in separate directions. I didn't, however. He was going to go for me regardless. If I lunged away now, I might not have the footing to dodge afterwards. Waiting until he was ready was my best move. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Two... Three..." He watched me with confusion, but stood dead still. He was respecting my bluff, it looked like.

"Four..." His voice went from its normal croak to that buzzing, hornet's nest sound. His face seemed normal, but he likely had everything internally changing too.

"Five!" His hand snapped out towards my chest, and I managed to half-stumble away, both feet already planted back in the ground He then tried to follow up by actually using his speed to lunge at me. That's what I wanted. As I saw his legs bend, I pushed off the ground, enough force to send me hurtling back. He was already a small blur in my visio- He was there. At that moment, I realized just what kind of speed I was dealing with.

"Six!" He was still counting. That was all in a second!? I barely had time to focus my strength on my chest as he slammed his palm into me. Even with that, I could feel a bit of the wind get knocked out of me as my back met the ground.

"You're 'It!'" He called out before zooming off. Shit. Climbing to my feet, I started counting aloud.

"One... two..." Felt ridiculous. My gaze settled on May, who locked eyes with me.

"Four. Five. Six." I launched myself at her, making sure to stop at a skid by her side as she stepped back so I didn't accidentally rip her in half with a tag. From there, I stepped forward, reaching out, only for her to lean out of the way.

"Seven!" I started actually trying to swing for a tag, until suddenly a VWAM Sent her flying overhead. She could do that? I watched her as she landed behind me with a surprising amount of grace given the one leg.

"I get the cripple's an easy target, Leo, but you're not the only one who's getting training." Got up to eleven while she was saying that. She was using her own bragging to waste my time. Something about that amused me. I wasn't sure what, but that same amusement was tinged with a frustration that compelled me to lunge out for another tag. VWAM VWOM VWAM Every swing was met with her using those blasts of light to launch herself off the ground, doing all sorts of twirls in the air to re-orient herself.

"Law school was just my curricular! I was in gymnastics for years! Just hard to use that against guys with guns!" VWAM Another blast shot past my head. She wasn't aiming to hit me, she was just trying to keep me off kilter. Was at twenty-one now. We squared up for another set of lunges. I knew at this point she sent herself up and over instead of to the sides if I lunged low. That's when I decided to feint.

She was bracing to launch herself as I dipped down, only for me to put a little bit of strength into my palms and PAN Nowhere near as loud as my first attempt. But just enough to get her to blink. No light came out, so no flying high. That was my chance. Lunging from there, I managed to land my hand on her stomach- VWAM The air to the side of my head was a boiling-hot vacuum for a split second. Looking behind me, there was a scorched hole in the ground. Her mouth.

She used the light glistening off of her lips to fire off a shot both hot enough to burn and with enough force it would've taken my head off. I couldn't tell if she missed or if it was a warning shot. And in that second, she slapped my chest again while I was given pause.

"Nice try!" VWOM That one sent her hurtling off far further than before. Frankly, nearly losing my head was enough of a hint to try a different target. My gaze fell to Christian, who was just watching. No thoughts needed. I just lunged, and he didn't try to dodge away. He could tell where I was going to land and let us get into a squared up position. I kept track of the time in my head, and it seemed like Chris trusted that I was going to.

"You're not fast enough to dodge me."

"Don't need to dodge you."

"You just wanted an excuse to square up."

"We haven't had a chance to really try each other yet!" He said with a laugh.

"You're gonna regret that." He started to say something, but I had already thrust a hand out. Both of his caught my forearm as he dipped to my right, yanking me forward. Wasn't gonna play his game. Planting my feet down, I put significantly more strength into my arm as I swung the limb down. The force pulled him off of his feet. I thought it was an early checkmate, until I saw him just let go of my arm and whirl through the goddamn air. He landed back on his feet, letting out a cheerful "Woo!"

He then pointed at me.

"You almost got me. I think I'm gonna have to start punishing those near-misses to make them a lot less close." Before I could even ask what the Hell he meant, he reached out and flicked my nose. I couldn't even find the words to describe how much that immediately pissed me off. My mind slipped. Couldn't even help it at that point, I wasn't sure what Chris' plan was. All the swings from there came like an avalanche, just wild attempts to slam his ribs through his back.

Every single time, he managed to yank and push and nudge my hands out of the way. I was losing track of time, and he was exploiting that. Felt like I was being toyed with by him still. Even after the training, even after developing my focus, I couldn't beat one fucking guy. I didn't care that he was my ally and I wasn't supposed to beat him. Every inch forward I get is met with a mile that throws me ba- Throwing. I was hurtling through the air, before slamming back-first onto the ground.

Just like when I first met this asshole.

"And time's up," Chris stated. My senses funneled back into me, at the very least now they weren't retreating for as long. I could see Chris holding a hand out to me. I rejected it, pushing myself back onto my feet by myself. Rubbing my face, I let out an exasperated question.

"What the Hell was the point of that?" He shrugged.

"Sorry to say but I was being a little bit of a fibber. May and Jairo explained the thing with your powers, so we were all using this opportunity to try and get them going ourselves to make our own observations. Guys, what'd you all see?" They couldn't think to just talk to me first like I'm a human being? Jairo spoke first, his croaking voice returning as he approached.

"The ghosts thing is real! When he's using his powers he makes this, like, smear in the air. It turns back into the normal stuff I see after a couple seconds but I've never seen that happen before." May followed up afterwards.

"I wasn't able to pay too much attention initially, but when I watched you and Leo fight, I could definitely see signs of almost what looked like light stretching. I'm gonna need to talk to Sam about what that could really mean. But there's gotta be a clue in that, right?" Christian nodded, hands going into his pockets.

"I think that's a good lead! Anyways. I had another thing I wanted to ask you, Leo." Fuck off.

"What?"

"So during the debrief we were told we'd be helping as security for a concert at Scott Stadium on Saturday. I begged and they said they'd set up a VIP pass for you. Do you want to go?" Easiest answer in the world.

"No." Christian frowned at me for a few seconds, before nodding.

"Okay. I'll respect that. I'm gonna leave the pass in the common area so you can pick it up if you change your mind, though. I think you could do with some real entertainment instead of huddling up in the base all day, man." Shaking my head, I just started walking. Wasn't even sure how I'd get home.

"I'll think about it," I lied. I ended up leaping my way back to the base from there, since it was just second nature. Little did I realize that the concert I chose to miss would end up being one of the most defining moments of my life.