Chapter 19 - The Attack on the Academy

Art by NeverCatchMe 

The next day, all four of us met at the castle. "Are you guys ready for this?" Terry asked us. Percy nodded, barely looking up from his phone, while I continued to read An Abundance of Katherines for the fifth time.

"I'm almost ready," Vanessa said as she polished her crossbow. "Jay, Percy, you two are possibly the worst supervillains ever. Can you please at least try to be helpful?"

"I am being helpful," Percy insisted, still looking at his phone. "I'm coming up with new strategies."

"Reading TV Tropes does not constitute strategizing," Terry said.

"Sure it does," Percy said.

"What page are you reading then?" Vanessa asked.

"How Not To Write An Example," Percy answered. He laughed and then went back to reading, while I tried to ignore the conversation.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and said, "Jay? Can you please do something helpful? I'd like to leave sometime soon."

"I'm ready to go," I said. "I'm just waiting for you guys."

"I'm ready too," Terry said.

Vanessa picked up her crossbow and said, "Let's go then. Jay, you know where the hospital is. Can you please drive us?"

"Yes, I can do that," I said. The four of us left the castle, and as the souls in front of the castle cried for mercy, Percy, Terry, and Vanessa climbed into the backseat of my dad's car. I felt a little bit guilty about using it for something like this, but it didn't matter. Dad would never find out that I drove three other superhumans to the Academy so we could destroy it.

It was nearly impossible to drive into the city with Vanessa, Percy, and Terry bickering in the back of the car. I turned up the music to drown them out, but that still didn't work. My mind buzzed as I drove into San Urbano and wove in and out of traffic until we reached the Rose Valley Hospital.

All four of us climbed out of the car, and we entered the hospital. Percy pulled up a map on his phone and directed us through the hospital and towards the Academy. At one point, we passed by the room where Harper was, and I felt a little bit guilty, since I wasn't here to visit here. I told myself that I would return later to see her again.

"You know, I'm a little bit surprised that there isn't more security," Percy said as he opened the door that supposedly led to the Academy. I couldn't help but agree with him. So far, nobody had given us any trouble.

All of a sudden, a man in a lab coat started to chase after us. "Where do you think you're going?" he shouted.

"Don't mind us," Percy said calmly. "We're just a few normal, innocent teenagers. You don't need to worry about us."

The man nodded and said, "I understand. Continue on your way." He walked away, and the four of us entered the building adjacent to the hospital. '

"So that's why we keep you around," Vanessa said.

"That was amazing, Percy," Terry said.

"It was pretty awesome," I agreed.

"Thanks everyone," Percy said. "What do we do now?"

"You're going to stay here, and we'll attack the Academy," Vanessa explained. "Just wait here for us."

Vanessa suddenly ran into the building, and Terry and I followed her. The Academy didn't look too different from the hospital that we had just left - I assumed that we were on the Research Floor. The bright lights and scientists running around unearthed old memories, but I tried not to think about that. Instead, I let my powers run through me. All of a sudden, ghosts appeared, and I let them roam free through the Academy. It was the least I could do to get some revenge on them for the years of suffering that they had given me.

I heard people scream as the ghosts flew through the building. A few scientists ran towards me, but I couldn't pay much attention to them while I was using my powers. Vanessa, on the other hand, pulled out her crossbow and sent bolts in their direction. One of them hit a curly-haired scientist in the leg, knocking her over as she tried to run towards us.

By the time we heard the first clap of thunder, all of the scientists had either run away or hidden from us. We were in control of the Academy now. The ghosts were still running around the building when the powerful winds that Terry had created began to tear the Academy apart. I wasn't sure where Terry was, but I knew that he was the one who had created the freakishly intense storm going on outside.

For a moment, I worried that my powers would malfunction again. I was remaining in control so far, but if I stole someone's soul again, I would never forgive myself. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on staying in control as I heard windows shattering and the drums of the city rain.

I opened my eyes again, and for a moment, something seemed off. My slightly fuzzy memories of the Research Floor didn't quite match what I was seeing, but I ignored it. I knew that this had to be the Research Floor. We had come too far for this to be the wrong location.

As the storm raged outside, the winds tore the Academy apart. Everyone inside the building cowered under any piece of furniture that they could find, while Vanessa and I continued to focus on using our powers. Terry was doing most the work, but that didn't mean that we couldn't do our part.

All of a sudden, a tall figure wearing a purple and green superhero costume and a black fedora emerged from the tempest going on outside. "The Dastardly Demon and Brightside," Captain Fedora said with a smirk as his fedora began to glow. "We meet again at last."

"I knew this was going to happen," Vanessa said as she aimed her crossbow at Captain Fedora. "You heroes just can't resist a good fight."

"That's where you're wrong," Captain Fedora said as he sent an energy beam in Vanessa's direction. "I'm here to defend our city."

"That's funny," Vanessa said, dodging the energy beam. "Jay and I are here doing the same thing."

"You people sicken me," Captain Fedora said. "This isn't helping anyone - it's just cold-blooded murder."

Vanessa ignored him, knowing that what we were doing was right, even if Captain Fedora wouldn't listen. Her powers began to flow through her, and as Captain Fedora sent a few more energy beams in my direction, I wondered how Vanessa hadn't figured out that her boyfriend was Captain Fedora. The truth was directly in front of her, and she didn't even seem to notice it.

"What just happened?" Captain Fedora said suddenly. "Where are you?"

"What did you do to him?" I whispered to Vanessa.

"We're invisible now," Vanessa explained. "Captain Fedora can't see us, and as long as I continue to use my powers on him, he won't be able to find us."

Vanessa lifted her crossbow and fired at Captain Fedora, but he was moving too quickly. He was running around the room and blasting anything and everything that he could, merely accelerating the destruction of the Academy. I sent some ghosts towards the superhero, but even as they swarmed him, he continued to fire energy beams in every direction. There were a few close calls - one of them barely missed my head - but at this point, Captain Fedora was entirely harmless to us.

Eventually, he gave up. "This is useless," Captain Fedora said. "I came to fight the Gadfly anyways. I'm just wasting my time with you two." He sprinted away at super speed, leaving Vanessa alone to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness he's gone," she said. "Keeping that illusion up was exhausting."

"Thanks for helping me, by the way," I said. "I probably wouldn't have been able to defeat him on my own without Terry's powers." There were a few downsides to no longer having Terry's soul within me, but I was still thrilled that he was back.

"No problem," Vanessa said. "Now let's get back to work."

With everyone on the first floor clinging helplessly to whatever piece of furniture that they could find, Vanessa and I decided to head upstairs. The elevator shaft had been destroyed by the storm, so I followed Vanessa up the stairs and onto the second floor.

When we arrived on the second floor of the building, we were greeted by more men and women in lab coats. Vanessa merely lifted her crossbow and pointed it in their direction, and they backed away from us. I let my ghosts travel upstairs with us, causing a few of the people on the second floor to scream. There was something wonderful about terrorizing the same people who had terrorized me when I was young.

All of a sudden, I realized something. The second floor of the Academy was the cafeteria, but there was no food in sight. Even stranger, I didn't see any of the Academy students that normally populated the cafeteria. The second floor of the building looked more like a hospital wing than the Academy cafeteria of my memories. There was only one explanation.

We weren't in the Academy at all.

I couldn't keep going on like this - not when there were innocent lives at stake. I sprinted back downstairs, letting the ghosts that I had released follow me. "Jay!" Vanessa shouted. "Where are you going?"

I didn't respond. Instead, I commanded my ghosts to lead the people in the building to safety. I couldn't stop the storm and the destruction of the hospital without knowing where Terry was, but I could at least keep the doctors and patients from going down with the hospital. I swung open every door, hoping that I could get as many people as possible out of the building. Already, some paramedics had arrived to transfer patients to a nearby hospital, but I had to do what I could to help, especially since we were the ones who had started this whole mess.

As the ghosts led people away from the wreckage, I ran back into the other building, which Terry's storm had also damaged. We had hurt so many innocent people already, and an awful feeling overtook me as I searched for Harper's room. I quickly found her lying in bed, motionless but still alive. I carefully picked up her fragile body and carried her out of the hospital. Rose Valley Hospital looked terrifying at that moment - except for the ghosts, it was completely empty, and the power had long since gone off. We were in almost total darkness.

When I left the hospital, I briefly looked back at the debris. It was a horrific sight. Terry's storm had torn the portion of the hospital in the other building apart, and barely anything was left standing now. As the storm died down, I transformed into a demon and lifted Harper into the air.

Just after I took off, Vanessa caught up to me. "Jay!" she shouted. "What are you doing?"

"I'll explain later," I said as I flew higher and tossed my car keys to Vanessa. "Do me a favor and leave while you can."

I didn't see Vanessa's reaction as I launched myself into the clouds and headed straight for Ellen's castle. A sick feeling grew in my stomach, and I knew that it was because of what we had done. We hadn't destroyed the Academy - we had destroyed a hospital full of critically ill patients and innocents. It's all my fault, I realized. I was the one who had suggested that the Academy was near the Rose Valley Hospital.

After I landed in front of Ellen's castle, I transformed back into a human and knocked on her door. Ellen opened the door and grinned. "How did it go?" she asked.

I didn't respond. Instead, I headed straight for Carmen's lab. "This is my friend Harper," I told Carmen as I deposited Harper on a bed in the lab. "I stole her soul three years ago, when I was first discovering my powers, and I want to make amends. Is there any way that you can give her soul back?"

"I don't know," Carmen said. "It's been so long that it might not work, but I'll do my best."

"Thank you," I said. "That's all I want."

When I returned to the doorway, Vanessa and Terry had just stepped inside. "That was amazing," Terry said, giving us all a rare smile. "I think we finally got our revenge."

"I think so too," Vanessa said.

She gave Terry a high five, and for a moment, I considered telling them everything. However, I didn't have the nerves to do it. "Where's Percy?" I finally asked.

"I don't know," Vanessa said. "We couldn't find him on our way out. I'm a little bit worried, but if Percy doesn't call me within the next few hours, we'll have to go back to look for him. For now, let's celebrate."

Vanessa, Terry, and I all went up to the break room, and for the next three hours, we played games, endlessly quoted our favorite books, and ate plenty of junk food. I felt guilty celebrating something like this, but I still didn't have the guts to tell Terry and Vanessa the truth. They were so happy, and I didn't want to disrupt that.

Just as Vanessa mentioned returning to the Rose Valley Hospital to look for Percy, the doorbell rang. All three of us rushed downstairs, and I noticed that there appeared to be two figures standing at the door. I wondered who the second person was, but when Terry opened the door, Percy was there alone.

"Hey everyone," Percy said. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay," Vanessa said. "I'm glad you're here." She paused for a minute and then asked, "How did you get here? I thought you were going to call me if you needed a ride."

"I got an Uber instead," Percy said.

"I see," Vanessa said. "I'm just really happy that you're safe, Percy. I was getting worried about you."

Something seemed off, but none of us questioned Percy further. Instead, the four of us went back upstairs and ate even more candy. I couldn't stand all of the partying over something that nobody should ever celebrate, but what was I supposed to do?

The sinking feeling in my stomach told me that I should do something, but it didn't tell me what.