Chapter 32 - The Eleventh Hour

Art by SyniaSidhe 

Only a few minutes later, I parked my dad's SUV in front of the building on the corner of Rosemary Way and 6th Street. Although I rarely traveled to Southwest Square, I felt a sense of déjà vu as I stared up at the colossal structure. That was when I knew for sure that Declan had told us the truth. This was the same building that I had entered only a few days after my thirteenth birthday, and it was the same building that I had escaped from one month after I turned fourteen.

I looked towards the others in the car, and something on Terry's face told me that he was experiencing the same connection to the Academy that I was. Harper seemed conflicted, while Declan had a smug look on his face, as if he was telling us that he was right after all. Vanessa didn't even bother to look up at the building - instead, she pushed the car door open and ran out of the SUV with her crossbow. "What are you guys waiting for?" she shouted. "Let's do this!"

"You're right," Percy said as he jumped out of the car. "It's now or never."

I turned the car off and climbed out, a little bit worried about what would happen next. There were so many things that could go wrong, but we couldn't wait any longer. As Declan, Harper, and Terry hopped out of the car, I tried to let my worries go. I had to focus if I wanted to make this work.

I ran up to the door, and as expected, it was locked. I glanced towards Percy, who was already writing with the Reality Pen. However, it was Declan who ultimately opened the door for us. His fedora glowed a sickly green color, and when he took it off and pointed it towards the door, the door immediately toppled over.

"Nice work, Declan," Percy said with a smile as he adjusted the goggles that he had taken from the warehouse.

"Don't say that quite yet," Declan said. "We haven't even gotten into the Academy yet."

All six of us stepped into the Research Floor, and I wondered how I could have ever mistaken the Rose Valley Hospital for that place. The fluorescent lights burned my eyes, but the familiar scientists and the vats of hydroglosseide told me that this was definitely the Research Floor.

However, there was no time to stop and stare. Vanessa shot into the air with her crossbow, and that was when the chaos started. Before long, Terry started a rainstorm within the building, while Harper transformed into a rhinoceros and charged through the room, destroying whole racks of test tubes with her horn. Declan ran upstairs at super speed, already prepared to confront his former classmates.

I knew that I had to do something, so I let my powers take over. I couldn't bring myself to steal a soul again, no matter how many of those scientists deserved it, but I could freak them out by letting a few souls run free in the Academy. A whole army of ghosts marched through the Academy, and the scientists quickly panicked.

At first, it seemed like we were winning, and the whole Academy would be within our grasp before long. However, one of the scientists called for help, and a familiar face flew into the research floor.

"Julian Cortez," Harper mumbled. "I never thought that I'd see him again."

"Me neither," I said. He was far larger and more muscular than I remembered, and his friends Edward and Camille followed him. Nevertheless, Harper transformed back into a human and flew into the air to confront the three of them.

I tried to focus on the ghosts that I was supposed to be controlling, but I was distracted by the fight going on above me. Julian dodged Harper's punches as Camille kicked her backwards. Harper, however, recovered quickly and elbowed Camille out of the way as she knocked Julian towards the ground.

Edward, now furious, pummelled my friend. Harper tried to fight back, but it was no use. Edward had super strength and he had trained with the Academy for the last four years. There was no way that Harper could win this fight.

Vanessa immediately noticed what was going on and hit Edward in the arm with a bolt from her crossbow. It did nothing but distract Edward, who merely plucked the bolt out of his flesh. In another attempt to keep Edward away from Harper, Vanessa used her powers to send illusions through his mind, but that was nothing but a distraction too. Terry was the one who ultimately stopped the madness. He struck Edward with lightning, sending him right into a vat of hydroglosseide. It seemed cruel, even for the boy who had bullied me in the Academy, but we had to help Harper somehow.

The only superhero left was Camille, and Vanessa was able to take care of her easily with her crossbow. Terry, Percy, Vanessa, Harper, and I ran upstairs, where Declan and the ghosts that I had set free were already battling the Academy students in the cafeteria. "Jay, what should I do?" Percy asked as he fumbled with the Reality Pen.

"Go steal the Academy's files," I said. "That's what we came here for, after all."

Percy ran towards the offices, while the rest of us entered the cafeteria. There were hundreds of students in there, but Declan had already taken out most of them with his fedora. Vanessa used her powers, and within a few seconds, the remainder of the students were scrambling about randomly. "What did you do?" I asked her.

"I blinded them," Vanessa said. "The effect won't wear off until after we're finished here."

"That's too bad," Harper said. "I kind of wanted to shapeshift again."

I felt bad for the Academy students - they were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time - but all of the students in the cafeteria would be okay. I knew from personal experience that Declan's energy beams were painful, but not fatal.

Remembering our primary objective, I ran towards the offices to find Percy. However, I found him in the hallway, holding a thick folder. "These are all of the files on Mr. Russell," he explained. "There's all sorts of useful information in here, including records from when he sent that superhero team to kill your mother."

"This is exactly what we need," I said. "Thanks, Percy."

"You're welcome," Percy replied. "Why don't you hold onto it though? Knowing my luck, I'll probably lose it if I have to keep track of this thing for much longer."

He thrusted the folder into my hands, and I said, "We should probably find Mr. Russell."

"I think he's in that room at the end of the hallway," Percy said. "He's meeting with the President of the Academy right now."

Percy and I ran down the hallway, but our path was suddenly blocked by a tangle of thorny vines. "What's going on?" Percy asked.

"I'm not sure, but we're going to have to get through these vines if we want to get to Mr. Russell," I said.

I reached towards the vines, but a superheroine in a green costume suddenly appeared in front of Percy and I. Without saying a word, she punched me in the stomach, and I tumbled over. I got back up from the ground and sent a few of my ghosts towards her, but her vines suddenly reached out and grabbed both Percy and I. As I fought to free myself from the vines, the superheroine ran towards the cafeteria.

"Percy!" I shouted. "Can't you do something to free us?"

"The Reality Pen fell on the ground," Percy said, struggling to reach for the fallen fountain pen. "I can't warp reality without it."

The two of us were trapped there, not knowing what was going on in the cafeteria. All I could hear was a lot of shouting and cries of pain, and I desperately wanted to know what was happening to cause all of this. What if something had happened to one of my friends? I hated the feeling of not knowing anything.

About twenty minutes later, Vanessa sprinted into the hallway with a sword in one hand and her crossbow in the other. She sliced the vines with her sword, setting both of us free. "Seriously, you guys?" she said after we both fell to the floor. "The Green Machine isn't that hard to defeat."

"Where did you get that sword?" I asked as Percy picked up the Reality Pen again.

"I stole it from Balestra," Vanessa said. "Come on guys. We need your help."

Vanessa sprinted back towards the cafeteria, and Percy and I tried to keep up with her. "What's going on in the cafeteria?" I asked Vanessa.

"The Academy sent in some reinforcements," Vanessa explained. "Every superhero in the city is in the cafeteria right now. Declan, Terry, Harper, and I are trying to fight them off, but there's just too many of them."

We entered the cafeteria, and just as Vanessa had said, every single superhero in the city was there. I recognized most of them, but there were a handful that I didn't know at all. One of the ones that I didn't recognize was choking Terry, and I immediately sent one of my ghosts after him. Melisma was sending shock waves towards Declan as they played their guitar, while The Gladiator was in the midst of battling Harper. There were dozens of other superheroes who were merely there to block off all of the exits to ensure that we wouldn't run away without receiving justice.

Vanessa ran back into the commotion, shooting wildly with her crossbow, but it was no use. We were about to lose, no matter what any of us did.

The Gladiator flew towards me and pinned me against a wall, while Wolf Man, another one of my old teachers from the Academy, sent a pack of wolves after me. As the wolves tore at me, I screamed for help, and I spotted Percy writing with the Reality Pen. However, it was Declan who blasted both of them with an energy beam from his fedora. Before I had the chance to thank him, he ran off again.

All of a sudden, the floor dropped out from underneath my feet. For a few seconds, I panicked. This is how I'm going to die, I thought. However, I realized that I was floating, along with Percy, Vanessa, Terry, Harper, Declan, and the handful of superheroes that could fly. "How is this happening?" I asked Percy. "I thought that I lost the ability to fly when I gave my soul back to Harper."

Percy shrugged and said, "Thanks to the Reality Pen, just about anything is possible now."

The six of us were still outnumbered, but it was better than having every superhero in the city coming after us. I immediately flew towards Vanessa and asked her to borrow her stolen sword. "Sure, why not?" she said as she tossed the sword in my direction.

I caught the sword and went after The Gladiator, but when she twisted my arm and took the sword for herself, I worried that even after Percy's reality warping, we might still lose. Although I was weak and bloody, I dodged The Gladiator's sword, hoping that I could somehow avoid falling to my doom. She darted towards me and snatched the folder that Percy had stolen. "Give that back!" I shouted, but I couldn't reach it.

All of a sudden, I spotted Mr. Russell, standing there and gaping at the hole that had once been the Academy cafeteria. I wanted to fly after him, but Harper was already doing just that. She soared towards the CEO, and although he tried to run away, there was nowhere for him to run.

Harper landed next to Mr. Russell, transformed into a rattlesnake, and bit Mr. Russell. As the CEO cried out in pain, a team of police officers ran into the Research Floor. The mere fact that non-superpowered law enforcement was getting involved in a squabble between superhumans proved that this was serious. Usually, the San Urbano Police Department let the Academy handle its own affairs.

I dodged the Gladiator's sword again and took the folder back. Then, I flew towards the police officers, who were making their way up to the second floor. I landed directly in front of them just as Harper transformed back into a human. I gave the folder to one of police officer, and Harper said, "That folder has proof that this man ordered the death of an innocent superhuman."

Mr. Russell gave both of us shocked looks as the police officers took him out of the building. Harper and I both flew out of an open window, and Percy, Declan, Terry, and Vanessa quickly followed us. When all six of us had escaped, Percy took out the Reality Pen one last time.

The building spontaneously exploded, ensuring that what was left of the Academy was gone for good. We raced into my car and drove away, but once everyone was in the car, we began to celebrate.

Somehow, the six of us had won against insurmountable odds. Mr. Russell had been arrested, and if he was convicted, then that would surely cut off the Academy's funding. We had destroyed the building itself - it would be nearly impossible for the Academy to keep using young superhumans as lab rats if the Research Floor didn't exist.

There was no question in anyone's mind that the Academy was gone for good.