ONE HUNDRED NINETY-FIVE: Flashes VII

 

195

******

 

“Alden,” said Max, “we’ll need your help.”

Good. Tired as Alden was, the idea of being involved in a plan like this was energizing. “I’m willing to do whatever you think I can. Let’s go for it.”

Max lowered his voice. “I’ll handle getting Klein into position at the right moment. You take charge of texting everybody and helping them to coordinate.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Haoyu chuckled.

Alden shot him a look.

“I think he wanted to help kill—”

“I’ll be the text messaging person,” Alden interrupted his roommate. “That’s something I can totally be responsible for. No problem.”

Max frowned at him. “You’re fast at it. And for the attack, we do need to use the high ranks who can deal significant—“

“I understand that.”

“And aren’t you quite close to wearing out your skill?”

“Sure. I’m the phone guy. That’s me. What’s the plan?”

“Speed,” said Max. “If this isn’t over in the time it takes for Galecourse to run one of her laps, then we’ve probably lost our chance. Here’s how I think it should go…”

 

******

******

 

[Alden: Good evening, everybody. As you might have noticed, the end of class is nigh, and none of us are doing as well as we’d like. My team and Max’s are back at the starting line, and we’ve come up with a plan that will take a lot of pressure off everybody if it’s successful. This might give us all a chance of making it to the finish line before the end of class.

A squad of high-speed, high-offense representatives from each team will be put together for the purpose of ending Instructor Klein’s reign of terror.

We don’t have time for debate. The only thing you have to do if you want to participate is agree to send the teammate in question to a designated spot when Galecourse next repositions. Klein will be there, as will Omega Scorpii.

The chosen fighters should ignore Omega Scorpii. Focus all attack efforts on Klein. Once Klein is dead, you can go back to your own teams.

As thanks for your participation, you will be rewarded with a feeling of pride and a pair of maps marking the location of all the flashing electrocution traps that are known to my team and Max’s. The maps and the absence of one evil Agility Brute should make your final runs easier.

We hope the following Avowed will agree to be squad members:

Lexi

Finlay

Heloísa

Tuyet

Reinhard

Marsha

Mehdi

Winston

 

Please reply swiftly. ]

 

******

******

 

<<There’s a text message for us all.>> Ignacio’s Meister knives were in his hands, and while the members of their team jogged forward, he was looking at a pile of broken electronics and smashed wood that had formed against the barrier to their right. Big Snake had been throwing for long enough, and the wind had been blowing for long enough, for a few drifts like that to appear in the gym.

Søren had noticed Ignacio glancing at them several times now.

“You’re checking random texts?!” Febri shouted over the wind. “Who has time for that? Watch for that crazy man! He keeps praising my efforts while he’s carrying me around like a Boy Brutely doll! I just know he’s going to tell Haoyu I tripped.”

“Tripping in a situation like that could happen to anyone,” Søren said.

He wasn’t glad that the others had gotten more and more stressed, but he was glad that them being stressed gave him something to do. Trying to cheer them up wasn’t much, but it was better than lying on the floor waiting to be saved. Or being carried back to the start because he’d been killed by a strike from Marsha. Or having people make comments about his sandbags.

His teammates had cut one up for the sand and discovered that throwing it in their instructor’s face was about as effective as everything else they’d tried against him. But Søren still had a 120 kilo one. Holding onto it kept his feet firmly on the ground, and he could imagine he was giving whoever was behind him—Tuyet right now—a break from the wind if nothing else. His muscles were burning from carrying weights all class, so at least he’d gotten a workout for his body even if his power was good for nothing.

“You’ve been doing Apex-level work, Febri,” he added. “We’re ahead of everyone right now.”

Haoyu and Kon’s team had gotten wiped out making a bold run for the finish, and Lucille’s team had run into the trap that Ignacio had quietly warned them would probably be waiting at the end of the gym.

He knew his own grandmother’s talent, so there was an advantage there.

“I’m an Agility Brute! I can’t trip. I might have to change schools after this.”

“The message is from Alden,” Tuyet said, her own voice at a volume that made it difficult for Søren to hear her. “I don’t know what to…you all should read it. I’ll do whatever the team wants.”

“You check messages during class, too!?” Febri exclaimed.

“We need to stop now,” said Vandy. “I think Mrs. Zhang-Demir might come for us next.”

Søren wished she would deliver warnings in a less factual tone. Across the gym, Alden had been yelling “Stop!” and “Go!” so urgently that Søren had almost obeyed him a couple of times.

Vandy was good at reporting possible danger compared to the rest of them, but with Febri being so rambunctious and talkative—moreso as he got annoyed with himself—sometimes the importance of her words didn’t register through his chatter. Now they did, and Søren halted, looking toward the finish through eyes he had to keep in a squint thanks to the wind.

Instructor Waker’s almost done with his pile of trash. He’s not going to come out here and fight at closer range when he runs out of things to throw, is he?

He tightened his grip on his sandbag’s handle, while he reached up to check the message notification with the other hand.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds.

“Why do they want—?!”

<<Shut up!>> Ignacio hissed, elbowing Febri in the arm. “Secret. You know? Secret.”

“But I want to…” Febri lowered his voice. “I feel like I should have been selected. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Of course we should do this,” Vandy said quietly. “If the rest of the teams are going to try, we can’t take advantage of their efforts and race ahead of them.”

“Having the maps would be nice, too,” said Tuyet. She touched the dart case hanging from a belt at her hip. “Wouldn’t it? I don’t mind going. I can make it back to you all.”

They were all exchanging looks and nods. The looks and nods…didn’t really include Søren.

I’m so tired of myself.

“Wish it could be me. Make sure you get him,” said Febri.

<<I want to help. I’ll come get you if anything goes wrong. Do you want some knives?>> Ignacio patted one of the modified knife rolls slung over his shoulders.

Tuyet shook her head.

“I hope people understand how to time a group attack,” Vandy was saying. “Getting everyone to cooperate might be harder than they’re expecting. Someone could hurt you accidentally, Tuyet. Maybe we should send one more person with you as backup.”

“You should all go,” Søren said.

Four pairs of eyes looked at him.

“You should. Three more S’s…” He was looking at the list. It was obvious what the teams planning this had wanted from the attackers. Fast, because Instructor Klein was fast. The most lethal shots possible, because only one might make it through. This wasn’t supposed to be a drawn-out fight. But they’d been limited by needing to pick a member of each team.

Nobody would have agreed to help if one team was being left out. It would be like giving them a free win.

But Ignacio would definitely have been included if he’d been on another team. Febri would be better than Mehdi or Heloísa.

This is a way I can help—encouraging them to do something other than guard me like I’m a baby.

“All of you go,” he said. “Watch each other’s backs and coordinate with each other so that the plan works better for everyone and you all get back safely. Vandy might even get a chance to attack.”

The Sky Shaper couldn’t do much with her element when her mother was dominating it. An attack that took place during Galecourse’s down period would let her work.

“I’ll lie on the floor between the sandbag and the barrier. Nothing will hit me, and I won’t move a micrometer.”

I won’t give you any trouble. I won’t hold you back.

He could tell they were tempted. This class hadn’t given them as many opportunities to fully use their powers as they’d had during duels.

“At least one of us should stay here with–” Febri said.

“Here,” said Søren, typing quickly before they could argue.

Have fun being real Avowed.

 

******

******

 

Alden stood in a huddle with his team, waiting for responses to come in. Nearby, Max was having a quiet discussion with his own teammates. They were going to be the bait, since Klein owed them an attack. As soon as they got a certain distance out onto the floor, the instructor and Omega Scorpii should come for them, and they needed to be on the same page about what they were going to do when that happened.

Getting this attempt completely organized in the next ninety seconds or so is ridiculous, thought Alden, but at least it doesn’t leave a lot of room for people to argue.

He craned his neck to see what was happening on the floor. A couple of teams were being way too obvious about the fact that they’d just been invited to join a scheme, but maybe Klein wouldn’t notice with Mehdi currently screaming and swinging what might have been a curtain rod at him.

The first message notification appeared on Alden’s interface, and more rapidly followed:

[Heloísa: Yes!]

[Reinhard: Where do I shoot from?]

[Marsha: I’ll be attacking from the west. Two slashes as I run in. As many as possible when I finally get there.]

[Reinhard: I’ve been saving up a big one.]

[Marsha: I’m not dodging any of you.]

 

“I don’t know about this.” Lexi was standing to Alden’s left, whispering at the others on their team. “What if Writher hits all the wrong people? Haoyu or Everly might be better.”

“If you destroy our classmates instead of the instructor, I’ll give you my stipend next month,” said Kon. “Because it will be funny for years to come. But publicly, I’ll disown you.”

“It’s not funny!”

“You’ll be fine,” said Alden, frowning as Marsha added a text specifying which of Klein’s body parts the first two slashes would be aimed at. Is that a useful thing for the others to know? I guess it’s not unhelpful. “And we have to donate our best offense to the fight since we’re organizing. That’s you.”

He wanted to say more, but some of these people needed replies. With the instigator of the plot busy and no time left….Alden decided to come up with his own answers.

[Alden: All first attacks should arrive the second Klein reaches Max’s team. We don’t want him to be able to respond to them one at a time, so you guys need to try to hit from multiple directions simultaneously. I guess Marsha is coming from the west, which is toward the front entrance. Heloísa, you might want to start moving as soon as you see Max’s team heading back onto the floor so you don’t end up behind.]

[Winston: I’ll help of course. Even if nobody else has been willing to help my team all class.]

“What’s he talking about?” asked Lexi. “Did he ask for help with something?”

“All I ever heard him complaining about was weights,” said Alden. “He thought his team deserved to have some at the start. But there’s a ton of heavy stuff on the floor now, and we’re all in the same position. It’s not like he got behind because of it. Never mind. Can’t talk.”

[Winston: If it looks good, I’ll feature you all on my channel.]

[Søren: All of my team is coming except for me.]

Alden’s eyebrows shot up.

“Wow,” said Haoyu. “That will help. We don’t want so many people that they get in each other’s way, but that’s significant added firepower.”

“Mehdi’s down,” said Everly. “His team is just standing around. Why are they so useless? Should I go get him since he’s part of the plan?”

[Marsha: I’ll focus on low shots. Let the archer and Tuyet take high ones. Don’t bother dodging me, Shrike.]

[Alden: If someone dies during the attack, our team will drag them over the starting line to fix their suit, so don’t hesitate to go for it with everything you’ve got.]

“I’ll grab Mehdi,” Haoyu was telling Everly. “One of your ice patches will put everyone else at a disadvantage if Klein decides to run toward it. He’ll go aerial, and they’ll skid around.”

He ran onto the floor.

“We’re on corpse duty?” Kon asked. He was still holding his bicycle. “Did you just decide that spontaneously, Alden?”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“But why can’t I help, too?” Astrid was asking Max.

Everyone was talking over each other. Alden hoped his own teammates didn’t mind about the corpse duty. It seemed like something somebody needed to volunteer for. Letting one of the chosen fighters die half a gym or more away from their team without offering any help would be a horrible thing to do, and he was feeling as responsible for this plan as he could, given the fact that he was still surprised it was happening.

[Reinhard: I have a name. It’s not just archer.]

[Alden: Sounds good, Marsha. Sounds great, Søren! Here are your maps, everybody. Good luck!]

“I think Galecourse is about done with this cycle. Time to go.” Max looked back at Alden. “Are you ready?”

Alden blinked. “I’m just making this up as I go along. I’m ready to do more of that.”