1: Making Our Escape

EH! EH! EH!

The alarm wails. Every time I hear it, I can't help but imagine some nasally god above proclaiming their boredom… and the need to spice things up a bit.

"Is it… Is it the Primordial Sovereign??"

"Shh! Don't say such things!"

"Stop talking and MOVE!"

"Hey! Don't push!"

"Then fucking MOVE!"

A loud, deep roar echoes off in the distance, steadily growing closer. If my classmates weren't moving fast enough yet, they sure were now.

The screeching of chairs and rustling of jackets is intermittently interrupted with each blare, as my distressed classmates desperately jerk up and grab their coats before bolting out of the classroom. It doesn't help that we were in the middle of an exam… or perhaps it did for those that didn't study. Their wide eyed looks of horror are a bit funny, if taken out of context.

Even without the approaching beast, they still have their reasons to fear; as that ear piercing noise is the villain alarm, which is exactly what it sounds like — a villain has been spotted or detected somewhere nearby, and city officials deemed an evacuation was necessary. Generally, this meant that the populace headed to the underground bunkers until the threat was cleared. Sometimes, no alarm was issued as the Enforcers prepared to ambush the villain.

Please do note though, that these aren't any simple, petty villains. There would be no need to set off the alarm for small time threats like a robbery or even a dire hostage situation. No — this alarm was reserved for a special type of criminal: a supervillain.

Did I mention that our world has super powers? Yup. Granted, not everyone has them and there is quite a large variety, but… most are pretty useless. Nonetheless, strong supers do exist, with the greatest threat being from supervillains.

I look over to one of my closest friends — Struan — who is sitting to my left. He looks a bit flustered, but more than that, he looks irritated. I don't think the exam was going too well for him… or maybe this was one of the rare occasions he studied and wanted to show it off? Eh, whatever.

To my right is my other closest friend — Eir. I don't really know what her deal is, but one day she just started following me and Struan around, proclaiming that we seemed to radiate a sort of "bad energy". And so, she stuck.

To this day, I still have no idea what she was referring to. Perhaps it is because of my style? I do tend to wear a lot of deep red and black, usually in the design of elegant lace and velvet dresses, but I still don't know what she would find off about Struan. Maybe it is because he is fairly quiet, which makes it hard for others to tell what he is thinking, so they usually assume the worst? I don't know. He's pretty soft.

Ah! Eir is gone. She does that sometimes. One minute she is right next to you, the next moment she is gone, off probably trying to save people. Did I also mention that she is the top superhero in the world? I think she is trying to keep that under wraps, but as her best friend — and this may sound haughty — I can discern such things.

Hmm… I suppose I should make an attempt at saving my life and follow everyone out. It is the dead of winter, so the underground bunkers will be frigid. Thinking of my classmates taking their coats, I'm a bit proud of them for thinking so quickly under pressure. Good for them — smart thinking.

No, really. All the past alarms, and even just for the drills, most people just don't think about the next step. Crowd mentality is quite impressive — I guess one person grabbed their jacket so everyone else followed suit.

I grab my jacket as well and leisurely follow them out. Honestly though, there's not really much of a point as our classroom is smack dab in the middle of the hallway of the highest floor of our school, the third floor. By the time our classroom gets out, the stairwells are jam packed with students, so no one is going anywhere. Except for the fortunate few on the first floor or those close to the edges, everyone else is tough outta luck.

Turns out, I'm exactly right. I look and see a fourth of the hall backed up on either side. Yeah, let's not. It's probably safer in the classroom than being stuck in the swarm.

Settling back into my seat, I look at Struan. He didn't move an inch since the alarms went off.

No, I might be mistaken — his hand moved! Haha! Is he still taking the test? He knows we can evacuate, right? Well, I'm not gonna tell him that, though! But, I guess with his ability, most threats don't matter to him — he can just phase right through. That must be nice.

However, I have an inkling of a suspicion that Struan might be the top supervillain. And no, of course I'm not going to ask. I don't pry like that!

As for me? I'm just your typical person; although, I am one of the few that is blessed with super powers. Still, it's nothing special. Just shape shifting, mainly into birds. I mean… I guess I have other abilities, but why would I tell you everything now? That's no fun. But… I suppose I can tell you one more ability that I use a lot — material shifting. You'll get to see that for yourself soon enough.

KA-BO-BO-BO-BOOOOOOM!!!

The school quakes from a series of explosions. Neat. Looks like we are at the center of the threat. Good thing I decided to stay in the classroom. Based on the screams I hear from the stairwells and the scent of smoke, I guess they won't need their jackets to stay warm.

I look over at Struan to check on how he's doing. He looks fine, albeit a bit shaken up, I guess? So, I pat him on the shoulder then go back to playing some floppy bird game on my phone.

He keeps scribbling answers down on his test. Maybe he did study after all. Wild.

Some random dude, covered in blood, stumbles into our classroom, mumbling incoherent things.

No! Not his pristine, white shirt! That's exactly why he, too, should wear red and black!

…Wait… blood? Is that his blood!? Is he oozing!?

…Yikes. You might wanna get that checked out.

Anyways…

I hear a thud near the door of the classroom and glance up again, just for a second, but that is enough to finally throw me out of my flow.

Aw. Darn. Game over.

I lock my phone and look back at the kid. Should I help him? Is there even anything I can do? Now, where's Eir when you need her. She coulda healed him right up.

Oh, maybe she decided to do something about the villain? Looks like she was too late though. Haha, so much for being the top hero.

I check the kid, but I don't feel any pulse or breathing.

Ah! Is he dead now? I guess that really was his blood.

Tsk. Making me lose my game like that only to die right after. How inconsiderate.

Ugh. I wanna go home now.

"Hey, Straun?" I ask.

"Shh!!"

"...Okay, enjoy."

"..."

"..."

I sit and stare intently at Struan as he works on the exam. Once he gets into something, it sure is hard to get him to stop. Usually, he freaks out when I stare at him like this, but right now he can't even tell I'm doing it.

Getting bored at his lack of reaction, I pull out a clear, plastic tube from my backpack, labeled 'Assorted Dragon Figurines' and pop it open. Giving it a shake, I plop a couple of the small, plastic dragons into my palm and fiddle around with them absent-mindedly.

"…"

"…"

"Finished, now?" I ask him, putting the tube away and placing the liberated dragons on my desk.

"Yeah," he says.

"Soooo…. You realize it's probably not gonna be graded, right?" I ask.

Struan shoots me a death glare.

"Hey! Come on now! I did try telling you, but you hushed me! I figured you just wanted to take it, even if it was pointless!" I exclaim with mock frustration.

Struan just sighs in response. "So, what was it you wanted from me?"

"Wanna go home? Can ya phase us through the school so I don't have to get all messy? I don't wanna touch… all that… and there's no telling what the rest of the school looks like right now…" I say.

Struan just vanishes on the spot. It's another one of his abilities — undetectability.

"Waaiit!" I cry out, and he reappears.

"What? Can't you just turn into a bird?" He asks, exasperated.

"I can…"

Struan vanishes again.

"Ugh! Just listen!" — I stomp my foot — "It's also so we don't have to deal with whatever questioning and detainment the Enforcers are doing! Shapeshifting isn't unique, you know! All the normal birds were scared off by the explosions!"

I feel a hand grab my wrist and the world gets a shiny, silvery hue. My stomach lurches as I see us fall through two floors. Fortunately, I'm mostly used to the feeling from flying, but it's still a bit different with someone else in control.

As we walk undetectable through the bloodsplattered halls littered with various limbs and body parts, Struan comments that there must have been multiple bombs per floor, with most of them concentrated around the stairwells, yet none of the explosions were strong enough to destroy the concrete building. The villain must have intentionally planned this, as if only aiming to destroy lives. He looks at me, as if to gauge my reaction, to which I only shrug. It's a villain after all — it's what they do.

We pass some Enforcers, even walking through some of them, who are searching the school. It looks like their first priority is making sure there are no threats inside before beginning the rescue operation. Of course, none of them show any sign of noticing us.

Outside, in the sky and on the ground, the black and blue uniformed Enforcers surround the school, along with worried parents who had just arrived. It is a tragic scene of the parents trying to rush in but being blocked by the Enforcers. More and more people trickle in around the school, forming an unintentional human barrier. Even if someone wanted to get off the school grounds, they would have great difficulty without abilities like Struan's.

The solemn atmosphere somewhat impacts my once lighthearted mood. It just doesn't seem appropriate to have around these parents when I know what awaits inside. Carefully walking around the people, we finally leave the school. When we are far enough, Struan pulls me over to a forested area and releases his ability.

"SCRRREEAAREAEE!!"

Struan jolts up and vanishes midair as an animalistic screech suddenly reverberates in the air, along with rhythmic thumping.