Following

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 Chapter 100 Chapter 101 Chapter 102 Chapter 103 Chapter 104 Chapter 105 Chapter 106 Chapter 107 Chapter 108 Chapter 109 Chapter 110 Chapter 111 Chapter 112 Chapter 113 Chapter 114 Chapter 115 Chapter 116 Chapter 117 Chapter 118 Chapter 119 Chapter 120 Chapter 121 Chapter 122 Chapter 123 Chapter 124 Chapter 125 Chapter 126 Chapter 127 Chapter 128 Chapter 129 Chapter 130 Chapter 131 The Phone Call Louise's First Costume When Keyla was Here A Day at the Garcia House The Keeper Sibling Bonds Once Upon a Time in High School Lillie's Recipes Lightning the Mentor A Miraculous Medical Aide Louise's Day Off An Ethereal Fairy Eternal Youth A Miracle Manifests Three Generals Deep Thoughts Over Lemonade A Miracle of Science Three Branches, Three Days Dreams of Heroes The Makings of a Thief Girl Time Wishing for More Courtney Larsen, Age 15 A Greenhouse Tour Odin's Evening The Keeper's Evening Cleo's Seventeenth Birthday Never to Thaw Again 2617's New Arx Techs Payday Party Prime's Board Game Party Temperature-Regulating Potions

Arx Nubibus
Ongoing 1467 Words

Chapter 108

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Amias ducked behind an overturned table as a ball of red heat flew at him. His heart was racing and his breathing was shaky. 

What the friggin hell was this? This was supposed to be a standard job. He and Rayne had planned everything down to the smallest detail, and they'd been sure nothing could go wrong. 

Well, they definitely hadn't seen this guy coming. 

"Come out from behind there!" he yelled. Amias snorted. As if he'd listen when this jerk seemed intent on killing him. 

Where was Rayne? Was she okay? No, nothing he could do about it. He'd have to trust that she'd handle herself. His biggest concern had to be his own skin - if he got hit by one of those things, it would probably be ugly. Very ugly. Even from a short distance, the heat was intense. 

Amias glanced around. A few sleeping employees littered the floor, but since it was shortly after 8:00, not many customers had been here. Deliberate, of course. Putting too many people to sleep at once was tiring business. 

And, since he'd put those employees to sleep, he couldn't use his Miracle again for a while. He estimated it needed about fifteen minutes between uses. Usually not a problem, but today it was a royal pain in the ass. 

He'd know when his Miracle was ready again. Call it instinct, but he'd know. All that was left was to hope he could survive that long. 

Footsteps approached. Amias clenched his teeth and wished he could turn invisible like Rayne. She'd better be getting as far from here as possible...

"In the name of the Legion, I command you to come out quietly." The footsteps got closer. Amias glanced around, looking for a weapon. The table had been overturned to act as his shield, and beyond that...

A person would be too heavy. Unless he used them as a hostage...but he didn't have a good weapon to threaten them with. So scratch that idea. Chairs had been scattered just a little too far. A tablet? He'd feel bad about wrecking it, but this was his life on the line here. 

Amias slowly moved to grab the loose tablet within his reach. He had to pry it from the sleeping hands of an employee, but that Legion freak didn't seem to have noticed. Good. A blunt object to the head would hopefully slow him down. Maybe Amias could escape without using his Miracle. 

He'd have to leave the money behind, but his life was more important. They could always steal more money later, but a person only had one life. 

"Come out, come out, little villain." The guy stuck his head over the table and looked down at Amias with a grin. His flamboyant outfit was various shades of yellow, orange and red. Looked boorish to Amias, but that didn't matter. 

He leaped up, swinging the tablet as hard as he could. The Legion freak fell over, crying out and clutching his head. Amias ran for the back room, wincing at the state the poor tablet found itself in. Maybe he should just steal it instead and see if they could glean anything from it. 

Better to have something to show for their trouble after all. 

"Get back here you bastard!" 

Another ball of heat flew at Amias. He caught a glance of it in the window and somehow managed to duck in time. The first projectile was quickly followed by another one and Amias rolled away in a panic. 

"You think you can play dirty like that?" 

Shit. This guy looked livid. Maybe even totally unhinged. Amias braced himself for what was coming next, praying that his Miracle would return while his skin was still intact. 

"I'll show you for destroying property!" 

Another ball of red heat. No, this one looked more...blue? Amias scuttled away from it again, his heart nearly stopping when he saw the black marks on the wall behind him. 

Who was destroying property again? Amias had warped one poor tablet in self-defense. This freak was leaving a far bigger mess for the cleaners! 

Amias dodged again, scuttling towards the main desk. A couple people were slumped over it. Surely a so-called patron of justice wouldn't attack that direction? 

He slid behind it just as another shot whizzed over the desk. 

"Come on out! You can't hide forever." The man's footsteps stalked towards Amias' new hiding position. He huddled under the desk, braced with his tablet. As soon as there was a chance, Amias was going to hit him as hard as he could again, and pray to whatever gods existed that it'd be enough to escape with his life. 

Closer. Closer. 

"I'm not falling for the same trick twice, you two-bit criminal." 

Damn. He'd stopped far enough away that Amias probably couldn't pull off the same maneuver. 

Now what? Amias' next move relied entirely on what this psycho did. 

"Burn in hell, you bastard." 

Amias didn't like the sound of that. 

Another ball of heat flew over the desk and landed a short couple feet in front of him. But this time, instead of dissipating, the light landed, reaching up as if to touch the ceiling. It crackled, and slowly started to spread. 

Staring at it like this, Amias finally recognized it. It was used often in old movies, but no one on Arx had ever seen the real thing. 

Fire. 

If the movies were to be believed, it would spread and consume everything. Even the poor folks who'd just been put to sleep to make his robbery easier. 

A string of curses ran though his head. Some of them were best not repeated. 

How to get out of this? The fire was creeping closer. And a single tablet wouldn't be helpful in defending himself. 

"If you come out quietly, I'll let you off easy with just a few major burns." Amias grimaced at the self-assured voice coming from behind him. A few major burns? Seriously? In what world was that getting let off easy? 

The answer came quickly and Amias wanted to hurl. Angela's world. Her type would break every bone in your body and then tell you they went easy on you since you still had your life. 

Wisps of grey came up from the flames. The smell was foreign and unpleasant. 

"What's it gonna be?" 

Surges of adrenaline danced through Amias. He knew what his choice was. 

I'm gonna live, and I'm gonna get out of here in once piece so I can go back home with Rayne. 

Now, was there a way he could manage that? 

The same thoughts and ideas flew through his head on repeat, and none of them were useful. Amias scooched further down the desk, shaking so much he could barely see straight. The flames started licking the leg of one of the employees. 

Great. This Legion freak was gonna bring the whole building down to get to him. 

As despair set in, a sensation ran through him. He couldn't describe it with words, but his Miracle was ready. Now he just had to make sure he got this guy with it. 

"Hey," Amias called, speaking for the first time. He didn't want voice recognition to catch him, so he normally stayed quiet when he could. Now, though, he had to make sure this guy could hear him. 

"What? Ready to surrender?" 

"Who are you exactly?" Amias grinned. Now he just had to make sure the snapping of his fingers would be heard over the crackling flames. 

"Hot Rod. Member of the Legion. And you?" 

"Just a guy who puts people to sleep. Speaking of which, you should put out those flames. You're gonna burn these poor people." 

"Huh? They're not dead already?" 

No they aren't, you idiot! Check their breathing before you start doing something this dangerous! 

Amias kept his thoughts to himself and steadied himself again. 

"No. I just put them to sleep. They'll wake up within the next hour. Speaking of, I think this poor lady's going to wake up with a nasty surprise on her leg." 

The flames extinguished abruptly. Amias breathed out a sigh of relief, then coughed slightly at the stink still in the air. 

"Okay. Now come out with your hands up." 

Amias obliged, standing up behind the woman so Hot Rod wouldn't attack. As soon as he made eye contact, he snapped his fingers and Hot Rod fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. 

He could collapse from the relief, but there was still more to do. If he didn't get out of here and go home safely, this would all be for naught. 

Swiping the mangled tablet and a couple more things that looked valuable, Amias got out of there as fast as he could. 


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