Reflect and Make a Dash to the Finish

Kaden fell to the side. He heard a crackling sound and felt the ground below him shake a little. He quickly opens his eyes to see that the boy in the yellow hoodie, from before, was standing over his body. Kaden looked from him to the moustached man, who seemed to be rather frustrated. At Kaden’s feet there was now a trench, leading from the man to where Kaden would’ve been if the boy hadn’t pushed him away. Kaden presumed it was left behind from the cannon blast. If it had hit him, he would’ve surely evaporated, just like the ground seemed to have been.

“That was close, dude.” The boy said, holding his hand out to Kaden.

Kaden grabbed the hand, and the boy effortlessly lifted him back on his feet.

“Thanks,” Kaden mumbled, “I probably would be done for if you didn’t help me.”

The boy put his hand to his head and saluted Kaden. Meanwhile, the moustached man seemed to have recharged his cannon, because he was ready to fire again, his finger twitching on the trigger.

In an instance, the boy, who had stood next to Kaden, was flying straight towards the man. In barely half of a second, he launched into his stomach, upon which the man bent over in pain, groaning as he dropped his weapon. The cannon evaporated into a strange purple mist. There was an opening. This was Kaden’s chance to run for it. He looked in the direction of the school. There must not be much time left. Kaden readied himself to run as fast as he could, but was stopped by the boy in yellow.

“There’s no time for that.” He told him. “I kept count in my head.” 

The boy tapped on his head, looking very sure of himself. He kneeled down, with his back towards Kaden.

“Uhm. What are you doing?” Kaden asked confusedly.

“Hop on.” The boy replied.

Kaden disbelievingly stared at the boy.

“I got a plan. Hop on!” The boy repeated, turning his head around to give a confident smile at Kaden.

Kaden hesitated for a moment. Was he really about to just climb on the back of a stranger? No less, a stranger that might go on to become a villain? Then again, this stranger did just save him from evaporation. Kaden nodded and jumped on the back of the boy, who grabbed onto Kaden’s legs and held him tightly, so he wouldn’t fall off.

“I can get us to the school in time with my powers.” He explained. “See, I can set a route in my head, which I can then run at quadruple my regular speed!”

“That’s perfect!” Kaden exclaimed, but the boy shook his head.

“When I start running,” he continued, “I can’t stop until I have reached my destination, or I am stopped by force.”

“So, when you saved my life just now–” Kaden hesitantly asked.

The boy nodded.

“Yep, I just accidentally bumped into you!” He replied cheerfully and chuckled, though Kaden felt like he could’ve fainted right then and there.

“Either way, I’ll need your help to get me there.” The boy went on.

“Mine?” Kaden asked, surprised. 

Usually people didn’t need or want his help. It was typically the other way around, in fact. The boy nodded once again.

“I saw you reflect those lasers before,” he stated, “it’s the perfect power for keeping things from hitting us. I’ll help you get there too, so it’s a win-win, don’t you think?” 

He chuckled again.

“I call it operation Reflect and Make a Dash to the Finish!” He proudly told Kaden.

“That’s a terrible na–” Kaden started, but before he could finish his sentence, they sped off.

Kaden wanted to mention that he wasn’t confident his powers would help them much, and that he only figured out to use the bubbles as shields just now, but he was too focused on holding on for dear life. That, and the fact that if he opened his mouth, he was sure he’d swallow a fly or two. Instead, he just watched as the boy effortlessly avoided explosions and jumped over pits as he was running.

Then, out of nowhere, a fireball headed in their direction. Kaden, who had forgotten that he also had to do his part in the plan, put Negative Bubbles around his hands in an attempt to stop it. He wasn’t fast enough, however, and the fireball hit the boy straight in the chest.

“Ack! The plan! The plan! Remember the plan!” The boy yelled out, while frantically patting his, now on fire, yellow hoodie.

More fireballs headed straight for them. Kaden rapidly tried to wave his arms in front of the boy and managed to hit some of them. The leftover fireballs flew past his head, and he could feel the heat on his neck.

“There has to be a better way.” He thought to himself, when not only fireballs, but also more purple energy, and even a big monstrous villain headed their way.

Not knowing what to do, Kaden held his arms in front of them and hoped for the best.

“Focus, focus, focus.” He repeated to himself in his head. “What did mom tell me about her powers again?”

“When I need to throw out a big bubble, I pour all my positive energy into it. The more positivity, the bigger the bubble.” He remembered his mother telling him, when they were training Kaden’s bubble throwing.

“I need a bigger bubble, so maybe I just have to fuel it with what I need from it? Would that work?” Kaden thought. “But what?”

Desperately he looked around. He didn’t imagine that making the projectiles anxious or scared would do much for them, but that was the only thing he was currently in possession of. Or was it?

“The chocolate.” He whispered slowly.

He reached in his pockets and found the molten chocolate bar, then held it out in front of them.

“Now’s not a great time for a snack!” The boy called out, slightly panicked.

Kaden squished hard into the wrapping of the bar, and it promptly exploded in his hands. Some of it flew into the face of the boy.

“Let’s hope this works.” Kaden thought as realised he had no idea what he was doing.

He closed his eyes and formed a new bubble, focussing all his energy into it, only thinking about protecting him and the boy. He felt the molten chocolate evaporate from his hands.

“Wow, trippy…” The boy gasped out in wonderment.

Kaden slowly opened his eyes and saw that he had created a shield in front of them. Looking through it made all the colours ahead of them inverted. Kaden couldn’t help but laugh in excitement. The projectiles flew into the shield and almost instantly turned into a lukewarm liquid. The boy let out a victorious yell, and Kaden, who likely was just as surprised and amazed as him, did the same. The monster, who saw the energy bullets and fireballs melt away into a puddle, worriedly backed off as they zoomed past him.

“That was amazing!” The boy yelled out, covered in purple goo and fire sludge. 

Kaden smiled, and felt his cheeks become a bit warmer.

He had to focus hard to keep up his Negative Shield. The closer they got to the school, the more attacks headed their way. None of which actually reached them, however. The boy was too fast for anyone to catch up, and Kaden used his shield to nullify all projectiles and scare off attacks coming from the front. Together, they made a great team.

The black doors of Kagekoka High were getting bigger fast, as they approached the last sprint towards them.

“We actually made it…” Kaden thought to himself.

He felt a wave of relief and excitement throughout his body.

“We passed the entrance exam!”

Then, out of nowhere, something wrapped around his stomach and pulled him backwards. Kaden saw the boy jump into the school entrance, before he fell on his back and got dragged across the grass. He struggled to break loose from whatever it was that was holding him. Looking down he saw that there was a green and slimy tentacle around his middle. It pulled him up and held him upside-down, so he was face-to-face with the person who the tentacle belonged to.

The Human Plant-Trap, a big villain, known for his desire to consume any living thing he can get his hands, or vines, on. Kaden feared that would include him now. He was stopped not long ago, by the hero Flamignon, a cook with pyrokinetic powers. He escaped not much later, with the help of some other villains, not long after the “Big Fight” happened.

Kaden, fearfully, looked him up and down, his body was covered in moving tentacle-like vines, his mouth was large and wide, resembling a Venus Flytrap, and his beady eyes were a sickly shade of yellow. He licked his lips with his long gross tongue.

“Another meal for me.” He cackled and opened his big mouth, lifting Kaden further.

“Hey dude, throw your thing over here!” Someone yelled from behind Kaden.

“My what?!” Kaden yelled back, trying to twist his body to see who was shouting at him.

The boy in yellow had run back out of the school to help Kaden once again.

“Your orby thing, throw one over here! Quickly!” He cried out, while wiping off some of the flame sludge, still on his body.

Kaden instantly figured out what he was getting at. He formed a Negative Bubble and threw it at the boy. It might’ve been the adrenaline, but Kaden could’ve sworn it travelled at an almost moderate speed this time. With force, the boy flicked off the sludge into the bubble. Instantly, flames shot out of the other end, onto the vine that was holding Kaden.

The Human Plant-Trap shrieked in pain and dropped him. The boy ran over to Kaden and grabbed him gracefully from the air, then he took him over to the school. The villain looked at them frustratedly. He knew he shouldn’t touch them while they were in the building, but it seemed like it took a lot to hold his restraint.

“I said it before, but I have to say it again!” The boy exclaimed. “That was awesome! You were awesome!”

Kaden felt his normally pale cheeks become red and hot. No one had ever called him “awesome” before.

“It was nothing…” He shyly told the boy. “I just did what you asked me to do, and you saved my life twice, so…”

“But, you still did it!” The boy replied, picking Kaden up and shaking him in his excitement.

Kaden wasn’t necessarily small, but the boy could lift him off his feet without any problem.

“Oh! I never introduced myself!” The boy told Kaden, while still shaking him. “My name is Satoku Tamaki! Nice to meet you!” 

He finally put Kaden back on his feet. Trying to find his balance after being violently shook, Kaden replied.

“I’m Kaden Ryoman, nice to meet you too, Satoku.”

He hesitated for a moment. Not many people knew the secret identity of his parents, but seeing as he was surrounded by current and future villains, it probably wasn’t a good idea to give his real name out to just anyone. Kaden looked around hurriedly. Besides Satoku, no one in the school was close enough to hear him. Then he looked over the fields. The Human Plant-Trap seemed to have gone, but in the distance he saw something small headed their way. Kaden looked closer and noticed that he recognised the small thing. It was the boy that had run into him during his tour of the school. He was running as fast as he could, in their direction.

The ground below Kaden started rumbling. He looked around the outside of the school and saw that large robotic feet had sprouted from the corners of the building. Tears started forming in the small boy’s eyes, and he now frantically tried to run even faster. The school slowly lifted on its metallic legs. Kaden kneeled down and stretched out his hand. He noticed that Satoku had done the same.

“You can still make it! Run!” He shouted out at the small boy.

The school lifted higher and higher, as the boy got closer. Kaden reached as far as he could, almost falling over the edge. The boy, crying and out of breath, jumped up.

They caught him, just barely. Satoku and Kaden, but mostly Satoku, pulled him up by his arms, as the school was rising to its maximum height. They all fell backwards, and Satoku started laughing. 

“Awesome…” He whispered, patting Kaden on his shoulder. 

The school started walking forward, and Kaden smiled when he realised.

He was in. He had made it inside the school before the time ran out. He was now a student of Kagekoka High, The Portable School of Villainy.