Young Writers Society

The stream of water hit the creature dead on and most of the flames fizzled out, but mere moments later the beast regained its girth as though nothing had happened. Stiyl looked over his shoulder at the girl. "A little water isn't going to put out Innocentius, kid." He was about to say something else when Toma came running at him from the side. The kid curled his right hand into a fist and struck the fire guy in the face. The moment his fist connected with the man's jaw, a high-pitched shattering noise rang through the entire warehouse and the fiery beast disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Toma tackled the man to the ground and held him down. Stiyl tried to fight back of course, but Kamijo was suprisingly tougher than he looked and managed to hold him down. He looked at the others and yelled, "The cards, destroy them! As long as they're on the walls he can summon that creature as much as he wants!"

(I left my post open for anyone to respond to it. You don't need to wait for someone else to post, if you have an idea about what can happen next go ahead and post. We're slipping back into the habbit of only having one post per week by anyway, and I really don't want that to happen.)

Cait

She gasped, looking up at where the cards were. She broke into a sprint, bending and sweeping us glass shards on her way. The rough slabs cut her fingers, making her whimper and cringe at the pain, but she kept moving...

Someone - it was a blur - made for her, angry and vicious. She cried out when her side burned, her breath catching. No! She inhaled, exploding with an E-flat-5, holding it as sustained and strong as she could. A swift wind, could it be a hurricane force?, came up behind her, giving her an extra push. She held up the glass shards, holding them like daggers; she slid to the wall, nose right on top of the cards.

"No! Leave that alone, girl!" Stiyl shouted. She did not even care anymore, all she knew was pain and fatigue...she wanted that fire monster to disappear, for the battle to end...

She screamed as she snatched the shards downward, ripping through the cards and shredding them.

She let her knees drop as the blade struck the wall near her head; she half collapsed to the floor, taking slow painful breaths as she held off unconsciousness. Her side seared, blood hot on her skin... "Ren..."

Jordan

He beamed. Now was his chance! Now he could make an impression! He focused, fading into the shadows cast on the floor; he slipped around to the other side of the room with ease, only to reappear over her, shielding her with his body. He groaned when pain laced the back of his shoulder, but it was superficial; he could already tell. He wrapped his arms around the girl, vanishing once more into the darkness.

Ren

The moment Toma told them to destroy the cards Ren saw Cait take off from his side. Unfortunately, the swordswoman broke free from Jordan's binding shadows and took off after her. Ren tried to stop her by flinging fire at her, but the woman dodged each attack with ease. Ren could only watch helplessly as she sliced Cait's side open with her sword.

Despite that, Cait still managed to used her power to lift herself up and slash some of the cards with the glass she picked up. Stiyl, the guy Toma was holding down, saw this and yelled, "No! Leave that alone, girl!" She collapsed on the grond soon after her landing, and the swordswoman was right on her tail. Ren started running toward her in hopes of stopping her, but Jordan suddenly appeared, grabbed Cait, and dragged her along with him into the shadows.

Ren was confused about what just happened, but if she was with Jordan than she would be okay. Right now he just needed to focus on the battle. He yelled at Lena from across the room, "Destroy the cards on your side!" Lena nodded and used her water to soak the cards right of the walls while Ren burned the ones on his side.

The swordswoman was moving again, this time toward Ren. He moved to protect himself, but before the girl attacked she was lifted up into the air by an invisible force. She struggled to get her feet back on the ground, but to no avail. She was stuck in the air.

"I think that's enough fighting for one day," Takeo said, his arm outstretched toward the girl.

Jordan

He materialized in the back of the warehouse, Cait unconscious in his arms. She was having difficulty breathing, but she should be okay... He supported her with one arm while he took his hand and applied some pressure to her side, hopefully to at least slow the bleeding. His shoulder throbbed, but he could wait; he was stronger than she was. Of course, he wasn't as badly scored, either...

The fighting became a stalemate; Takeo held the wicked woman in the air, and Stiyl was penned to the ground. The other children had held off the third, who was beginning to make a reluctant retreat. They had won. They had kept the Orb.

Oh, the Orb... He needed to snare it soon, or risk unwanted retribution... It was his job, after all, and this was becoming such a close race, such close combat... What if he were to...?

No, he thought. I will not lose it. I WILL get it!

He watched and listened as Toma let Stiyl up, shoving the man backwards away from him. All of the school kids held an aggressive, offensive stance, ready to pounce if need be. "Fine. You brats won today, but we'll be back." He glared at Ren, then Takeo. "And you will all die."

((I'll update tomorrow. I have a lot of homework (thanks to pre-cal). Sorry! ^^;))

***Man, I hated that class...I completely understand, Undertaker. Good luck with it!***

Lena

As soon as Styil muttered those words, they disappeared. Lena sighed in relief then look around to see all the damage that had been done to the place. Puddles of water lay strewn about, looking down she noticed that the place where Cait had been stand was empty. Glancing around quickly she noticed that Jordan was holding a passed out Cait. The bleeding had seemed to stop, but she still did not look good.

Looking around again, I was relived that everyone was to be accounted for. The little cuts all over her body hurt, but she ignored it and ran over to Cait and Jordan. As she neared, she realized that Jordan had been hurt too.

"Come on," I said as I walked over, "We need to get you two fixed up."
Jordan nodded and started leading the way with Cait in his arms. I quickly gathered everyone else and we followed. I knew that we were all thinking about what happened here. If this ended like this, how were the other battles going to end?

((Sorry, I know it is not very good. My brain is not functioning right. ^^; ))
((And thanks for the luck Ayumi, I'll be needing it.))

As they walked Ren couldn't help but worry about Cait. He wished he hadn't got her involved in all of this, now she was severely injured. But as much as he wanted to blame himself he knew now wasn't the time for it. "We need to find a hospital," he said.

"I know a place," Toma replied. "The doctor there is a miracle worker." Ren nodded and let his friend lead the way. They took a few back alleys in order to get to the hospital without being seen. The people on the streets would panic if they saw someone walking down the sidewalk carrying a girl covered in blood.

They were surprised when they got to the hospital, none of the workers seemed at all surprised when they walked in. One of the nurses even knew Toma by name and pointed them toward an empty room, tellinng them the doctor would see them in a bit. They all went into the room and Jordan placed Cait on one of the beds.

Once everyone found a place to sit, Ren turned to his friend and said, "Okay Toma, I think some explanations are in order. First thing I want to know is what did you do back at the warehouse? I thought you were a Level 0, ability-less. So how is it that man's creature disappeared the moment you touched him?"

Toma sighed as he brought up his right hand and looked at it. "You're right, I do have an ability, but I'd rather it remain a secret. If more people find out about it, it'll only cause more trouble for me."

"We'll promise not to tell anyone, just as long as you explain everything to us," Ayaka chimed in.

Toma nodded. "My ability is called Image Breaker. Any form of magic or esper power my right hand comes in contact with is instantly nullified."

(In case anyone brings the doctor into the room, he's a balding man with a face that slightly resembles a frog.)

Jordan

Hmm... he thought. An interesting concept.Toma would be the one to watch, then, probably...smart, and sly...

Jordan looked up when he heard footsteps just outside their room. It was the doctor, undoubtedly, based upon the bleached, pressed lab coat, latex gloves held in one hand, and a stethoscope around his neck. But he was a little amusing in appearance - he was bald, and his face very much resembled a frog, with the flat nose, puffy cheeks, and a double chin that made up his neck.

"What have we here? A stabbing victim, my nurses said?" he asked, voice a little nasally.

Jordan nodded. Ren swallowed, looking at the floor in shame and distress. Toma was quiet, but Lena piped up. "Two, actually. They got Jordan's shoulder too!" The boy merely glared at her.

"Very well. Give me room, let me in." The doctor waddled over and knelt beside Cait, whose breathing was steadier, but still shallow. He stayed there, eyes glued to her bloody side for what seemed like an eternity. Ren's face kept getting paler and paler; he looked about ready to throw up...

"Why don't we...step outside?" Jordan recommended, standing and approaching Ren. He grabbed him by the arm, whispering softly to the boy. "You, especially, nerves of jello."

Everyone else agreed and followed Jordan and Ren out of the room, leaving the doctor to tend to Cait in peace. They found a bench in the hall to sit down on. Taki and the girls took it while Toma, Ren, and Jordan remained standing. Ren took a few moments to steady himself against the wall. The combination of fear for Cait's health and nausia from seeing such a dangerous wound did not do well for his stomach.

Ren took a few more deep breaths before turning back to his friend. "Will the doctor really be able to help her?" he asked.

Toma smiled. "He's saved my life more times than I care to count." He gave the fingers on his right hand a little stretch when he added, "He's the one who put my arm back together after my hand got cut off." Everyone but Jordan seemed to flinch at that piece of information. It was only after Toma had mentioned it that he realised he probably shouldn't have told them that particular fact.

"You had your hand cut off?" Ren said in astonishment. "When did this happen?"

"A few months ago. I don't really want to get into too much detail, but Index was in trouble and I was trying to save her. To tell you the truth, I'm surprised me and Stiyl got out of there with our lives."

"Wait," Ayaka chimed in. "Isn't Stiyl the name of that fire guy that's been hunting us along with that swordswoman? Are you saying he's your friend?"

"Friend is kind of stretching it," Toma said, "But yes, we have worked together a few times in the last few months. I guess I should explain it from the begining. Stiyl Magnus and Kaori Kanzaki are members of a religious organization called Necessarius."

Toma went into a breif explination of what Necessarius is, although he didn't say anything that Jordan didn't already know from what Anzhela told him last night but he played ignorant just the same. He didn't want anyone to find out he knew more than he was letting on. "So, how was it that you came to such good terms with this dangerous sounding group in the first place?" Jordan asked, intregued with what this kid had to say.

Toma rubbed the back of his head a little bit before saying, "I can't go into much detail, but Index is actually a part of their group. A while ago I helped her out and now Necessarius counts on me to look after her."

"And why would they do that?" Takeo asked. "If this girl is so important shouldn't they be looking after her themselves?"

"I guess you could say they're trying to keep her presence a secret from other religious groups. Index has photographic memory and has memorised the 103,000 magical texts known as the Index-Librorum-Prohibitorum. If her presence outside the Church of England were known, a lot of dangerous people would come looking for her for the knowledge in her head. No one would expect her to be staying with a Level 0 Student."

(Can someone post please?)

Takeo

There was a lot going though Taki's head and it took several cycles before the new information started sinking in. So. This was some sort of religious group that wanted his orb and they were connected to that strange Index girl.

"And what are you going to do now? Continue protecting her for them?" Takeo snorted and shook his head roughly. This was all so coomplicated. He didn't even know where he stood anymore. "I mean, they're bad, right? If they were good, they'd have asked nicely for the orb or something right?"

"It's not as simple as that," Toma replied.

"Well I wish it was," Taki grumbled. He slipped his hand into his pocket and rubbed the orb softly. He was starting to think and that was never a good idea. Takeo wasn't a good thinker in the best of circumstances and with his judgement clouded by the orb... this really wasn't a time for relying on his instincts. "Who was the one who gave me the orb then and why didn't he want these people to have it?" Taki rubbed his head and leaned back against the wall, exhausted and very much afraid. It had been one thing to know there were a few people after him, but quite another to discover it was some kind of reigious cult. Even if they did manage to take out the swords-woman and fire dude in some amazing, most likely accidental victory, they'd turn around and poof! There would be more people wanting to kill them.

"Maybe one of you should destroy it," Takeo suggested quietly, his eyes directed at the floor and his lips pressed tightly together as he forced the words out. He could feel his grip tighten on the orb and he knew they'd have to fight him for it but, in his current condition, that wouldn't be too difficult. "You seem to know a lot," he lifted his eyes to Toma. "So. One lesson on orb destruction, please."

Jordan's eyes widened when he heard Takeo's question. If they destroy the orb, there goes his chance of having Anzhela make him stronger. He needed to think of a way to move the descussion away from this topic, but in a way that doesn't arouse suspicion toward himself. One thing was for sure, he needed to steal that orb soon.

Toma looked at his right hand and flexed his fingers a bit. "The orb is a magical artifact of some kind, no doubt about that. Because my right hand can dispel any form of magic, simply touching the orb with it should be enough to destroy it."

Jordan was about to say something, but Ren beat him to it. "Is that really the best option, though? These people are willing to do anything to obtain this orb so it's obviously important to them. They're going to be angry, even moreso than they are now, if they find out we destroyed the orb. They may just try to kill us out of spite at that point."

"I agree with Ren," Ayaka said. "Destroying the orb will only make things even worse for us."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Lena asked.

Ren sighed and said, "I think it's time to negotiate with them. This orb isn't more important than our own lives, no matter how powerful it is. I say we have a sit-down with these Necessarius guys and discuss how we're going to give them the orb without them trying to kill us."

(Can someone post please?)