Until We Break (25 page)

CiCi’s side cheered her on, and Mercury’s did the same for him. Both competitors marched forward with grim determination, ready to sacrifice their bodies if necessary to bring home a win.

 
CiCi took a step.

 
Mercury took a step.

CiCi took a step.

Mercury took a step.

CiCi took a step.

Mercury took a step.

CiCi took a step. All her adrenaline was gone, and she operated on pure instinct. One foot forward, one foot forward. Just a little more…

Mercury stepped across the finish line, destroying her hopes. His side—and the audience—roared with approval at seeing Zero Grade score another victory.

But that didn’t seem to matter to her friends. They rushed over and embraced her, thankful she was still with them. Maya took her mangled hand in hers and began to cry.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” Maya said, her voice cracking.

CiCi stared at her, dumbfounded. “What are you talking about? It’s my fault we lost. Zero Grade only needs one more win and they’ll learn the Academy’s location. I’m the one who—”

Maya cut her off with a fierce hug. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that. You did your best, and no one here can fault you for that. Right, guys?”

“That’s right,” Ev said.

Jaysin nodded. “Gotta say, I respect the hell outta you right now, CiCi.”

Even Daryn said, “You put up a first-class effort. It isn’t your fault you lost; it’s Zero Grade’s. They’re playing dirty and we need to do the same.”

“Damn straight,” Jaysin said. “We made the mistake of playing fair. That stops now.”

Ev balled his hand into a determined fist. “Hell yeah. From this point forward, no more Mr. Nice Academy Student. We have to win the next event, or it’s all over. And we’re
going
to win it!”

Loki stepped forward and shouted into his mic, “Spectacular! Amazing! I’ve never seen such fortitude in all my years! That was, without a doubt, a heart-stopping race that will go down in history as one of the great battles of our time. Zero Grade only needs one more win to find out where their enemy is hiding. Can they make a clean sweep of it?”

“Of course,” Set said.

“So confident!” Loki replied. “Or is that arrogance? I guess we’re going to find out in our third event. Right this way!” He took one step. “Here we are!”

Ev looked at him like he was crazy (which he was). “What?”

“Allow me to explain. The third event will take place throughout the complex. We call it Hot Potato and we think you’re going to love it.”

Ev doubted that very much. “What are the rules?”

Loki pointed upwards. “Release the orbs!”

Chapter XVIII

Dozens of holes opened up in the ceiling, and down fell a score of pulsating metallic orbs about the size of a man’s fist. Half were red, and half were blue. They began hovering all over the complex; some were just a few inches off the ground, while others were up to fifteen feet off it.

“What the hell are these things?” Daryn asked. Ev wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Allow me to explain,” Loki said. “Each of these orbs is, in actuality, a floating canister of paint. Half of them contain red paint, and half contain blue.”

 
“Let me guess, the paint is poisonous or something,” Jaysin said.

 
“Nothing of the sort, I assure you. The paint is quite harmless. Each orb will explode on impact, spraying whatever it hits in either red or blue paint. Your objective in this event is to hit your opponent with an orb and cover them in paint so everyone will know they’ve been hit. But the catch is, you can only hit them with a specific color. One competitor will attack with blue orbs, and the other with red. The first person to score against their opponent wins the whole event.

“Now, who will be competing in this event?”

Ev stepped forward, but Jaysin stopped him. “No, mate. This one’s mine.”

“But—”

“No buts. I’m asking you to trust me.”

They locked eyes intently. Finally, Ev said, “All right. But you
have
to win this. If we lose again, it’s all over.”

Jaysin gave him a thumbs up. “No worries. I got this.”

“Excellent! Marvelous!” Loki turned to the Zero Grade team. “And who from your side will take part in this event?”

“I will,” Dionysus said. “Would anyone like some wine before we begin?”

Jaysin rolled his eyes. “Think I’ll pass on that, but you go right ahead.”

The old man took a long swig from his pouch before handing it to Set. “Please hold on to this for me.”

“The match-up is decided!” Loki yelled into the mic. “Everyone else, please take your seats within the stands.”

The two teams retreated to opposite sides of the complex but found no empty seats; it was standing room only.

Only Jaysin, Dionysus and Loki remained on the floor. “And now, let’s begin the third event! Competitors, are you ready?”

Jaysin nodded. “Yeah.”

“Likewise,” Dionysus said.

“Excellent! Splendid! Now, then, Jaysin Marx, your color is red. That means you have to attack Dionysus with blue orbs.” Do you understand?”

“Blue orbs. Got it.”

“Good! And begin!”

Jaysin dashed for the nearest blue orb, which he found floating a few feet off the ground. Curiously, Dionysus just stood there, motionless.

Jaysin hurled the paint canister at him, but the old man casually moved his head and avoided the attack. The orb hit the ground ten feet behind him, splattering it with blue paint. Smiling, Dionysus said, “Surely you can do better than that. Your attack was all too predictable.”

“Tsk,” an annoyed Jaysin said. He then retrieved two blue orbs. Holding one in each hand, he hurled the first at Dionysus. Then, using his carefully honed speed, he got behind him and threw the second orb while the first one was still in flight. He surely had the drop on the old man this time.

But Dionysus just as easily side-stepped this attack as he had the first one. The metal balls just barely missed him, but he made it look effortless.

 
“I think that’s enough indulging you, kid. Now it’s my turn.” He extended his arm, and some sort of wire net shot out from his sleeve. It quickly wrapped around a red orb, and Dionysus hurled it at Jaysin.

Buggal!
he thought. He barely managed to duck as the orb came free from the net and sailed over his head. Although he had dodged it, his heart was now racing, and he could feel adrenaline pumping through his body. He had underestimated Dionysus. This old man was not to be trifled with.

“It seems you’re not so bad at dodging,” Dionysus said. “But let us see how well you do when it’s
you
in the net.” He extended his arm toward Jaysin, and the net shot out again. Jaysin lunged to the right, but to his amazement, the net followed him. “You can’t escape me so easily, kid.”

The net demonstrated astonishing speed, and, before Jaysin knew it, had enveloped him. He fought to get free, but whatever the thing was made of was incredibly strong.

Dionysus raised his arm into the air, and the net rose up. Then the old man dropped his arm, and the net went careening downwards toward a red canister hovering a few inches off the floor. In just a few moments, it would all be over.

But Jaysin Marx wasn’t about to let his friends down. At the last moment, he shifted his body, effectively altering his trajectory. He—along with the net—came crashing down a few inches from the metallic sphere.

“Hmph,” Dionysus said. “You’re a lucky child. But luck has a way of running out on you as quickly as it came.”

He was right, of course; Jaysin was still trapped in the net, and it wouldn’t take much for the elder god to get him with a red orb.

Dionysus strolled over and picked up the orb. He casually shifted it in his hands, as if he was hesitant to finish the job. “You provided me very little sport, kid. I’m almost ashamed to do this, but the organization is counting on us to win today.”

Gotta think fast! Come on, Jaysin;
your
friends are counting on
you
to win this, so think of something!
But what could he do, trapped in the net?

Wait… the net! Of course!

Dionysus raised the orb above his head, and in less than a second would bring it crashing down on Jaysin. The Academy student had less than a moment to turn things around.

Grasping through the net, Jaysin found the wire that connected the main body of the thing to Dionysus’ arm. Utilizing all the speed and power he could muster, he yanked on it as hard as he could. Dionysus cried out in surprise when he found himself thrown off his feet and into the wall behind Jaysin.

Perhaps it was how the net was designed, but it immediately came loose and retracted up Dionysus’ sleeve. Jaysin quickly got to his feet to assess the situation.

       The elder god rose from the crumbled remains of the wall next to the doors leading into the corridor. “You surprise me, kid. I thought for sure that would be the end of it. Your luck seems to be a bit stronger than I thought.”

Jaysin conjured his staff. “I’ve always been lucky, mate. Now it’s your turn to find out just how lucky I am.”

Dionysus did not look impressed. “Hmph. You’re just an arrogant brat, so sure of yourself. Well, I’d say it’s time to wipe that smirk off your face!”

Moving almost too fast for Jaysin to see, bearded deity crouched and then launched himself at the student. But this time Jaysin was ready for him. This would require superhuman timing, though.

Fortunately, Jaysin had perfected his timing while sparring with Daryn. The instant before Dionysus reached him, Jaysin struck the floor with his staff, and his foe was hurled into the air. Dionysus collided with the ceiling and feel back down, unceremoniously meeting the floor with a thud.

“I take it back,” Jaysin said. “I’m not lucky. I’m
skilled
.”

Dionysus gingerly picked himself up. “Why, you…! What was that trick you just did?”

“Like I’m dumb enough to tell you.”

“Hmph. Fine, then. If I can’t get in close, I’ll just ensnare you with my net again.” He extended his arm for a third time, and the net shot out at Jaysin. This time, the future god of money didn’t even bother to try and dodge it. Instead, he just struck the ground when it got in close, and the net went flying upwards.

“Ah,” Dionysus said. “It would seem your staff has the power to repel whatever comes near it.”

“Think I’ll leave that to your imagination. I’m not telling you how my weapon works.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll just put that thing to the test myself.” He extended his other arm, and a second net shot out. He used it to ensnare a cluster of orbs floating nearby, and he had his first net to do the same to another set of spheres. “I count at least a dozen orbs in my nets. Let’s see if you can avoid them all.”

Well, damn,
Jaysin thought.
Haven’t tried using my staff on that many objects at once. Not sure if I can do it
. Nevertheless, he knew he had to try.

This time Dionysus extended both his arms, and his nets went flying towards Jaysin. The student tensed up, expecting a straightforward attack.

However, the second net kept getting longer and longer, and soon it shot past Jaysin. It then curved around to attack him from the rear, while the first net came at him from the front, much like he had tried a moment ago (just with a lot more orbs).

Both nets released their payload, and a dozen orbs were hurled at Jaysin at an impossible speed; they were going so fast, they made an audible whoosh as they broke the sound barrier.