Counterattack

“Okay,” Alli said. After leaving Alli’s room, we made our way down to the kitchen.

“We’ve got a plan,” Nathan told us as soon as everyone was there.

“Or do you?” A voice suddenly hissed. I looked around, expecting to find someone, but no one was there. “Enjoy the show, Mortem.”

Then, everything went black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing on top of a building. Lined up below me was a huge mass of people. I looked around, trying to find someone, but I couldn’t find anyone.

“Humans!” I looked into the center of the plaza to see a man wearing a mask spreading his arms out wide. “We are broadcasting this to every human outside the Sphere in existence!” He declared. “Behold, our power!” He randomly pointed at a person in the group. They were brought to where the man was standing and was forced to kneel. Blood dripped out of his mouth, and he was covered in bruises.

“Now watch.” There was a crazy light in the man’s eyes as he pulled out a gun. I turned away just in time, and only heard the gunshot. When I turned back around, the man whom he had killed was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.

“Every hour we will execute someone until Castor X. Dragon and the rest of Mortem is brought before us!” The man said. “Turn her over yourselves, and the rewards will be handsome. We will even spare yours and your family’s lives. There are three hundred men here from your army. You do the math.” With that, I woke up with a start face down in the house. Around me, everyone else was getting up. I glanced at Sally. She looked thoroughly shaken.

“That’s what they were planning,” Shadow said.

“We need to rescue them,” Kenny said. “Can they be traced?”

“No. That was an alternate dimension. Couldn’t you feel it?” Annie said.

Shadow put her head in her hands and groaned. “What are we supposed to do?”

“We’re already on the news,” Nathan said faintly. He had been on his phone, and he should us a news site. “People are really mad. They want us to go.”

“We’re not going to go,” Shadow said firmly. “It is clear that the Leader will continue to push for the war once he’s removed us, and if we go, then humans have no chance at winning. What we need to do now is give the Leader something to focus on. It should by tiny, but it should definitely be a problem.”

“We can go and egg his house,” Pablo suggested.

“Can’t you be a little more serious?” Scarlet growled.

“We can attack pockets where parts of the Zodiac army are,” Danny suggested. Everyone stared at him. He turned red and shrugged. “What? I was just throwing ideas out there.”

“No,” Nick said. “That could work.”

“We’ll need reinforcements, though,” Shadow said. “Did any of you manage to recruit anyone?” She asked a group of our classmates who had gone recruiting.

“Yeah,” one boy said. “There was actually this old guy who claimed to be a Dragon.”

“What did he look like?” Shadow asked.

The boy shrugged. “Old, balding, wrinkles, but he was definitely fit.”

“Shadow, do you think that’s Mr. Dragon?” Nathan asked.

“Yes.” Shadow finally looked hopeful. “Excellent! Did you manage to recruit anyone else?”

The boy shook his head. “Most people didn’t want to.”

Danny nodded. “That’s understandable.”

“We should form some kind of pattern,” Annie mused.

“Annie, are you out of your mind? That’s the one big no-no of fighting!” Pablo exclaimed.

“Yes, but if we do, then we can lure the Leader out,” Annie said.

“I doubt that they’re going to send the Leader to fight,” Shadow said. “They’ll probably send one of the generals or something.”

“They’re all dead,” Kenny informed Shadow. “When everyone got cornered, they sent out all of the generals. I guess they didn’t think they would die. They’re going to send the next level up. That’s the Leader.”

“Then let’s do it,” Annie said. The rest of Mortem muttered their agreement.

“When do we leave?” Shadow asked them.

“Aren’t you supposed to tell us?” Nathan asked her.

“Then we’ll leave once I get in touch with my grandpa,” Shadow said.

“Your grandpa?” Sally asked.

“You’ll meet him,” Shadow explained. “Now, who’s ready for some training?”

“What?” I screeched.

“You can’t be too fit,” Scarlet said.

“What about Alli?” James asked.

Shadow sighed. “She’ll have to stay here. There was some magical damage, too, and I can’t fix that. I can only speed up the recovery process. There aren’t any potions to help her either.”

“Now follow me,” Nick said, standing up. “We’re doing the obstacle course again.”

We walked outside, and were immediately met with a barrage of questions and flashing lights.

“Will you turn yourselves over?” Someone screamed at Nick.

“Mr. Dragon, is it true that you and Castor are dating?”

“Do you know of the public’s outrage over this?”

“What’s going on?” Shadow emerged from the house. Her face clouded with fury when she saw what was going on. “How did they find us? I thought that this house had wards.”

“That ended three months ago,” Danny said. “Sorry, I forgot to notify you.”

Shadow slowly faced Danny. “Are you telling me that we’ve been on the map for three months?” Danny nodded. “Idiot,” Shadow hissed. “Now we have to handle this.”

“Not we,” Danny said. “You’re the leader for a reason.” With that, he disappeared back into the house.

“Danny!” Shadow roared, but she turned around to face the reporters. “Take them to train,” she told Nick. “I’ll handle these morons.”

“No, we’ll wait,” Nick said. “I want to see what you’re going to do.”

“You’re the most infuriating person to ever exist,” Shadow growled. She faced the sea of reporters. “What do you want?” She asked. Her voice was slightly amplified.

“Miss. Dragon, do you know that people are calling for Mortem to be disbanded?” A reporter asked, shoving his microphone in Shadow’s face.

Shadow looked furious. “We’ve been doing the government’s dirty work for ages,” she snarled. “We’ve kept them safe and done things to do that that even the government doesn’t know about. We’ve found a solution to the problem, and we’re working on it right now. However, I apologize that death is a part of war. Unfortunately, my hands are bound in that matter. Now if you would excuse me, I have business to attend to. If you don’t want to get your asses kicked, y’all better scram.”

“Y’all?” I asked Nick.

“She grew up in the eastern part of the Sphere,” Nick explained.

“She grew up in the Sphere?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Nick said. “What did you think?”

“I thought she grew up in the city we went to,” I said.

Nick nodded. “She spent two years of her life there, but most of her life was spent in the Sphere.” I looked up just in time to see the last reporter leave.

“Danny!” Shadow roared.

Danny poked his head out of the front door. “Yes?”

“I want wards up within two hours, got it?” Shadow snapped.

Danny tried to smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now go train!” Shadow said to us. Without waiting a further second, we all dashed down to the obstacle course and began before Nick even told us to. The darkness made it hard to see anything, and I continuously fell. At last, after we were all exhausted and dirty, Nick called an end to training. When we entered the house, we found everyone packing.

“We’re leaving,” Annie said shortly. “Shadow heard from Mr. Dragon. Be ready in twelve minutes, precisely. ” A thoughtful look came over her face. “I wonder if Mr. Dragon will bring that delicious fish again.”

Kenny whacked her lightly on the back of her head. “This is a war, not a playdate, dummy.”

“Or if he has that amazing chicken.” Pablo was practically drooling, oblivious to what Kenny had said.

Kenny sighed. “You two are hopeless. Perfect for each other, but hopeless.”

“Thank you, Kenny.” Pablo beamed.

“Of course you didn’t hear my second comment,” Kenny muttered.

“Would someone please tell us who Mr. Dragon is?” Alli wailed. I turned around to see her limping down the steps.

“Shadow’s grandfather,” Kenny said. “And aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”

Alli ignored his questions. “Because telling us he’s Shadow’s grandfather is really helpful.” She rolled her eyes.

“You’ll see what he’s like,” Kenny said. “Now if you don’t get back to your room right now, I’ll make sure you get there. Permanently.” Alli gulped and walked as fast as she could back up the stairs.

“Who’s going to watch her while we’re gone?” I asked.

“Don’t worry,” Kenny said. “Shadow’s calling in a favor.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Her old apprentice,” Kenny said. “He’s not as she is, but he’s good enough. Now go pack whatever you want, just don’t keep it in a bag.”

“The where are we supposed to keep it?” James asked.

“Exactly how you keep your weapon.” Kenny responded like he expected us to know.

“But I can’t,” James groaned as he pulled up his shirt to reveal his pistol stuck in his waistband.

“Then it would be a good time to learn,” Kenny said. “It’s a very important skill. Doesn’t Shadow always tell you about imagination? Why don’t you actually use it now?” Kenny left.

“I’m not going to be able to pack anything,” James grumbled.

“Doesn’t your weapon tell you how to do it?” Sally asked him.

James stared at her, uncomprehending. “My weapon talks to me?”

I smacked my forehead with my hand. “What did you think?” I exclaimed.

“Well, how do you do that?” James asked us.

“Put your aura into it,” Sally said. “It’ll activate and sync with you.”

“It’s very helpful,” I said. “Jigoku is the one who actually directs my attacks during my fights.”

“Your weapon has a name?” James asked.

“If they can talk, then I think that they’re allowed to choose a name,” Sally said. “Now go learn it.” James muttered and examined his pistol as he walked upstairs.

“I’m not going to pack,” I said. “I can just conjure whatever I need.”

“You mean you’re too lazy,” Sally said.

“Michael!” Shadow was calling me, a piece of toast shoved in between her teeth. Her arms were filled with boxes. “If you’re not doing anything, come here and help.” Once I had walked over, Shadow jerked her head in the direction of dozens of dials and some vile smelling substances. “Pour that liquid into each vial. Try not to break any.”

I nearly gagged on the smell. “What is it?” I asked her.

“Multi-purpose potion,” Shadow said. “Healing, stamina, and extra aura all mixed in one.”

“Does it work?” I asked suspiciously.

“It’s a standard doctor’s remedy,” Shadow said. “I think I know what I’m doing.”

“Right,” I said as I filled up the first vial.

“Don’t spill any! It’s hard to make!” Shadow exclaimed as some dribbled over the edge.

“Right, right.  Sorry,” I muttered. Several minutes later, I had all of the vials filled, thanks to the help of Nathan, who had decided to take pity on me.

“Let’s go!” Shadow called from the front of the house. People were straggling and running everywhere. It was complete chaos.

“If you don’t come here by the time I reach one, we’ll leave without you,” Nick said. He began to count, and suddenly everyone became ready.

“Ready? Let’s go,” Shadow said. I felt the same thing I had felt when I got teleported the first time, and it took me a second to get my bearings once we were inside the Sphere again. I looked around, and found that we were in the middle of a forest. It was in the middle of the night, and the moon was at its highest point.